The Cultural Semantics of the Japanese Emotion Terms 'Haji' and 'Hazukashii'

Abstract

Th is paper presents a cultural semantic analysis of the Japanese emotion terms 'haji' and 'hazukashii', made using the methodology of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM). Th e paper has three aims: (i) to pinpoint the conceptions of 'haji' and 'hazukashii' as emotion terms in Japanese language and culture; (ii) to highlight the diff erences in meaning with their typical English translations 'shame' and 'embarrassing', and show that 'haji' and 'hazukashii' refl ect two diff erent, culture-specifi c emotion conceptions; (iii) to emphasise the suitability of NSM for cross-cultural comparisons of emotion terms in diff erent languages and, in turn, for cross-cultural training. Th e examples adduced are taken from various sources, including a Japanese dictionary, the Kotonoha corpus of Japanese language and Japanese novels.

Relationship Between Stigma Experience and Self-Perception Related to Facial Appearance in Young Japanese Patients with Cleft lip and/or Palate

“…(shame) culture." 27,28 Haji is a reaction to criticism or other people's views. Most Japanese are afraid of haji (ie, being ashamed or embarrassed) which comes from doing/being something different from others.…”

“…11 In language use, they prefer ambiguity and avoidance of clarity. 11 Thus, the Japanese characteristic of tending to avoid direct discussion about congenital facial differences 26 may have affected the present results, especially the result that showed the lowest frequency in the experience regarding “getting into a fight because of how my face looked.” Japanese culture also includes a “ haji (shame) culture.” 27,28 Haji is a reaction to criticism or other people's views. Most Japanese are afraid of haji (ie, being ashamed or embarrassed) which comes from doing/being something different from others.…”

Language Makes a Difference: Breaking the Barrier of "Shame"

“…They promote comparability, while at the same time circumventing reification and ethnocentricity. Shame-related words have exercised the minds of several more or less experienced NSM scholars working on a host of different languages, including (but not limited to): Amharic (Ethiopia; Amberber, 2001), Arabic (Al Jallad, 2010), Chinese (Kornacki, 1995), Danish (Dineen, 1990), English (Wierzbicka, 1986;Harkins, 1990, Wierzbicka, 1992Farese, 2016), French (Koselak, 2003), Iban (Borneo; Metom, 2000), Indonesian (Mulyadi, 1998), Japanese (Farese, 2016), Malay (Goddard, 1996(Goddard, , 1997, Maori (New Zealand;Harkins, 1996), and Polish (Koselak, 2005). Space limitations prevent me from providing further detail.…”

Culture Is Everywhere!

“…The decision to start off Part I with a chapter on Japanese was prompted by the fact that, in NSM circles, the concept of 'cultural keyword' seems to have been operationalized first in a paper that deals with 'Japanese key words and core cultural values' (Wierzbicka 1991). 2 Japanese has always remained high on the NSM keyword agenda, with subsequent publications by Travis (1998), Hasada (2002Hasada ( , 2008, Svetanant (2013), Asano-Cavanagh (2013 and Farese (2016). Yuko Asano-Cavanagh and Gian Marco Farese are the joint authors of a chapter on the Japanese compounds shūkatsu 'job hunting' and konkatsu 'marriage partner hunting', which appears as Chap.…”