When I first started learning Japanese I was told by so many people, most of who didn’t speak Japanese, that Japanese was very difficult and an extremely polite language. Most people who study Japanese would agree that Japanese is a polite language. However, my ten years of living in Japan taught me that Japanese speak the way they do to meet established social conventions and requirements. I am not so sure that this makes the language polite.
Politeness is best expressed as the practical application of good manners or etiquette. I have had plenty of experiences where Japanese have spoken “politely” to me, yet not been polite in the true sense of the word. Rather than polite, I think of the Japanese language as being more a language of several levels of formality.
Related posts
