Category CrossCurrents

by Masaki Watanabe

“Open Letter” to Son Studying in Japan: Things I Must Tell You …Though You (Think) You’ve Heard ’em All

And, this you’ve heard me say before, Japan is a very densely-layered ancient society with rich culture (e.g. variety of food) with strongly-held, complex values with constant, built-in pressure toward conformity that sometimes works in unfathomable ways. I’ve watched sensitive foreigners who want to gain acceptance, including those who are racially Japanese, even start seeing things and thinking like a Japanese without quite realizing it themselves.
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Of Ramen, Japanese Major Leaguers and the “Face of Japan” to the Outside World—Topics That May Loom Large in the Year 2011

Akemashite omedetoo gozaimasu. As we begin the year 2011, I pondered which topics might emerge this year that might be of general interest to us in the Nikkei/ijusha community, particularly people with backgrounds similar to mine—a bicultural (Japanese, “Western”) male…

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Do Japanese Tend to Think There’s One Standard English?

After Japan, through her high economic growth period, joined the ranks of advanced nations and after the US and Canadian governments officially apologized and made some compensation in the late 1980s for their suffering in the past, Japanese North Americans have been able to live their lives without worrying too much about prejudice against Japanese culture for some time now. I wonder how many Japanese words still remain in their English, and whether new words have been adopted. There must be many readers who have first-hand knowledge.
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More Young Females Leaving Japan For Konkatsu (Marriage Partner Seeking Activities) Abroad

“Many people set age 30 as a kind of time limit by when they want to acquire a skill and find a job,” said a can-do type from Osaka who worked as an office data processor to save money and came to Canada. Finding a “partner for life” by age 30 if possible, would be a reasonably natural objective for a woman—or a man. But such a crucial encounter, alas, cannot be planned the way acquiring English and other skills and finding a job can be. But at the very least, the pro-active drive with which these members of the once-upon-a- time “weaker sex” pursue their various possibilities deserves respect.
Read MoreMore Young Females Leaving Japan For Konkatsu (Marriage Partner Seeking Activities) Abroad

Does “Japadog” Sound Offensive?

In the Japanese language, the name is pronounced “Japadoggu” Because long words both foreign and Japanese are often abbreviated, “Japa,” as short for Japan or Japanese, is sometimes used. At an international university I attended in Tokyo in the 1960s, students from abroad were officially referred to as “non-Japanese” to avoid using the word “foreigner.” Japanese students and staff found “non-Japanese” too much of a mouthful, so they all said “non-Japa” instead. Pretty soon, Japanese students with mixed cultural and educational background were being called “han-Japa,” meaning “half-Japanese.”
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