- 17 Sep 2005
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Perhaps it's just Aichi prefecture, but when the people around me speak, I feel like I had been misinformed all that time I was learning Japanese.
I'm talking about the politeness myth. This is the myth that in Japanese you MUST speak politely to people older than you, people you don't know, etc., etc.
When I first came to Japan, I was very concerned about whether I was being polite enough or not. Over the years, I have noticed that generally speaking, it's not such a big deal, though. Where I work, everyone speaks to each other in plain speak, regardless of age. In the volunteer group I used to belong to, the only people using keigo were the youngest of the group (early 20s). In some stores the clerks use a lot of keigo, but at the convenience store I went to tonight, the manager was polite but didn't use a lot of keigo when she explained to me about the mistake they made with my change on a previous visit.
I could give a lot more examples than that, but I think you get the picture. Being polite is important, but it's not everything. Keep in mind that when you are using keigo, you are keeping distance between yourself and the person you're talking to. This is important to do in formal, business situations, but in your day to day life, it is generally not so important.
This is just something that has been on my mind for a long time, and I thought I'd throw it out. I've never put it into words before, so I look forward to everyone helping me flesh out my ideas some more.
I'm talking about the politeness myth. This is the myth that in Japanese you MUST speak politely to people older than you, people you don't know, etc., etc.
When I first came to Japan, I was very concerned about whether I was being polite enough or not. Over the years, I have noticed that generally speaking, it's not such a big deal, though. Where I work, everyone speaks to each other in plain speak, regardless of age. In the volunteer group I used to belong to, the only people using keigo were the youngest of the group (early 20s). In some stores the clerks use a lot of keigo, but at the convenience store I went to tonight, the manager was polite but didn't use a lot of keigo when she explained to me about the mistake they made with my change on a previous visit.
I could give a lot more examples than that, but I think you get the picture. Being polite is important, but it's not everything. Keep in mind that when you are using keigo, you are keeping distance between yourself and the person you're talking to. This is important to do in formal, business situations, but in your day to day life, it is generally not so important.
This is just something that has been on my mind for a long time, and I thought I'd throw it out. I've never put it into words before, so I look forward to everyone helping me flesh out my ideas some more.