though many in the internationalized younger generation chafe under such restraints.
4
Samurai Legacies
European countries had their age of knights and professional warriors by other names, but no country in the world was more influenced by the ethics and etiquette of its warrior class than Japan. The famed samurai came to power in AD 1192 with the establishment of a shogunate form of government—essentially a military dictatorship—that was to reign supreme for more than six hundred years.
Japan’s central government during this time was ruled over by a series of shoguns who were supported by an army of samurai warriors, as were each of the more than two hundred provincial clan lords around the country. The only citizens permitted to carry weapons and hold office, the samurai followed a code of behavior and belief based on Confucian concepts and Zen principles. They developed a lifestyle centered on the use of the sword, total loyalty to their masters, and a system of formal etiquette that was prescribed down to the slightest bodily movement.
So powerful was the samurai class that their style of living and exquisitely choreographed etiquette became the role model for all Japan. Over the generations, the culture they developed came to impact every aspect of the lives of the Japanese people—their philosophical and spiritual beliefs, their etiquette, their family life, their dress, their work, their aesthetic sense, and even their recreation. This samurai code also had a profound influence on Japanese crafts, literature, poetry, and other artistic and intellectual pursuits that made up the common culture.
The influence of the elite samurai class was even to outlast the shogunate form of government, which was overthrown in 1867 by a group of samurai from distant provinces who were convinced that it was not capable of protecting the country from rising European powers. These ex-samurai rebels took the lead in converting the country from a feudalistic agricultural state into what by the early decades of the twentieth century would be one of the world’s foremost industrial powerhouses.
It was also the legacy of the samurai spirit that made it possible for tiny, resource-poor Japan to grow into the world’s second largest economy less than 30 years after the disastrous Pacific War (1941–1945) resulted in the distruction of most of its industrial infrastructure.
The samurai and their code of ethics imbued the Japanese people with a range of lasting national traits that included the abilities to use both the emotional and intellectual sides of their brains, to work diligently as teams for the benefit of the group, to focus on ambitious goals with laser-like intensity, to persevere in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges, and to create arts and crafts that have emotional and sensual appeal as well as practical applications.
The influence of the samurai has diminished today, but is still visible in the stylized behavior of the Japanese and in the dedication of artists, crafts people, and ordinary workers in Japan. The samurai code of ethics and etiquette still sets the standard that many Japanese strive to attain. And today there is a growing nostalgia in Japan for the discipline and manners that characterized the lives of the samurai.
5
Language in Japanese Etiquette
The importance of etiquette in the Japanese worldview had a fundamental influence on the development and use of the Japanese language. The sensitivity of the Japanese to superior-inferior relationships, to the imperative that they pay calculated respect and obsequiousness to superiors in word as well as deed, made them obsessively sensitive to language.
Over the centuries, special words, special word endings, and several different “levels” of the Japanese language emerged as part of the overall etiquette system.
A highly stylized level of language was used at the imperial court, and a lower level was used at the courts of the shogun and the provincial lords. There was also a formal level used when addressing superiors and a distinctive form used in speechmaking, formal writing, and news reporting, as well as levels for addressing equals and inferiors.
These levels of the Japanese language are still in use today and are sufficiently distinct to be considered quasi-dialects. Although the average Japanese person can understand most of these “dialects” fairly well simply from exposure to them from childhood, skill in using them does not come automatically. Each of them has its own vocabulary and style and requires substantial study and practice to master.
In addition, the residents of several regions have their own true dialects of the Japanese language. Special groups and classes of people—including Japan’s professional gangster class, the yakuza (yah-kuu-zah)—also have their own jargon. Some of these dialects and jargons are so different from standard Japanese that an outsider cannot understand them.
Another important aspect of language etiquette in Japan is the constant use of aizuchi (aye-zoo-chee), or what can be loosely translated as “agreement interjections.” This refers to the Japanese custom of regularly and systematically agreeing with or acknowledging other people’s speech by nodding or saying things such as hai (high, meaning “Yes”), sō desu ka? (soh dess kah, meaning “Is that right?”), and ah sō? (ah soh, meaning “Really!”).
These aizuchi interjections are expected and needed by the Japanese. If they are not forthcoming, the speaker knows immediately that something is wrong and that the person to whom they are speaking is angry or disagrees to the extent that he or she is deliberately breaking a sanctified custom. Japanese-speaking foreigners unfamiliar with the importance of aizuchi may send unintended messages if they fail to follow through with the appropriate interjections.
All told, the role of language in Japan’s system of etiquette is central to proper behavior and is the key to getting “inside” the culture. Included in the back of this book are institutionalized Japanese words and phrases pertaining to various situations covered in this guide. By learning when and how to use them, you can greatly improve your ability to communicate successfully with the Japanese.
6
The Use of Names
All family and given names in Japan consist of two or more of the syllables listed at the beginning of this book. When written in kanji, each of the words or syllables in a name has its own ideogram.
Two of the primary characteristics of Japan’s traditional etiquette system were its formality and the important role it played when dealing with officialdom. This gave rise to the custom of restricting the use of given names and instead using last names in a formal manner, even in casual and intimate situations. Even today, this custom is usually followed by adults.
Parents address their children by their first names, and children and young people who are close friends use first names and nicknames among themselves. Teenagers, who generally make their own rules wherever they live, may call one another by abbreviated first names, nicknames, or family names, depending on the nature of their relationships.
Although they may have referred to each other using their first names as children, as people grow older they usually begin to use last names when they address each other. Even today adults who are unrelated habitually call each other by their last names no matter how long they may have been acquaintances or friends.
Nowadays dating couples generally use each other’s first names or, more correctly, diminutives of their first names.
The use of diminutives is
