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.

Impact of Globalization on Japanese Language and

FGHABCDE

Slide 1

Emergency Card （PDFファイル 350.5KB）