Fenxy

Another interesting thing I learned recently about Japanese language is that they don't have any alphabet, it's a mix of sounds there for if you notice they have some difficulties in pronouncing names from another country like to pronounce Jet, they say Jettu, and for Ed they say Eddu.

English words are written in Katakana and I'll admit that it gets very confusing at times. It's especially amusing when the Japanese try weave English into their song lyrics.

Jet would probably be "Jetto" and Ed would be "Eddo" but you got the right idea.

yeah, you know Japanese well.
I was suprised!

When I speak Japanese to a stranger in Japan, I often get the comment "nihongo ha jouzu desu ne" or "wow, your Japanese is really good". This is the sentiment Yoshiyuki-san expresses here. While I'm aware that it is part figure of speech, part social protocol and part term of endearment, it does reflect a wider common belief that 'foreigners' cannot or rarely speak and understand Japanese. This is an old defence mechanism that dates back to the Meiji restoration and the first major influx of foreigners and foreign culture to Japan, it helped keep all things Japanese seperate from all things foreign. Further back than this, katakana (the alphabet that is used for all foreign words) was established for similar reasons.

In today's world of cultural flux and transient migration, holding onto these arcane values makes no sense and simply alienates Japan from the booming Asian continent. I fear the worse for Japan's future since it looks like the ultra conservative Mr. Abe will be taking over from Koizumi and will champion the old 'us and them' values, especially with regards to China and South Korea.

Andrew-san

I didn't intend to do so. I don't think my feeling is conservative because We, Japanese, don't think that our culture is not centeral in the world. Sopposed the another situation, I was often told that your chinese is good and I don't think they, Chinese, are conservatism. It's just indication that I know their culture and language. and they only say the phrase as they feel.

Considering Katakana, it's just developed for speaking 'cos Japanese couldn't　pronounce it(of course, also Korean). Although I don't know how you have knowledge of Japan however, whenever you study Japanese history　exactly, history of Japan has been continuing taking in overseas culture.

I agree your Japanese poltics views. Perhaps, you are right. In Japan, the new right including a recognition-of-history problem has been gaining power recently.

I enjoyed. Tnank you, Andrew-san

Yoshiyuki-san.

You extrapolated far too much on my argument. I did not say that Japanese people believe their culture, nation or whatver to be the centre of the world. That is a completely different mattter and the realm of 'uyoku'.

I was trying to bring attention to an old but still very common tendency of belief that 'gaikokujin' or 'foreigners' are not expected to speak or understand Japanese. Because of this there is a reflex amongst older generations of Japanese to avoid contact with foreigners for fear of an embarassing or awkward situation based on the inability of both sides to communicate. What I'm saying is that, contrary to this popular belief or 'myth' many foreigners do actually speak and read Japanese very well.

A couple of things:

Chan can be male as well. I have always known chan to refer to a child.

San is similar to saying Mr. or Mrs. and is a formal way to address a person, or also a group. "Mina san" means "everyone" and is a formal way of addressing the room.

An additional note about Katakana:
Katakana is not merely for writing out loan words from other languages. It is can also be used to phonetically spell words in Japanese. It's a character set that a Japanese stupid learns in first or second grade.
Since it's phonetic, it can be used to spell loan (foreign) words as well. And, contrary to myth, you can spell Japanese and loan words with the alphabet (phonetically of course)... however it's true that the Japanese do not have an alphabet... just a heck of a lot of characters.

Also a quick note:
most Japanese people know the alphabet and can read and write English as it is required learning for 6 years in grade school.

Andrew is right.
Also, when you go to Japan you're almost treated like a celebrity because, depending on where you go, you really don't see any other Americans (or any other cultures for that matter).

Andrew-san,

I understood what you are saying about "Gaikoku-Jin". Compared to 10 years ago, I’ｍ merley　surprised that everybody knows Japanese　including comics, animation, etc.　well.

Yes learning Japanese is actually kind of a big (underground) thing hear in America. I know a couple of people who would love to study in Japan.

i took japanese as an elective in college. i love the japanese language~. I find it very colorful with all the long words and sounds. and i very much appreciate how politeness is expressed in the language. i enjoy writing the different sets of characters though i am not good with kanji (yet!). i hope i can learn more! listening to japanese music, watching animes and japanese dramas with good subtitles help!~