Globish, Technology, and the Plight of the Japanese Language

The use of “I” in the English language often diminishes the objectivity of the speaker’s ideas, but in light of the widespread use of English in vast sectors of the international market — and even in the influence it has on global pop culture — I would feel it only appropriate to address such an issue with the acknowledgment that especially in matters of language (a phenomenon constantly reinvented and manipulated by cultural factors in often unpredictable ways), there is no absolutely correct interpretation that could satisfy all the questions language endeavors to answer.

The topic I refer to in this instance is an issue raised by an article in The New York Times, in which Emily Parker explores how technology has contributed to the “dumbing down” of the Japanese language by limiting the amount of native vocabulary used in everyday situations, thereby reducing the overall richness of the language. Parker’s article implies that much of the damage done to the Japanese language is compounded within the reality of a world dominated by English.

Without a doubt one of the most significant byproducts of globalism is indeed English.  Retired IBM executive Jean-Paul Nerriere first coined the term “Globish” to characterize the phenomenon associated with the role English has played as a global language.  According to Nerriere, “It is not a language, it is a tool… A language is the vehicle of a culture.  Globish doesn’t want to be that at all. It is a means of communication.”

In many countries proficiency in English to any extent has become a necessity for getting a job, even in nations where English is hardly a second language. In the case of highly-developed countries like Japan, English has permeated beyond the functional necessity of minimal competence and into the core of pop culture, which has propagated basic English usage within the substructure of non-English languages.

From billboards to music videos, it is virtually impossible to escape the presence of this essentially “non-native” language. Even in normal everyday conversations, it is commonplace to hear a plethora of borrowed English terms used regularly: hot, stop, blue, communication, music, elegant, shopping, idea, regular, etc.  The list goes on and on.  From this overwhelming level of inundation, it would only be natural to conclude that the Japanese language as we know it is in essence succumbing to the effects of Globish.

However, I believe this only to be a reflection of the larger picture at hand, that Japanese culture is succumbing to the effects of long-term globalism.  In that aspect, I must emphasize that what Japan is experiencing right now with Globish is in no way unique or isolated.

There’s a song from a number of years back performed by the German band Rammstein that declares emphatically that as far as the world is concerned “we’re all living in America.” Such a state-of-mind continues to grow more relevant as entire nations progressively lose their national character (of which local language is a key component) to an English-dominant global culture.  Perhaps the final verse, “this is not a love song, I don’t sing my mother tongue” serves as a disconcerting foreshadowing of the future Globish may one day bring about on a worldwide scale.

What further facilitates this invasion of global culture and language is the sole fact that the use of English is, for lack of a better term, considered “cool” in a significant number of non-English speaking countries, including Japan.  This phenomenon is no less apparent than in the realm of local pop music culture.

Ellegarden, one of the most wildly popular Japanese bands of this decade, was known for writing their lyrics exclusively in English even though their primary audience base was Japanese.

Even most other artists who sing primarily in Japanese tend to insert English phrases in their lyrics.  One example is Thelma Aoyama‘s 2008 hit single, “Soba Ni Irune.” Below is an excerpt from the first 5 lines:

※あなたのこと　私は今でも思い続けているよ
いくら時流れて行こうと　I’m by your side baby いつでも
So.　どんなに離れていようと
心の中ではいつでも一緒にいるけど　寂しいんだよ
So baby please　ただ hurry back home※

I’ve left the Japanese portions as is to help emphasize the level to which English is visibly used.  This is only an example of the marginal use of English in non-English lyrics, but it is still striking in the sense that it would indicate that a great deal of artists in Japan and other non-English speaking countries feel it necessary to regularly employ English in their songwriting, even if it is limited to brief phrases and cliches. That is more or less comparable to if mainstream Western artists like Lady GaGa and the Black Eyed Peas felt the need to regularly use Spanish phrases in their lyrics to appeal to their American audience.

The point is that the only major countries where the effects of English are not felt are those where English is spoken as a native language, and if anything these countries have in a sense become the transmitters of global culture at large. American writer and historian Alex Haley has been accredited with the famous quote, “History is written by the winners.” However, if the phrase could be amended I feel it would be appropriate to add that the winners also decide what is popular.

In Japan and many other countries, the masses have embraced such global ideals, and the accompanying cost to their native languages is apparent.  What remains to be asked then is, what exact effect has English, a.k.a. Globish, had on lesser dominant languages such as Japanese? I will focus on this question next time when I address the correlation between the evolution of new technologies and its effect on the Japanese language.

READ PART TWO

David Bahia is a writer-translator living and working in Tokyo.