by: division-ten
for: Japanese history
when: November, 2006 (This paper is old, pardon the structural errors)
length: 1,565 words
topic: Use of English in Japanese pop magazines
For decades, knowing English is essential in Japan, so much so that, “in the competitive marketplace of Japan, English test scores make or break job applications” (Traves). However, English has become more than simply a piece to put on a resume, especially for the younger generations. English based words have been infiltrating the Japanese vocabulary since the 19th century (French), but today, entire sentences can be strung together with Japanese-English and a few particles (French).
However, all these words are written out in ‘katakana’, the Japanese syllabary for foreign words. Still, many articles of print (especially those aimed at youth) will take this trend one step further; in modern Japanese magazines, such as anime magazines アニメディア (Animedia) and ニュタイプ (Newtype), seemingly random words are written out in English, even if a Japanese counterpart exists. This convention is used systematically for two different purposes: firstly, to sell a product in these magazines’ advertisements, and secondly, to use as a boldface for artistic headings in articles, sometimes completely ignoring the English meaning. These two uses of the English language in these magazines emphasize two modern Japanese traits. The first emphasizes the overbearing nature of the commercial market, and the second shows the “America is cool” mentality that is prevalent throughout Japanese pop culture.
First and foremost, in the initial creation of modern (Meiji era) Japan, English was not the only language to infiltrate Japanese vocabulary. German words became a staple in Japanese medical terminology, and French words were sometimes used for love (French). However, English became the primary language in popular and youth culture, which is then coupled with the fact that youth- especially teens with their first arbiet (part-time job) become a great source for marketers to tap.
The commercialist factor is easily seen in the advertisements these anime magazines have. Despite their colorful and stylized pictures depicting fantasy settings and various recreational pursuits like books and video games, the real thing that pops out to a person casually perusing these articles is the extensive amount of English phrases (in English alphabet, not katakana) peppering the otherwise Japanese text. Taking two anime magazines, Animedia and Newtype from August 2006, and doing a tally of the 31 advertisements in Animedia and 63 in Newtype, one finds that 22 ads are in English for Animedia and 49 in Newtype (not including advertisements where the only English is in website addresses, which are always written in the Roman alphabet). This amounts to 70.97% ads containing English in the first, and 77.78% in the second, which is more than simply incidental. Many of these, but not all, tell the reader the release date of a new product not in Japanese, but in bold, all-caps English phrases, the most common of which is “on sale”.
Furthermore, these advertisements are often not full pages, regardless of whether they contain this English catchphrase or not (although most do), but in tightly joined blocks that are often cramped for space. This sheer uniformity is very ‘in style’ with the Japanese consumer market, for as Kenichi Kawazaki, a professor at Komazawa University mentions, “In contemporary Japan, consumer life is of crucial importance to everyday life, even subjectively. Almost all consumer behaviors are regarded as productive behaviors, and much of what appeals to consumer tastes has become highly commercialized.” Even more so, the ‘Baby Boomer Jr.’ class in today’s Japanese society (those who are in their teens and twenties now) is often lumped together by marketers, much like the cramped advertisements that are the visible product thereof (Kawazaki). “The expressionism of the younger generations is not often connected with the inner… self [and therefore has] a superficial quality and [remains] conformist” (Kawazaki). Even though the advertisements seem colorful and different at first glance, they are all formatted in a similar fashion and use these same expressions like ‘on sale’.
Even the use of this phrase ‘on sale’ carries a different connotation than what the English word actually means, using the nature of commercialism and not the English meaning ‘to mark down the price’, but instead ‘available for purchase’, as a date always follows the English statement. A DVD set like the one seen on the August issue of Newtype for ¥7,140 (approximately $61.90) is not really ‘on sale’. However, a small number of these advertisements use the term ‘in store now’, although this is not grammatically correct. Thus, the marketers are not aiming for literary accuracy, but a direct and simple point- to sell their products regardless.
If this is the case for the advertisements, then what about the mangled English seen in the actual articles in these magazines? Simply put, this is the product of continual use of conversational ‘Japlish’. The Council on the Japanese Language, much like the Academie Francaise of France, was created to stem the excessive use of English (French). However, through the simple fact that English is a required course for all Japanese students, English remains engrained in the Japanese culture, thus it is also imbedded into its media.
In the two different magazines covered, with issues covering most of 2006 of each, two different types of English use in the actual articles are found, each with a distinct purpose. The first type is very similar to the type of English used in the advertisements mentioned previously; it is used as a header to grab the reader’s attention. Since it is large, bold, and in the Romanized alphabet while the actual article is in small blocks of less noticeable kanji, katakana, and hiragana writing, it provides a strong focal point to drive the reader down and through the pages, even if the English is not grammatically correct or the reader cannot understand it. Some words, surprisingly, have a tendency to be written out in English even when the Japanese counterpart is shorter and more easily recognizable to the target audience; one such example is ‘book’, used quite often in Animedia. Written as 本 in kanji and ほん in hiragana, the Japanese is far shorter than the English. Yet, the context makes it clear as to why this is so. The magazines are anime magazines, and the word ‘book’ is used in place of the kanji to emphasize a ‘tankouban manga’, or a comic book produced in paperback form. It is then through context that the word ‘book’ can become quite trendy, because, while it is not being used to directly advertise a product, the purpose of such a magazine is actually one big entertainment purchasing guide, from toys to comics and television shows.
However, it is the second use of English that is less prevalent that is the most interesting, and that is English used for a purely aesthetic value. Unlike the English used in the previous examples, this English is almost never used with proper grammar. Here the focus is not even on the reader’s ability to read the text, but the other reason to purchase an expensive glossy anime magazine- for the artwork. This text is most often found on the free items packaged with the magazines: posters, fold out books, fan art, and the like. Here the words become art, and with good reason. Although the Japanese language is an art in and of itself, the number of fonts one can use to write and type the language is extremely limited. In using Roman letters, the designer of these pieces coupled with the magazines has more freedom for expression; he or she is just not using it in the literary sense.
Japanese youth and pop culture, like most cultures, does not move in a vacuum, although it does move in a rather conformed line. The use of mangled English, for consumer or aesthetic value, clearly depicts these uses. Even this Roman-alphabet English (as opposed to the katakana English), after it has been filtered through the Japanese popular scene, is no longer “English” as we know it, with simple words and phrases like ‘on sale’ or ‘book’ taking on new connotations for their intended audience. Will it be that someday, in the future, teen magazines in Japan will cease to be in Japanese? Probably not, as the actual articles in all five of the magazines perused, none of the actual articles had a word of Roman English in them. English then, is simply a fad, an art form, and a striking boldface and little more. English as a written language communicating passages is what is really lost.
Primary sources
Newtype May. 2006.
Newtype August. 2006.
アニメディア June. 2006.
アニメディア August. 2006.
アニメディア September. 2006.
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