Unit 2 Notes: How Language and Culture Shape Identity in Japan

Identity

How you understand yourself and how others understand you, including roles, group memberships, and personal traits.

Register

The level of formality you choose in speech; in Japanese it signals how you position yourself socially relative to the listener.

丁寧語（ていねいご）

Polite language (often です／ます) that can signal respect, distance, or professionalism.

普通形（ふつうけい）

Plain/casual form that often signals closeness, comfort, and in-group membership (uchi).

敬語（けいご）

The Japanese honorific system used to express respect/humility and manage social relationships (includes sonkeigo, kenjougo, and teineigo).

尊敬語（そんけいご）

Honorific language that raises the listener or a third person to show respect (e.g., used for a superior’s actions).

謙譲語（けんじょうご）

Humble language that lowers yourself/your in-group to show humility, especially when speaking to someone of higher status or an outsider.

うち／そと

The inside/outside (in-group/out-group) social framework that affects word choice, politeness level, and how you refer to people/actions.

First-person pronoun choice (私／僕／俺)

Choosing different ways to say “I” to signal identity such as formality, toughness/softness, and (often) gender expression; 私 is common in polite contexts, 俺 is very casual/rough.

あなた

A direct “you” that is often avoided because it can sound overly direct, impolite, or too intimate; names/titles (～さん／先生) are usually preferred.

方言（ほうげん）

Dialect/regionally marked speech that can signal regional identity, warmth, humor, or local pride; not “incorrect Japanese.”

外来語（がいらいご）

Loanwords (often in katakana) associated with modern life (tech, fashion, youth culture) and global influence; meanings may shift from English.

和（わ）

Harmony; a value emphasizing smooth relationships and group stability, often supporting indirectness and softened disagreement.

本音（ほんね）

A person’s true feelings or real opinion, more likely shared in trusted relationships.

建前（たてまえ）

The socially appropriate public stance someone presents to maintain harmony, especially in formal/public settings.

思いやり（おもいやり）

Empathy/consideration shown by anticipating others’ needs, using careful wording, offering options, and reducing the other person’s burden.

迷惑（めいわく）

Trouble/burden caused to others; avoiding meiwaku influences how people behave and how carefully requests/refusals are phrased.

がまん

Enduring difficulty with patience/self-control; often linked to valuing perseverance and effort.

先輩・後輩（せんぱい・こうはい）

Senior/junior relationship common in schools/clubs/workplaces that shapes expectations and language use (juniors often speak more politely upward).

空気を読む（くうきをよむ）

“Read the air”; sensing unspoken expectations and adjusting behavior/language to fit the situation and maintain smooth relations.

Multiculturalism

The coexistence of multiple cultural and linguistic groups within a society; highlights that identity can be shaped by contact and diversity.

Assimilation

Pressure or expectation for individuals/groups to adopt the dominant language and norms, sometimes at the cost of heritage language and identity.

帰国子女（きこくしじょ）

Returnees who grew up abroad and then returned to Japan; may experience “in-between” identity and pressure to fit Japanese school/social norms.

ハーフ／ミックス

Labels for people of mixed heritage in Japan; can be embraced or rejected and may affect whether someone is treated as “fully” Japanese.

多文化共生（たぶんかきょうせい）

Multicultural coexistence: creating support systems so multiple languages/cultures can function together (e.g., interpretation, multilingual information, inclusive schooling), not just forcing newcomers to “be the same.”