Understanding Japanese culture through language
A new book draws fascinating insights about Japanese culture from commonly used expressions
I’ve got a new favourite book on Japanese culture: Decoding the Japanese Mind Through Expressions by Rokuro Morita.1 It has displaced The Japanese Mind2 from top position in my list of favourite books about Japanese culture—a position it held for the last 15 years (see my review of it3).
Besides having similar titles, the two books have much in common. They both seek to shed light on that most inscrutable of entities, the Japanese mind, by analysing commonly used Japanese words and phrases. Their underlying premise is also the same: Japanese language is an important key for understanding Japanese culture.
Language as key
I think gaining insight into the culture is one of the most powerful incentives for learning Japanese. There is a wealth of English books on Japanese culture, and you can learn a lot about Japanese culture without knowing the language. But a knowledge of Japanese can help to unlock deeper insights into how Japanese people think. And those insights will help you to communicate the gospel in a way that resonates with Japanese people.
The stated purpose behind the book is to shed light on how Japanese people think and react. “If you wish to understand the true meanings that underlie the Japanese language or to know how and why Japanese people feel a certain way in certain situations, I believe this book will be resourceful,” Morita writes in the preface. “I hope you can better understand why Japanese people bow, refrain from doing some things, laugh or get angry, and the kind of language we use for those and many other situations.”4
32 expressions
Decoding the Japanese Mind Through Expressions analyses 32 expressions that are grouped into seven chapters: to distinguish inside from outside; to be mindful of the public eye; to consider the people around us; to value relationships; to restrain personal expression; to embrace spiritualism; and Japanese values. Japanese example sentences, along with romaji transliterations and English translations, abound to show how the expressions might be used in real life. There are also additional sections that offer deep dives into some aspect of an expression’s significance.
Interestingly, only 6 of the 32 expressions overlap with those given in The Japanese Mind (which has 28 expressions), and so the two books are complementary. The six terms that are the same are: uchi and soto (inside and outside); amaeru (relying on another’s kindness); honne and tatemae (true feelings and public stance); ganbaru (to strive); bushido (way of the warrior); and giri (sense of obligation). The fact that both books selected these suggests that they might be especially important for understanding Japanese culture.
An accessible Japanese version
The book is an English translation of a Japanese book,5 which the publisher claims to have been a top seller for over 10 years. I found it helpful to read both of them together. The Japanese book is accessible, being geared towards learners of Japanese. It provides furigana throughout and has English translations of key words at the end of each section.
I think there’s something for everyone in this book. People who are not so familiar with Japanese culture will be treated to a fascinating overview of how it expresses itself in the language. But those of us who have lived for a while in Japan will glean new insights while having concepts that we are already familiar with sharpened. A few of the expressions were completely new to me, and I gained a new awareness about the subtleties of ones that I did know. For example, I hadn’t heard of the word kejime (distinction) before, but I could see how it applies to the Japanese tendency to assign everything a set time and place. Similarly, kado o tatenai (avoid offence) was a new phrase for me, but the concept was a familiar one.
One way to use this book would be to discuss it with a Japanese person and get their thoughts on it. I hope to do that and then share what I learn in future articles.
1. Rokuro Morita, Decoding the Japanese Mind Through Expressions, trans. Mari and Daniel M. Williams (ASK, 2021).
2. Roger H. Davies and Osamu Ikeno (eds.), The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture (Tuttle, 2002).
3. Simon Pleasants, “The Japanese Mind”, Japan Harvest (Summer 2018), 37.
4. Morita, iv.
5. 森田六朗 (Rokuro Morita), 日本人の心がわかる日本語 (改訂新版) [Understanding the Japanese Mind through Language and Culture (revised edition)] (ASK, 2021).