Article Foreignisation Part II: Writing the Outside Out Sean Mahoney

・Thefore1gnercomeslnwhenthe consciousnessof mydiffe「once arises and disappears when all acknowledge Ou「Selves as foreigners,unamenableto bondsand communities. _ s,pi

Abstract: Authorities In Japan well_known for meticulous reCO「ding Of detail and strict adherence registration procedures haVe.oVe「 the yea「S;been dubbed xenophobic by observers. Such comments resound pa「tiCula「ly Intensely of course in discussions of Japan's plethora Of Policies fo「 dealing with jnternatjonal issues. The requi「ed P「OCeSS of 「king through the labyrjnth of rules and regulations fo「 Conducting business, engaging In new employment,or even finding living accommodations has daunted and indeed prevented many from both onto「ing and Staying in this country Despite constant governmental proposals and p「Og「ammeS designed to enhance “internationalisation,” the pace Of 「eat Change iS somehow kept in the range of extremely slow to non-existent,With the results of various initiatives almost invariably proving SuPe「fiCia1 in society at large. offer that at least one habit of foreignisation',that Which involves - 57 --

1 行政社会論集 第12巻 第1号 the written demarcation of “native'' and ''foreign'' words in modern Japanese, is at least partly responsible for reinforcing xenophobic patterns of communication and conduct. While scholars in early Japan surely regarded the Chinese works they translated as “foreign,''concrete guidelines through which usage of the and prescribe and label (allegedly) native and foreign words have only re_ Cently been given official sanction. I should like to introduce the origins and progressions of these new guidelines for written Japanese;as they Changed the language from that which had not necessarily distinguished between “Japanese'(and Chinese)words and loanwords to one which does I Suggest that discontinuance of this practice, through relaxing rules and allowing hiragana, katakana; and () to be used more interchangeably (as they indeed once were), may help eliminate psychological barriers which impede the construction of a more international society.

Rationale: WO「d Choice,or hoωsomething is said ultimately determines ulhat is Said,and writers face innumerable decisions regarding word choice when 「ePorting even the most uncomplicated events;alteration of but ene word in a Sentence can produce a dramatically different effect. An army ]abelied ''freedom fighters,';for example,would be more likely to gain readers' sympathies than “the guerrillas,'' (homonyms aside) as the latter,both ''guerri1]as” and “the,''carry strong biases and render the g「cup strange. In reporting events of an international nature,choice of expression in speech and writing is particularly consequential. Moreover,in writing,the tagging of any word as native or non_native 一58 -

2 Forejgnjsatjon Part II:Writing the Outside Out (Sean MahOney) to the language leaves an indelible impression on the reader. Though ears may get used to the “foreign''sound of a new name,and mouths may become familiar with making new sounds, the present W「iting system in Japan never forgets or accepts foreignness. Children may be surprised when they (inevitably) find out that certain familiar WO「dS, even those as intimate as “mama''and “papa,” are from the “outside,' and should be written accordingly in katakana only. while words new to English,for example,may be written in italics until they become accepted into the language,those in modern Japanese are permanently labelled “foreign f' Words believed to have been borrowed from any language other than Chinese are most often W「itten in the segregating katakana script,which represents the same Phonemes as the standard ,hiragana, Furthermore,in the mass media and in all public paperwork,most non-Japanese names are also W「itten in katakana Even if the names already consist of Chinese Cha「acto「S (.g. chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese names), katakana (and not hjragana)is used either solely or in conjunction with these Cha「aCte「S to indicate the Japanese pronunciation of them_ Names of Japanese nationals,however,enjoy an exclusive right to be rendered in hiragana。 Even the names of descendants of Japanese nationals, fo「 example president Fujjmorj of Peru, are commonly written in katakana Only・ This practice of foreignisation often becomes even more pronounced.2 In a recent article printed in the Japan Times for example,Duncan Flett notes that Japanese words spoken by non-Japanese people on television are regularly represented in katakana rather than in the usual combina- tjonof Chinese characters and hiragana.Flett continues:

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What disturbs about this trend is what it says to the Japanese about non-Japanese learning this country's language. Subtitling in katakana serves to promote the myth that Japanese spoken by non_ Japanese is “different,''and deserves to be distinguished from that of native speakers. (Tnnes p.18)

Since Flett's article,and perhaps in part due fe lt,this practice is gradually fading. But a glance at almost any restaurant menu wi11 confirm that an established system of foreignisation still exists at other everyday levels. Take the “Teriyaki MacBurger," for example_ This recent invention combines and yet keeps separate “Japanese' and “American'' food; the word “teriyaki makkubaagaa” is deliberately written on a]1 MacDonald's menues with ''teriyaki'' in hiragana and makkubaagaa'' in katakana. Hiragana marks the Japanese, and katakana the “other''(here,English). To write ''teriyaki'in katakana would be to foreignise a traditional food, and to write “baagaa'; in hiragana would be almost revolutionary. Even the English_Japanese word “poteto furai,''created in Japan and used only in Japan to mean “french fries,''is written in katakana only,and is mistakenly believed by many tobeof English origin. When paired with ''foreign''words on menues,however,as in side_ dish options like “bread or rice,''other conventions come into play. For example,when the presumably-native Japanese word ''gohan” (rice),is paired with 'pan''(bread)(a word actually from Portuguese but generally considered English),it always becomes raisu (“rice''in katakana). One may speculate that this habit derives from a desire to keep the set in a uniform script-here,katakana. But why nmst the native gohan be - 60 -

4 Forejgnjsatjon Part II:Writing the Outside Out (Sean Mahoney) dropped? why can it not influence the borrowed word Such that both may be written in hjragana? Does this imply that when the“fo「eign and the''native”mix,any result must be rendered “fo「elgn ? close examination of the hjragana = Japanese, katakana = fo「eign convention does however reveal exceptions. The largest Of these iS Of course the often_unrealised fact that the majority of WO「dS W「itten in combinations of hiragana and Chinese characters we「e bo「「Owed f「Om chinese In addition words that had been impo「ted long ago (e・g・ tobacco” borrowed from the Portuguese in the early EdOPe「iOd),and for which people have only a slight perception of the fact that they We「e borrowed,may also be written in hiragana (Nihongo 365)- Another exception,found particularly in comics but alSOelSeWhe「e, Involves “native words'rendered in katakana for emphasis. In Pa「tiCula「, onomatopoetic Japanese words usually appear in katakana,unless they represent smooth,calm,or unagitated actions or sounds (in Which Case hjragana is used.as in “sara_sara''- the sound of smooth WTiting,「 Of a babbling brook) This tendency promulgates an implicit 「elatiOnShiP between expressions and instances of force,roughness,and even Violence, and their representative script:katakana。 Hence,With 「ega「d to Comics, h1ragana appears to be reserved not only (as previously mentioned)fo「 things “Japanese but also for writing about the 「e Peaceful aspects Of experience Katakana,by contrast;has come to represent the fo「eign,the feared,and the unknown.

Both h1ragana and katakana derive from kanji (ChineSe Cha「acto「S), and only in the Middle Ages evolved and were divided into two distinct - 61 -

5 行政社会論集 第12巻 第1号 systems. Though a consciousness of what was “foreign” and “native'' was undoubtedly present when scholars translated Chinese writings (i.e. they knew Chinese texts were not from Japan),imported words were, until the early 1900's,a]1 written in kanji,as of course were the bulk of Japanese words and Chinese loans. Hiragana and katakana, or “manyougana''their precursor,were the simplified tom s of kanji whose readings could be assumed known3. Manyougana were written beside Chinese texts as shorthand to help one read Chinese characters according to Japanese pronunciation;but readers of course needed to learn these shorthand just as today's children need to learn hiragana and katakana. Among the educated elite,knowledge and usage of Chinese characters, or slightly-altered Japanese variants thereof, assumed paramount importance. Over time,the rate at which new character combinations and read_ ings had to be created and memorised to absorb the influx of Western_ language loanwords,however,proved increasingly troublesome,and the issue remained unsettled for some time. Meanwhile,manyougana had long since split into the more hiragana and the simpler,more standardised katakana. Children were,unfil l947,taught katakana first at schools,and most news items and other publications employed kanji and katakana.4 Hiragana had always been used in shodo (cat]igraphy) and poetry;but written forms of hiragana were of a wide variety,5 highly idiosyncratic (according to the teachings of each temple or even to the habits of individual scribes),and thus unsuitable and impractical for use in popular circulations. Katakana seems to have been regarded as ''softer,” and certainly more manageable for the average person,as its users had long made efforts to maintain a one_letter, one_phoneme - 62 -

6 Foreignisation Part II:Writing the Outside Out (Sean Mahoney) arrangement. As early as February 1902,.the Ministry of Education (Mombusho) had established an investigative committee to suggest and eventually determine appropriate procedures for handling those proper names which did not consist of Chinese characters (e.g_French,Russian,and English peoples'names and place names). The writing and reading of these names had become increasingly difficult, since characters needed to be selected whose Japanese readings (i.e. pronunciation according to Japanese phonemes)resembled those of the proper names in their native languages. Unfortunately, prioritising pronunciation (with a method known as “atoll”)usually required that one ignore the chosen characters meanings,while prioritising meaning (e.g. writing “Hollywood” with the characters for “holy” and 'wood") inevitably resulted in uncommon, special_case readings of composite characters for each proper name. Needless to say,this process consumed too much time and energy,and often produced cryptogrammic new words. Writers and readers alike longed for a less frustrating,.simpler method. Various solutions were close at hand. At least two main sets Of 'romaji';or (Roman_) alphabetised Japanese scripts had been created and were studied,but only by an elite few. Thus,hiragana and katakana presented themselves as the only practical alternatives for large-scale reform. Relief seemed to have arrived with the Ministry of Education's Cabinet decision on 16 November 1946,which stated that loanwords should be written in “kana”(Nihongo 198). But did this mean katakana or hiragana? A note appended to the meeting explained that the earlier “Standards for Written Language Usage in Government Offices,” issued - 63-

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17 June had already prescribed the use of hiragana and Chinese characters for sentences,and had stipulated that katakana be used to represent Western loanwords. A compilation of these standards known as the “Handbook of Standards for Written Language in Government Offices''was the upshot of a formal decision to simplify and standardise written Japanese,reached at a vice-ministers'meeting on 18 April 1946 (Nihongo 295). The stage had now been set,at least at bureaucratic levels,for a strict new language policy that would eventuany dictate a revision of written Japanese to people at all social levels. The ''Preface'' to ''Key Points Regarding the Creation of Public Writings” (in Atarashii Kouyoubun,the Ministry of Education's official summary of relevant government decisions),further explains that 1)the theme of simplifying the written language used in official works,as discussed on 17 June 1946,had been reviewed by Cabinet council,and that 2)a later report entitled ''Improvements for Public Writings,” an expansion on the above-mentioned “Standards,” was we11-received.Sub- sequently,on 5 April 1949,a notification of changes was issued through the Chief Cabinet Secretary's Office to individual government ministers. Government offices appear to have complied with the new instructions; but in order for this new system to work in society,the government had to ensure that hiragana and kanji- not katakana and kanji-would be used in everyday writings by the general public as well. There were of course some whe at first did not comply;but after the educational revisions of spring 1947,particularly that requiring hiragana to be studied first (from newly-issued texts),the Japanese written language gradually came to take its present form.

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8 Forejgnjsatjon Part II:Writing the Outside Out (Sean MahOney) Conclusion Thus,the current habit of writing (chiefly) Western IoanWO「dS in katakana only,and indeed of using hiragana and katakana to disc「im- jnate between words according to origin,is a recent phenomenon. It iS responsible for creating a perception of difference between g「cuPS Of words,peoples and ideas. The oral ]anguage,on the other hand,does not tag words or distinguish words in this way,and neither did the written language. But the new language policies,born Of a Seemingly innocuous intention to regularise Japanese;have forged and Continue to reinforce a consciousness of difference that is neither necesSa「y 「 helpful,particularly in light of Japan;s desire to internationalise. One practical way of returning to a less discriminating written ]anguage would involve dropping any insistence on the tagging Of WO「dS as'、'nature"or “foreign . This would result in a do-sensitised envi「Onment through which a more accepting written language could develop. The「e already exists a small yet significant number of exceptions to 「eCent convention A new strawberry_flavoured milk en the market,for example, called “jchjgomjluku,''uses hiragana for both the native “ichigo''(St「aW- berry) and “miliku'' (from the English, “milk''). One wOnde「S What instigated this and other examples of “deforeignisation,'whethe「 they shall exist only marginally and temporarily as fashionable abc「「atiOnS, or whether they may prove portent to transformation into an age in which people will not be preoccupied with the question “is it fo「eign?” Regardless,they at least remind us that habits of foreignisatiOn a「e malleable,are constructed and reconstructed,challenged and reinfO「Ced daily within societies,and that change is certainly possible, Finally,a rather ironic factor relating to the issue of foreigniSatiOn in - 65 -

9 行政社会論集 第12巻 第1号 the written language can be examined in light of the opening quotation of this work. The entire , an indispensible compo_ nent of the body of Japanese culture(s), itself was imported and is hence “foreign.” Chinese characters,the ultimate source of Japanese orthography,were not native to the early peoples of the archipelago,and thus any attempt to preserve a distinction between “native'and ''foreign ' must be taken as remarkably ironic. Recognition and acceptance of this fact could provide further impetus towards and indeed expedite the evolution of a less segregating written language.

Notes 1. “Foreignisation' can be defined as “the demarcation, whether do_ liberate accidental, or otherwise, of a person, idea, or object as foreign,''(“Foreignisation,''p.168). 2 Further,society also employs two calendars:an emperor_based timeline, which counts the years with respect to reigning emperors (e.g.''Showa 30,''the 30'h year in the reign of Emperor Showa (i_e. 1955)) and the Christian calendar_ News reports covering events that took place in Japan, or effected Japanese nationals outside Japan, are most commonly dated according to the emperor system,while world events, including dates of birth or death of non-Japanese people are always dated in the Christian calendar. 3. These characters ranged from simple shorthand In relatively ]ow_ numbered sets to extremely (and sometimes deliberately) difficult characters in sets of very wide breadth,depending on topic,institution, and individual authors_ 4. For a comprehensive description of changes made to the written language, see A i K un no T urik Koudansha, 1952 一 66 -

10 Foreignisation Part II:Writing the Outside Out (Sean Mahoney) Variant forms are now referred as “hentaigana_”

Works Cited Flett,Duncan.“Katakana Weilded Against Foreigners_” Editorial. Japan Times.Feb.22,1998.p.18_ Hara,Toshio,Norikazu Shiota,and Kiyouna,0umiya,eds.Atarashii Kouyou nno T urik Tokyo,Dai Nippon Yuubenkai Koudansha:1952 Kristeva, Julia Trans.Leon S.Roudiez。 New York Columbia University Press 1991 Mahoney, Sean. ''Foreignisation.” I R uu,Vol_11.No、1 Fukushima; Taiseidou Press, 1998 Takabe, Yoshiaki ih no li ouki Vol.29.Tokyo:Kadokawa Shoten, 1979.

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