Reply to comment

Sat, 2010-08-28 16:03 — Friendly Visitor (not verified)

repentance

Hello! I loved reading your explanation. I have been fixated on this word for sometime after my friend sent me a poster with Kaizen on it. It was mundane in its translation, improvement, but I still loved it and thought it was applicable to my life and personal philosophy. Live each day stepping forward and striving to be better everyday. One day when I was living in SF I went to a favorite donut shop and the owner was a Japanese lady. I asked her what the Kanji said and she said, "repent!" Knowing that I was in seminary I assume she was led to that translation. I asked my friend who is in Japan and married to a Nihonjin and he researched and said there is no actual word for repent but the word they use for repent but it simply means ask forgiveness. He said that she probably was more spot on with Kaizen as a translation for repentance. Would you agree?

Reply

Liked this page?

Home Japan Glossary

New words, and new uses of old words, appearing on this site:

Culturology

For lack of a better word, "culturology" is what I label a particular brand of fascination with, and practice of, "cross-cultural comparison". (Suggestions for a better name are welcome!)

Not cultural comparison as it can be in theory: an objective, even interesting, examination of different cultures. Rather, I use "culturology" to mean cultural comparison as it too often appears in practice: subjective and unscientific nonsense, with a good story taking precedence over facts.

Or, for a pithier definition: Culturology is the dogged effort to dig up and exhibit "cultural differences" whether they exist or not.

Culturologists

The uncritical practitioners of culturology, whether academics, writers, or just general fans of "cultural difference" tales not hampered by critical examination.

Japanology

This has a general meaning of "the study of things Japanese"; here I use it to mean culturology as applied to Japan. It's closely tied to Nihonjinron, with all negative connotations intact.

Japanologist

The uncritical believers – Japanese or otherwise – of elements of Japanology.

Japander

With a friendly nod to Japander.com, which has long applied the word to the commercial appearances of Hollywood stars in Japan, I use the verb in a way closer to the original "pander": to Japander is to tell the Japanologists the silliness they love to hear. "I think Japanese developed as the world's most complex language, thanks to Japan's unique four seasons" – that's Japandering.

Traveler's Law #1

"Any exposition pointing out 'cultural contrasts' must contain at least one bit of unsupported silliness."

Traveler's Law #2

"Any statement beginning with 'the Japanese' (or 'the French', 'Ghanaians', 'Asians', 'Westerners', whatever) is 99% certain to be a dumb statement."

words in quotes

Words like "Westerner" and "the East" may appear in quotes to emphasize their inherent silliness. A claim that "the Japanese" are baffled by some "Western mindset" regarding a "cultural difference" that doesn't even exist, is deserving of all those mocking quotes.

Learning Japanese?

Wisdom from a 25-year learner:

Home Japan