Culture
The Myth of Japanese Indirectness and “Subtlety”
Stereotypes of Japan as a land of vague meaning and blunted expression are just straight up Orientalism that obscure a complex reality.
September 29, 2022
Stereotypes of Japan as a land of vague meaning and blunted expression are just straight up Orientalism that obscure a complex reality.
Kuzushiji, the “crushed letters” found in historical Japanese documents, have long been the bane of scholars. A new app may change all that.
“Mama” and “papa” are such ubiquitous parental terms in Japan that it’s easy to forget they’re foreign words – words the government once tried to ban.
The government of Japan sanctions a language school for its horrific treatment of a student – but the school’s fighting back.
Most languages use a variation of the name Japan – except for Japan itself! Learn the etymology of Japan, and the reason for the difference.
There’s no word quite like “yabai” in Japanese – an extremely popular slang term that can mean anything from “awful” to “risky” to “excellent, dude!” Yet the prevalence of “yabai” has some worried.
Mass strikes, the creation of the 8-hour workday, and an early 20th-century vogue for foreign words – all led to the most popular Japanese word many don’t even realize is foreign in origin.
Watching Japanese dramas with subtitles in our native language can sometimes make us lazy, to the point we stop paying attention to the Japanese without even noticing! Watching with Japanese subtitles, however, prevents over-reliance on instant comprehension.
Want to read Japanese books and novels? We outline a method to help get you started – and build your Japanese listening skills along the way.
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