11. Social mechanism of honorifics
By SHIN-ICHI TERASHIMA
Professor Chie Nakane of the
The
Japanese and the Koreans borrowed Chinese characters (kanji) to establish their
respective writing systems. The Chinese language, however, is quite different
from Japanese and Korean. Chinese characters originated in
Japanese and Korean have a similar grammatical structure so it is usually easy to find the equivalent of an idea in one language in a sentence of the same meaning in the other.
Both languages also contain honorifics. Honorific speech can be classified as absolute or relative. Korean utilizes the absolute, while Japanese uses the relative. The difference developed from usage.
In absolute honorific speech, recognition of the general hierarchy among speakers is sufficient. But to master relative honorific speech, recognition of both a superior and an inferior hierarchy as well as the hierarchical status of the speaker’s group (insider or outsider) is necessary. For example, a Japanese man calls his wife “kanai” (wife with an insider or internal inferior sense), and his guest’s wife “okusan” (wife with an outsider or external superior sense). Such relative honorific speech must be mastered to function smoothly at all levels of society.
Here
are a few Japanese words that demonstrate more clearly the importance of the
language itself as it functions as a social controlling mechanism. “Shitsuke,”
an important term for the Japanese, is a good example. Originally there was no
kanji equivalent for the idea conveyed by the term so the Japanese invented one
for it which expresses the basic concept “make oneself beautiful.” The word
sometimes means “education” in general, but more often the learning of Japanese
social manners. In primary school this is called moral education (dotoku
kyoiku), an issue which has recently become a problem for Japanese educators.
The problem centers on whether to return to the prewar moral education that was
banned by the
Learning social manners is mainly learning to use language properly. From the time a child begins studying Japanese in school, kotobazukai (literally “how to use words”), is considered most important; logical expression is considered less important. Kotoba-zukai actually means learning how to use honorific speech. Daily person-to-person practice is necessary to master relative honorific speech since a social hierarchy is situational. Young people must become accustomed to distinguishing those of lower status from those of higher status, as well as insiders and outsiders, from a personally relative point of view.
Those who fail to establish themselves in hierarchical relationships with others will be related to as “outsiders.” When a person becomes established in a social position in which their hierarchical status is identifiable, that person has become a member of the vertical society. Insiders are usually referred to as ”uchi-no-mono,” or “uchi-no-hito.” Use of exact honorifics between group members assures mutual recognition and the credibility of human ties within a specific group. Japanese can speak their language easily only among members of their own group because this is the only context in which their hierarchical relationship is completely understood by each member. Japanese refer to foreigners as gaijin, which literally means “outsider,” a real outsider in every sense.
“Joretsu” means “hierarchical order.” It is used in terms of hierarchy within a group. When members individually identify those above and below them in a group and relate to them in terms of a personal relative status vis-a-vis the entire group, a vertically structured group is formed. As a result, individuals arrange themselves in order as in a vertical string of beads, with the top bead of highest status. All human relationships, from the small family group to the nation as a whole, exist and function in this way.
Naturally, Japanese-style cooperation in any situation tends to create a tight joretsu structure. Since joretsu is almost militarylike, it is efficient for mass activity as individual rank and status are clear and the members work in terms of the group, not of individual interests.
“Batsu”
refers to the smaller component groups within a larger group. A batsu is the
mechanism of cooperation in the various sectors of Japanese society, including
politics and education as well as business. Even within an organization or
company there are many batsu. Usually these are called by their leaders’ names.
“Ha,” which means sect, is used as a suffix for the name of a political batsu,
such as Nakasone-ha, Tanaka-ha. “Gaku-batsu” is used for scholars, thus
expressions such as Todai-batsu (Todai being the shortened name of
“Habatsu-arasoi,” or internal group struggle, endangers the management or control of the larger organization. Japanese-style group competition in any field can be classified as habatsu-arasoi. If an individual struggles for personal reasons within a group he or shi is considered egotistic and shameless. But individuals can assert themselves without shame in the context of a group struggle to reach the group’s (batsu’s) collective goal.
“Kojoshin,” or eagerness for promotion, is another significant term for understanding the Japanese social mechanism. Japanese acquire kojoshin unconsciously, because the hierarchical expressions used in daily conversation stimulate them to do so. A Japanese company or organization is always assured of the availability of industrious workers because of the unconscious psychological manipulation implicit in hierarchical expressions. For the Japanese, their society is a hopeful one because it provides the opportunity for rising within one’s group. Upward mobility or promotion within a group is called “shusse.” Joretsu-conscious Japanese are apt to find pleasure in competition. But they doubt whether foreigners can find pleasure in working hard with “shusse-yoku” (desire for promotion in a hierarchical group) as their motivation.
An employer has to arrange all the administrative details of his business to satisfy the employees’ desire for promotion. For instance, salary tables for government employees are finely graded ensuring that workers can enjoy continuous raises all their working lives. It doesn’t matter that the increases come in small amounts. A Japanese is sensitive to whether others see him as superior or inferior and whether they will evaluate his contribution to the group as positive. Each member wants a higher ranking in his joretsu. But this desire is not simply for a materialistic salary increase. Sometimes only a word indicating recognition of status or worth is enough to provide satisfaction.
Individual competition is limited to what would benefit the group as a whole. Individual competition for personal gain is suppressed because it would lead to a weakening of the group as a group. Japanese must exercise a lot of patience in suppressing their individuality. An individual’s contributions to the group are evaluated to rank that person and it naturally follows that group-oriented thinking is thus encouraged. It is difficult, therefore, for Japanese to differentiate between individualism and egotism.
People employed in a Japanese company are required to maintain harmony instead of waging a class struggle, as is possible in a horizontal society. The Japanese are trained so that they want to work for the company and sing the company song, just as soldiers do for their own military group. They must work long hours to prove their loyalty to the company. Japanese do not think that working long hours indicates a person’s lack of ability to finish a task. Foreigners say the Japanese are workaholics and this is true. They spend long hopeful hours working because that is the ordinary way to gain respect within the group. Although the Japanese system inhibits individual freedom, vertical social mobility is rather easy; they have opportunity for vertical mobility just as workers in some countries have the opportunity for horizontal mobility.
The