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31 December, 2001
ENGURISH
LESSONS
It takes a sensitive ear and an open mind to use another culture's language proficiently. Although English is required study in Japan, many Japanese grow up with little comprehension of the language outside of an ability to read it. Their speaking skills in English are poor, and their ability to understand spoken English limited.
| A sign in a Japanese hotel: "Depositing the room key into another person is prohibited." |
I once spent days trying to teach a Japanese journalist the difference between the words "hat," "hot," "heart," "hard" and "hit" - to him, they all sounded too similar to tell apart. He had no problem when he saw the words in his dictionary, or if I said them slowly, enunciating every letter carefully. But during normal conversation, all those words blurred together in his ears. Such is the difference between language that's printed and static, and language as it's used in everyday life. The same goes for Americans listening to Japanese -the spoken language is much harder to interpret than written text.
Yet, the Japanese have always loved English and incorporated enormous amounts of English (and other foreign words, but mostly English) into their everyday language. They've turned thousands of English words into common Japanese words. Sometimes it's because there were no equivalent Japanese words for something that was imported from the West. Western-style clothing, for example - pants are "pantsu," shirts are "shiatsu," and socks are "socksu."
But more recently, this phenomenon has been adopted to replace long-standing Japanese words with newer, Japanized, English words. In the past generation, "shingo" (a Japanized pronunciation of "signal") has replaced "denki" (Japanese for "light") to mean a traffic light; and "toi-leh" ("toilet") has replaced "o-benjo" for bathroom. And in a cultural variation, many Japanese words are shortened versions of English words, such as "telebi" for "television."
Historically, this emphasis on English can be traced back to the mid-19th century, when Japan was opened up to world trade, technology and industry after 200 years of guarded isolation from outside influences. Suddenly, to the samurai class of what was essentially a third world country at the time, being "modern" was important, and one way of being "modern" was to speak and write English.
But more significant than the absorption of English into the Japanese language is how much English is used today throughout Japanese culture, in signs and product brand names as well as in conversation. There's an entire alphabet (katakana) that's used to write out foreign words, but visitors in Japan can see the Roman alphabet everywhere.
The problem is, a lot of times when English is used in Japan, it doesn't make sense, and sometimes, it's used literally, without the subtleties of context.
Last week a very popular Japanese sports drink made international news by filming a television commercial on the Russian side of the international space station, but the news anchor I saw couldn't help but end the report with a snicker because of the product's name: Pocari Sweat.
Almost everyone I know who isn't Japanese cringes at the name of this drink, but it's a simple and descriptive trademark for a drink that has similar electrolyte levels as body fluid - it literally is meant to be like sweat (don't worry, it doesn't taste like sweat, it tastes sort of citrusy and sweet, like Gatorade here in the US). For Otsuka, the Tokyo-based pharmaceutical company that launched the drink in 1980, "Sweat" probably seemed like the perfect name because it's accurate. I would hope if they market the product in the US, they'll adopt a different brand name.
Also last week, my brother pointed out a funny misspelling on a package of gummy candy by the Kasugai company, which he bought at Pacific Mercantile. The slogan on the package read: "Cola Gumi relaxes everybody with good taste and refleshing flavour." Mmmmm, refleshing. Yummy.
This kind of inadvertent mistake creeps in to a lot of English slogans in Japan, either through misspellings or tortured grammar and syntax. There are entire Web sites (one I like is at http://www.Engrish.com) and a book called "Japanese Jive" (Tengu Books, 1993) devoted to this phenomenon.
You have to wonder if this slogan, for Koeda Twig Chocolate, makes sense even in Japanese: "A lovely and tiny twig Koeda is a heroine's treasured chocolate born in the forest. The sentimental taste is cozy for the heroine's (sic) in the town."
At least this one, for cheddar cheese flavored candy, is honest: "This candy has made a reproduction of the nice flavor and rich taste of cheddar cheese."
Another candidate for the truth in advertising award: a brand of toilet paper called "My Fannie."
One brand of tissue paper has this text on its side: ""What feeling do you need the best in your lifestyle? Trendy feeling, natural feeling and traditional feeling. We'll lead a tasteful life to find your personal style. Mild and tenderness are basic of our living life."
Signs in English may appear comforting to Westerners in Japan, until they look closer. One elevator sported a crisply written sign over the emergency call button: "Push this button in case anything happens."
A sign in a Japanese hotel: "Depositing the room key into another person is prohibited."
A traffic sign in Tokyo: "Cars will not have Intercourse on this Bridge."
A slogan on a shopping bag: "Now baby. Tonight I am feeling cool and hard boiled."
Name of a Tokyo bakery: "Pumpkin Poo."
Phrase on Batard brand of bread: "All of contents are no additional. It's burned to a crisp with all our heart."
On the back of a t-shirt: "More power to your elbow. Mutual help is the low of nature. There is no time like the present. Like to like. Sometimes yielding is the best way of succeeding."
I think the last one may have some wisdom in it, if I can figure out exactly what it means….
To all my readers everywhere, a Happy New Year - akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!