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    Japanese in Depth Vol.2
    Japanese in Depth Vol.2
    Japanese in Depth Vol.2
    Ebook33 pages38 minutes

    Japanese in Depth Vol.2

    By International Communication Institute

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    About this ebook

    This is vol.2 of the collection of monthly columns contributed to The Daily Yomiuri, Japan's nationwide English newspaper. It amusingly illustrates how mindsets are different between English and Japanese. It's an eye opener for English as well as Japanese.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherInternational Communication Institute
    Release dateOct 17, 2011
    ISBN9781465708069
    Japanese in Depth Vol.2
    Author

    International Communication Institute

    The International Communication Institute is a language institute based in Tokyo, Japan.ICI was founded in 1987. Since then, it has continued to bridge cultural differences through communication. Recently ICI created a unique Japanese textbook series called "Step Up Nihongo". It went on to develop the e-learning version of the textbooks called "eSUN" and now has an online class to study with a Japanese instructor.ICI is continuing to do its best to provide meaningful content for those interested in studying Japanese.

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      Book preview

      Japanese in Depth Vol.2 - International Communication Institute

      Japanese in Depth vol. 2

      Copyright 2006 by International Communication Institute

      Smashwords Edition

      11. The world is; therefore, I am

      By Shigekatsu Yamauchi

      Founder of ICI (the International Communication Institute)

      www.stepupnihongo.com

      www.icijapan.com

      In a previous article we saw that there are more than 2,000 ways to say, I am a cat in Japanese, each with a different shade of meaning. This was shown to be partly due to the many ways of saying I. Today we will discuss some further implications of this mindset.

      If you listen carefully to English, you will notice how very frequently speakers use I in sentences, such as I think…, I’m afraid…, or I don’t want to… In contrast, Japanese tend to use words equivalent to I much less frequently.

      In another article about saying I love you in Japanese, we discussed how Japanese verbs, unlike their English equivalents, are not just words; each of them can be a perfect sentence on its own. We saw how, in principle, no subject is required to form a sentence.

      But what about situations requiring self-identification? One chooses the most appropriate of the options. To make this choice one considers age, gender, relationships, business considerations, the immediate situation and the broader circumstances. In short, unless you understand the situation, you cannot position yourself in it; in a real way, you cannot quite identify who you are.

      This contrasts greatly with English. In English whether talking to your child or to the president of the United States, you can always rely on I to define yourself. In short, the language considers you to be you, regardless of the situation.

      In my view, this English mindset can easily lead to thinking that I is the first concern. You have probably met people who operate from the premise, I have a wish and go ahead with it no matter the consequence or situation.

      Japanese people, however, tend to think of their social situation first, before taking action or doing the things they want. Their actions are responses to questions like, Would my action affect others? If so, how? Would I look bad doing this? These types of questions usually come to the Japanese mind before anything else. This others-first consideration is often so strong that many will easily abandon actions that adversely affect others. This is similar to the way that amoeba survive by carefully avoiding obstacles.

      While such people may appear indecisive or meek, it is not necessarily so. With its flexibility, avoidance of direct confrontation can lead

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