Impact of Globalization on
Japanese Language and Culture
Crossroads in Cultural Studies 2002
Norio Ota
York University
Impact on Culture and Society










Judicial system reform
Empowerment, accountability, informed consent
Psychological analysis: ‘healing’, ‘co-dependency’
Aging, fixed contribution pension, portability of pension and
tax reform
Japan as a multi-cultural and multi-racial nation
Impact on education
Later marriage, fewer children and divorce
Political correctness
Restructuring, salary reduction, unemployment and
homeless
Asian Free Trade Zone – China, Korea and ASEAN ?
Impact on Language
Sociolinguistic and pragmatic changes



Confrontational and aggressive approach
From agreement-seeking to agreement-demanding
Other changes in communication strategies: more
–
–
–
–
Direct, Assertive
Argumentative, Provocative, Challenging, Competitive
Egalitarian [gender equal, rank equal]
Self-righteous, Non-apologetic
Impact on Language
New usage in idiomaticity





iken o suri-awaseru
‘rub opinions together’
mongon
‘statement’
hanzai ga okonawareta
‘a crime was committed’
denchuu to gekitotsu ‘crash with an electric pole (lit.)’
boosoo-zoku ga tsudou chuusha-joo ‘a parking lot
where mortorcycle gangs get together’

shashin o totta mikka-mae ni Osore-san ni itta. ‘He
went to Mt. Osore three days before the photo was taken.

saikin toku ni ninki ni natte ‘it has become popular recently’
Impact on Language
Loan words














fuurigan-taisaku
‘(anti-)hooligan measures
seegi no hiiroo
‘champion
(hero) of justice’
koosoku-dooro-dai-kurasshu ‘a big crash on a freeway’
honne-tooku
‘heart-to-heart talk’
riiku-suru
‘to leak’
happii-raifu
‘happy life’
akushidento
‘accident’
doggu-fuudo
‘dog food’
bureeku-suru
‘to get a break’
rajio
 reidio
enerugii  enajii
hoomuresu
reipu
sutoriito-chirudoren
‘radio’
‘energy’
‘homeless’
‘rape’
‘street children’
Japan as an agent of globalization


East Asia and Southeast Asia:
‘Doraemon’ , ‘Hello Kitty’, ‘TarePanda’, ‘Pokemon’
North America and West: ‘Sailor
Moon’ , ‘Pokemon’, ‘Nomo, ‘Ichiro’
References










岩淵功一 ｢グローバリゼーションの中の日本文化の匂い｣ 世界 1998年4月号 69－81 岩波書
店
Iwabuchi, Koichi (2001) “Japan, Globalization, and Cultural Imperialism”, paper
presented at ICAS2
Conference, Berlin.
Leung, Lisa (2001) “Gendering Transnationalism: Cultural politics of intra-East Asian
media
consumption, paper presented at ICAS2 Conference, Berlin.
Ota, Norio (1995) 'Cross-Cultural Communication through Japanese: Communicating
with Japan
through high school education', in D.J. Dicks (ed.) Communicating
with Japan:
Images Past, Present and Future - An Interdisciplinary Anthology,
Montreal:
Concordia University, 1995, 108-130.
__________ (1999) ‘Culture in Language Context’, JSAC web publication, 12th Annual
Conference
of the Japan Studies Association of Canada, McGill
University, Montreal.
__________ (2000) ‘Coping with sociolinguistic and pragmatic changes in TJFL’, 13th
Annual
Conference of the Japan Studies Association of Canada, University of
British
Columbia.