In reality, Japan, like any other nation, is an ocean of diversity, home to multiple minority groups. One of these groups is Japan’s indigenous people, or the Ainu. Don’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of the Ainu. In fact, many Japanese themselves are unaware of the existence of their own country’s indigenous people.

But why? For hundreds of years, the Ainu have been either ignored, discriminated against, or forced to assimilate with mainstream Japanese culture. Obviously, none of these circumstances are favorable for propagating cultural stability or awareness. And unfortunately, this has led the Ainu language and culture to the brink of extinction.

However, with the government’s (long awaited) official recognition of the Ainu as Japan’s indigenous people in 2008, it appears that there has been a revival of Ainu pride among the few Ainu that remain, as they desperately try to preserve what culture they have left. Here, I hope to outline some of the most important aspects of the Ainu language and briefly touch upon the culture in hopes to bring light to one facet of Japan’s diversity.

The Origins of the Ainu

The Ainu people are historically residents of parts of Hokkaido (the Northern island of Japan) the Kuril Islands, and Sakhalin. According to the government, there are currently 25,000 Ainu living in Japan, but other sources claim there are up to 200,000. The origin of the Ainu people and language is, for the most part, unknown. However, there have been many theories on the subject.

One theory suggests that the Ainu people are remnants of the Jomon-jin, or the hunter-gathers who inhabited Japan during the Jomon Period (14,500 BC – 300 AD) and perhaps even before. Around the year 300 AD, another group of immigrants known as the Yayoi people made their way to the islands of Japan, introducing new agricultural techniques and technology and integrating with the Jomon people. It is believed that the Yayoi group may not have reached as far as the Northern island of Hokkaido, allowing the Jomon hunter-gatherer way of life to survive in that area.

The model of a Jomon period boy

One Ainu myth claims that “They lived in this place a hundred thousand years before the Children of the Sun came.” It’s interesting that this myth seems consistent with the theory of the Ainu descending from Jomon-jin. More recent research suggests that the historical Ainu culture could have come about through the merging of the Okhotsk culture and the Sastumon, a Jomon group very similar to the Ainu.

Physically, the Ainu stand out distinctly from the Japanese as a separate ethnic group. Ainu people tend to have light skin, a stout frame, deep-set eyes with a European shape, and thick, wavy hair. Full-blooded Ainu may have even had blue eyes or brown hair. In the past, the Ainu were proposed to be of Caucasian decent, given their appearance, but recently it has been proved through dental morphology and fingerprinting that the Ainu are in fact Mongoloid, not Caucasoid.

An old Ainu man

These days, the concept of a pure Ainu is very blurred. Distinguishing the Ainu from other Japanese is almost impossible due to intermarriage with the Japanese, migration, and denial of the Ainu identity to avoid discrimination.

Ainu Culture

You can see just by the appearance of the Ainu that traditional Ainu culture is significantly different from Japanese culture. First of all, both men and women keep their hair at shoulder length and wear traditional Ainu garb. Men, never shaving after a certain age, usually have full beards, and women undergo mouth tattooing to signify their coming to adulthood.

As hunter-gatherers, the Ainu lived off of the land. Common foods included deer, bear, rabbit, fox, salmon, root vegetables, and much more. Unlike the Japanese, the Ainu always cooked their food, never eating anything raw. Common hunting weapons included poisoned spears and bow and arrows.

One way that the Ainu were similar to the Japanese is in the way of religion. The Ainu, just like the Japanese people, were animists and believed that all things are inhabited by spirits known as kamuy. While there are many gods in Ainu belief, one of the most important is known as Kim-un Kamuy, or the god of bears and the mountains. All animals are thought to be the manifestations of gods on Earth in Ainu culture, however, the bear is believed to be the head of gods and is therefore known as kamuy, or “God.”

Traditionally, the Ainu sacrificed bears in order to release the kamuy within them to the spirit world. One tradition, called lotame, involves the raising of a young bear cub as if it were an Ainu child and then sacrificing once it has come of age.

a tourist with two Ainu people and a bear

During the Tokugawa Period (1600-1868) the Ainu became increasing involved in trade with the Japanese. At this time, they were able to maintain their culture and way of life to a certain extent, although there is some evidence that the Ainu became slaves.

However, the Meiji restoration brought great change upon the Ainu people in 1899. As Japan began reforming to Western standards, the government decided to unify Japan by annexing the Northern island of Hokkaido and creating a law that restricted the Ainu from participating in their own cultural activities. In other words, the Ainu people were stripped of their land, customs, and language in hopes that they would assimilate to Japanese culture. It wasn’t until 1997 that this law was lifted and the Ainu people were allowed to practice their own customs again, but by that time, much of the damage was done.

The Ainu Language: Something Unique

The indigenous language of Japan is, much like the Ainu people, of unknown origins. With the restrictions placed on the use of the language in 1899, Ainu speakers have all but disappeared. Today the language is said to have less than 15 “native” speakers, all of which are above he age of 60, making Ainu a “critically endangered” language. Originally, the Ainu language had three main dialects: Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and Kuril. However, the Hokkaido dialect is the only one that survives today.

One interesting point about Ainu is that it does not have a written form. The language has lived by being passed down from parent to child for countless years and has historically been transcribed using Japanese kana. The lack of a writing system has of course hindered the ability of the Ainu to preserve their language after it was banned, and the use of Japanese kana has even influenced some Ainu pronunciations. Even so, the language has been able to live in the tradition of Ainu story telling, or Yukar, the language of which is mutually understood by all Ainu groups and is known as Classical Ainu.

Here is an example of a Yukar, or epic story, using Classical Ainu:

In the past, there have been many attempts to place Ainu and Japanese in the same language group, but such claims have been shot down again and again. As of now, there is no widely accepted theory regarding the relationship of Ainu to any other language and it is therefore known as a language isolate.

If you look closely at Japanese and Ainu, it is tempting to conclude the two languages are related, however, there are four features of Ainu that mark it as distinctly different from Japanese:

1. Person is marked on predicates (person is expressed in predicates)
2. Ainu is a polysynthetic language (ideas my be expressed through “sentence words”)
3. There are no verbal inflections (verbs are not changed to express tense)
4. There are verbal suffixes for plurals (plural forms are expressed in verbs)

One of the most prominent features of Ainu is the fact that it is a polysynthetic language. In other words, Ainu is a language in which main ideas are expressed through words composed of smaller word parts with individual meanings, also known as “sentence words”. A basic example of this would be the Ainu word ku-pirka, meaning “I am good.” A more extreme example would be the Yupik word tuntussuqatarniksaitengqiggtuq which means “He had not yet said again that he was going to hunt reindeer.” Interestingly enough, the polysyntheitic nature of Ainu is very similar to the languages of many North American indigenous groups.

So what does Ainu sound like? To the untrained ear, Ainu might sound a lot like Japanese. Just like Japanese, the Ainu language is an SOV (subject, object, verb) language using the five vowels a, i, u, e, and o. However, Ainu only has twelve consonants, excluding d, b, g from Japanese, and vowels are never elongated. In fact, Ainu does not differentiate between several consonants, such as b and p, and in this way it is more similar to Korean.  Another way in which Ainu is significantly different from modern Japanese is that it avoids vowel sequences. In order to avoid vowels “touching,” semi-vowels such as y or w are inserted between them. Sometimes vowels are even pronounced more like consonants, such as in the word Ainu where the “a” is pronounced with a glottal stop.

If you want to hear recordings of the Ainu language or learn some for yourself, check out this great Ainu talking dictionary.

Revitalizing Indigenous Spirit

For nearly 100 years the Ainu people lived in Japan under a policy of extinction by assimilation. They were forbidden by the Japanese government to practice Ainu customs or even speak their own language in hopes that the Ainu would vanish from the face of the planet, but did they succeed? With so few Ainu speakers left and many Ainu denying their own heritage to avoid discrimination, you might say so, but things seem to be looking up lately for Japan’s indigenous people.

The year 1994 marked a great turning point for the Ainu people, as the first ever Ainu, Shigeru Kayano, entered the Japanese diet. Shigeru dedicated his life to promoting the well-being and awareness of the Ainu people. It was thanks to him as well as other supporters that the law forbidding Ainu culture was lifted in 1997. Since then, government funding and cultural freedom has allowed the Ainu people to start regaining and preserving their precious way of life through Ainu language courses, radio stations, and public performances.

Below is a woman playing the tonkori, a traditional Ainu instrument:

Still more recent landmarks in Ainu history include the official recognition of the Ainu as the indigenous people of Japan in 2008 and the formation of the Ainu political party in 2012. It seems that while there is still some discrimination of the Ainu people, those who rejected their heritage before are beginning to admit it openly or even embrace their identity with pride.  A great example of this is the band known as The Ainu Rebels. This band is a group of proud young Ainu who have mixed hip-hop and traditional Ainu music, and I have to say, I’m a fan.

Although the Ainu culture is on the brink of extinction, it seems that more and more effort is going into bringing it back to life. These days, young Ainu such as The Ainu Rebels are doing their best to create a new identity for their people and a Japan more open to minorities. Since the depth of the Ainu culture and language can’t be expressed in so few words, I recommend reading more about them or, if possible, experiencing Ainu culture for yourself.

“Don’t celebrate Halloween in Japan?” Honestly, I was a bit shocked to hear that since Japan is so big into some other Western holidays such as Christmas and Valentine’s Day. As a big Halloween fan, I prepared myself to spend the coming October in a sadly terror-free land (oh, the first world problems ;_;). So, you can imagine my surprise when I was greeted by tacky black cat cardboard cut-outs and plastic jack-o-lanterns in literally every konbini (convenience store) and shopping mall I found myself wondering through.”Well, this is a pleasant surprise.” I thought, thinking back on what my friends had told me. I would have called them liars-liars-pants on fire, however, their claim would have been true only a few years back.

The truth is, Halloween is a very recent development in Japanese culture. That’s right, 10 years ago, Halloween was viewed as the day when scary gaijin (foreigners) would randomly roam the streets in outrageous costumes, haphazardly drink on public transportation, and perhaps accidentally summon satan (or a lesser oni) along the way. Nowadays, however, it’s not abnormal to see people on the streets decked out in their Halloween swag a week before the 31st. In short, it’s taken just a few years for Halloween to effortlessly go from an alien blood ritual to a legitimate holiday with all the toppings. The question is: why?

Japanese Theme Parks: Halloween Ambassadors

Up until about ten years ago, the only sign of Halloween in Japan was the occasional sighting of Jack Skellington on living room TVs. In other words, people heard about it through movies and other popular media sources, but Halloween still remained a foreign concept for quite a long time.

However, that all changed as soon as Tokyo Disney decided it was time to spread the party (and make more moolah). In 1997 Tokyo Disney had its first  ”Disney Happy Halloween,” inviting all guests to take part in the festivities. Although it took a couple years to spread the word, Japanese people started to become excited about this new tradition, and in 2000 Tokyo Disney was able to have its first “Halloween Twilight Parade” featuring 400 visitors and Disney characters in costume.

As Japanese people already had a fascination with Disneyland, it was easy to make the concept of Halloween seem enchanting and magical. Every year after 1997 the Halloween celebration has grown as word of mouth has spread, and now the party starts as early as late September. Of course, Disney isn’t hogging the fun all to itself. In 2002, Universal Studios crashed the party and introduced “Hollywood Halloween,” another major success. Together, these two theme parks have contributed to bringing the Halloween tradition to Japan.

Cosplay: We’ve Already Won This Contest

These girls are looking . . . foxy? Wouldn’t you say?

Although Tokyo Disney and other amusement parks sparked Japan’s interest in Halloween, it would be crazy to owe it’s growing popularity to them alone. Of course, there are other reasons why the tradition has spread like wildfire in the past decade. For example, there are many ways in which Japanese culture nicely meshes with the concept of Halloween, making it easy for the Japanese to adopt it as their own. One of the most obvious points is the appreciation of costuming.

I mean, just think about it. We’re talking about the country that gave the world the gift of cosplay. So, it’s only natural that a tradition involving costuming would catch on eventually. This might be playing into stereotypes too much, but seriously, can you imagine Japan turning down any excuse to run around the streets in a pikachu suit. I can’t.

The fact that many Japanese street fashions fit so seamlessly into Halloween aesthetics also makes it easy for Japanese people to participate in the festivities. Into Lolita fashion? Great! All you need to do is walk out of your front door and you’re part of the party. Plus, who would turn down the opportunity to dress in scantily clad outfits while still being accepted into mainstream society? Apparently, not the Japanese (or anyone else I know for that matter).

Scary Stories? Sure, We’ve Got Them, Too.

Another way in which Japanese culture meshes nicely with Halloween is the fact that it strongly resembles Japan’s own tradition of Obon. “Obon?” you ask. In summary, Obon is a Buddhist tradition in which families honor the return of the spirits of their ancestors. Although Obon takes place in mid-August, it too is a time for appreciation of the supernatural and is sometimes even called the “ghost season.”

As you can imagine, during “ghost season” people are especially aware of scary happenings, and ghost stories can be heard pretty much everywhere. Besides this, the Japanese have always appreciated a good scary story – just take a look at all the horror movies in Japan’s film scene.

Halloween just offers another opportunity to indulge in all the spooky spectacles anyone could ever dream of – just pick you poison. The difference, though, comes from the fact that Halloween is a recently imported holiday and that takes off some of the cultural edge that Obon carries. So instead of terrifying yuurei, or the vengeful spirits of Buddhist tradition, you’re dealing with harmless, and even sometimes cute, obake, or ghosts. For this reason, some people have called Halloween “The children’s Obon.”

In mean, you can actually tell your kids about Casper without mentally scarring them for the rest of their lives. Yuurei on the other hand? *shutters*

Halloween in English Classrooms: Because We Would Die of Boredom Otherwise

As many people know already, English is a required subject in Japanese school systems. Therefore, everyone has to learn it (or at least pretend that they are learning it) these days whether they like it or not. Not only that, but the age in which children start learning their ABC’s was recently lowered from middle school to the 5th year of primary school in 2011. By 2020, they’ll be beginning their English educations in 3rd grade. What I’m trying to say is that children are learning English from a very young age (and it’s only getting younger).

So, what does this have to do with Halloween? Well, I don’t know about you, but at the age of 10 it was pretty hard to keep my attention, and last time I checked, learning English in Japan is just about as exciting as watching an episode of “Days of Our Lives” with your grandmother . . . while waiting in the dentist’s office. So, something had to be done to keep kids semi-conscious during English class, and what better way to do it than by giving them obscene amounts of candy, I mean, by giving them a healthy cultural education.

And so, Halloween was born into the public education system. Thanks to the Japanese school system, no more will your おばあさん (grandmother) throw you into the funny farm when you come home demanding to carve pumpkins together or asking what costume she is going to make you this year. Well, she might consider it, but in all seriousness, cultural education in English classrooms from a young age is vastly contributing to the familiarization of Western holidays such as Halloween.

Halloween in Japan: Putting a Spin on Things

Hooray! So, Halloween has become somewhat of “a thing” in Japan. All my dreams have come true. But, that doesn’t mean Halloween is exactly what you would expect. Like anything else, Halloween has changed a little here and there as it’s crossed borders, and of course, Japan has put it’s own spin on things.

The first thing I noticed about Halloween in Japan is that things are noticeably less scary and a whole lot more “Hello Kitty” (surprise, surprise). You might see a little ketchup-like blood on some costumes here and there, but the scare factor doesn’t reach anywhere near what it is in the USA. I mean, my Halloween decorations include a transparent, mixed-berry scented candle decorated with cripplingly cute black kittens and a plastic pumpkin with a smiley face on it. That was the best I could do.

In general, there is a lot more focus put on merchandising and the novelty of the whole thing, and that gives Halloween a totally different flavor (one can only take so much Halloween Hello Kitty…). For example, on a trip to the grocery store you might see pumpkin shaped bread filled with kabocha, or Japanese pumpkin, seasonally flavored Kit-Kats, or better yet, something like this:

In terms of events there are a few large Halloween parties and parades in Japan such as the Kawasaki Halloween Parade in which about 4,000 people participate by dancing and costuming.  However, don’t be surprised if you hear Rihanna or Lady Gaga rather than the Monster Mash at a Japanese Halloween celebration.

On a smaller scale, there are plenty of Halloween events in various cities. Whether it’s bar crawling events or sexy costume contests, you’re bound to have a blast. Unfortunately however, the tradition of trick-or-treating has yet to catch on except for in a few strictly controlled areas, which in my opinion takes all the fun out of it.

Costumes in Japan are exactly what you might imagine, and more. Common costumes include popular anime characters, full-body suits and onesies, men in cross-play, Japanese fashion trends such as lolita, sexy nurses and cat girls, and well, the plain bizarre. The fun thing about seeing costumes in Japan is that you can see culturally specific things you would never see in other countries. My personal favorite in this group is gokiburi-san (Mr. cockroach). Below is a picture of the Japanese onesie fashion, Halloweenified!

In short, Halloween in Japan is highly commercialized and has a lot to do with seasonal marketing, but it is also a fun way for people to let their hair down without all the cultural subtext. Although it is not celebrated by everyone, it seems that Halloween is gaining significant popularity with each coming year. Personally, I’m very excited to see where Halloween will go and what spin Japan will put on it next.

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Here, let me paint a picture for you.

A crisp autumn morning, salarymen heading toward their places of work pace past you; a group of school boys loiter around the sidewalk, cackling at something unknown; a women meanders around you on her bike when – oops! – you notice her wallet drop. “Sumimasen!” you yell, scooping up the wallet and running after her. “Sumimasen!” The woman’s brakes screech to a stop as she finally hears you, and she turns slightly to see what the commotion is about. “Ah! Sumimasen!” she exclaims as you reach her, wallet in hand.

If we were to translate the word “sumimasen” in the above situation into English, we could say that the best interpretation of the first use of the word, when you try to get the attention of the women, is “Excuse me!” However, the second use of the word, when the women receives her wallet, might be better translated as “Thank you.”

If you’ve been to Japan before then I’m sure you’ve realized that sumimasen is one of those words that you just can’t help but notice. Sumimasen, also often pronounced suimasen or sumasen when speaking, is one of the first words learners of Japanese pick up not only because it’s taught early on, but because it’s used so often and in so many situations.

Although most students of Japanese learn the word sumimasen as “excuse me” or “I’m sorry,” this versatile expression is laden with cultural background and can actually carry many subtle shades of meaning when thrown into the various contexts of Japanese interaction.

So why is sumimasen used so often and what does it actually mean? Well, several linguists have asked themselves that very same question and tried to answer it. I’m going to try my best to summarize some of their findings and describe the uses of sumimasen, an expression so important to the Japanese language and culture.

Sumimasen: What it is?

So, let’s get nerdy for a second (ok, for a while) and start off by asking ourselves one thing: what is sumimasen? From a sociolinguistics perspective, as you might guess from hearing the word so often in daily interactions, sumimasen is a ritual expression. In other words, the repeated use of sumimasen is often times more of a social routine than an expression of legitimate emotion. So, although it may seem like the Japanese are entirely too apologetic given all that sumimasen flying about, it’s really more about common courtesy.

According to this pretty sweet linguist Goffman, ritual expressions like sumimasen can be broken down into two sub-fields in linguistics: remedial expressions and supportive expressions.

Remedial expressions are those used when there has been a potential offence between two individuals. So, when you sling a paper bag of flaming dog excrement onto your poor old neighbor’s porch this Halloween, the appropriate remedial expression would be “I’m sorry.”

The second type of expressions, supportive expressions, are those ritual exchanges we use on a daily basis to maintain somewhat normal relationships with the people in our lives such as friends and family. An example of this would be using greetings when meeting other individuals, like, “Why, hello! How are you today?” instead of saying nothing and sulking by wearing the expression of someone who just sat on a cactus.

Most of the time, a ritual expression will fit into one of the two categories, remedial or supportive. For example, the expression “I’m sorry” would be remedial, while the expression “Thank you” would be supportive.

However, sumimasen is just so hard core it breaks all the rules. Another great linguist, Risako Ide, showed this by finding seven uses of sumimasen in recorded public conversations at a doctor’s office. She found that sumimasen is a unique expression in that it functions as both a remedial expression, and supportive expression, and everything in between.

When To Use Sumimasen

Sumimasen is a formal expression, so most of the time it is used in public conversations. For that reason, most research on sumimasen has been done in public settings, just as Risako Ide did using recordings from a waiting room in a doctor’s office.

Below I’ve listed the 7 functions of sumimasen according to Risako Ide. Separating the uses of sumimasen into definable groups makes it clear that the expression means more than “I’m sorry” or “excuse me” to the Japanese people.

1. Sincere Apology

Originally the expression sumimasen was used only as an expression of apology, such as gomennasai, or more formally, moushiwake gozaimasen. Therefore, using sumimasen as a sincere apology is pretty straight forward. You can use it when you’ve really messed up and you want to make a legitimately apology.

Friend: Hey, you ate all my matcha Kit-Kats again didn’t you!?
You: sumimasen.

I sincerely regret this. Therefore, using sumimasen is a perfectly viable option.

2. Thanks and Apology

While one use of sumimasen is a flat out sincere apology, it can also be used to express a sense of mixed regret and thankfulness. Say what? Perhaps you’ve run into this situation in Japan, or any other place for that matter:

You’re in line at seven eleven patiently waiting to purchase your dinner, a pack of Take no Ko (chocolate covered cookies) and a bottle of Calpis. You get to the front of the line, and the clerk rings up your selections to a total of 310 yen, so you hand her 400. “You don’t have 10 yen?” she asks hesitantly. “Oh, yes, I do.” you reply, digging in your wallet and then eventually dumping over your entire book bag to scrounge up the change. “Sumimasen,” the clerk repeats over and over again.

If you’ve been in this situation in Japan before, you might have thought the clerk apologized one too many times for a favor as small as requesting exact change. However, in this context, while the clerk may regret making you scrounge for an extra 10 yen, she is most likely expressing her gratitude to you for going through the trouble to help her out.

In this sense, sumimasen has the ability to express both a sense of regret and thankfulness. In fact, using sumimasen in situations involving debt to another like the one above could be regarded as a more polite thank you than arigatou, as it shows the speaker’s awareness of the other person’s trouble and also adds a tone of humbleness.

3. Making a Request

Sumimasen can also be used prior to making a request of someone. This use of sumimasen is similar to “excuse me” in English, as in “Excuse me, but could you please pass me the biscuits? They look so swell.” You might come across this in Japanese if you are required to pay a fee for something, or if someone asks to barrow money from you.

Using sumimasen to make a request would classify it as a remedial expression in that it attempts to downplay any offense someone might feel in the given situation. In this way, it is also similar to the English expressions “do you mind if” or “could you please.” So, if you need to ask someone a favor and you want to be a bit more subtle than “DO THIS OR DIE,” you might consider using sumimasen.

4. Getting Attention

Hey! Heeeey! Do I have your attention? Up until now all the uses of sumimasen we’ve discussed have been related to feelings of regret and thankfulness. However, using sumimasen does not always denote one’s pouring out of emotions.

Sumimasen can function as an attention-getter. While there are many other conversation starters in Japanese such as ano, konnichiwa, or even clearing your throat, sumimasen is often used between people who are not familiar with each other, making it the polite way to get someone’s attention. This is the same sumimasen we used in the story at the beginning of this post when the woman dropped her wallet, and it is identical to English’s “excuse me” used when talking to a stranger.

5. Taking Leave

Opposite of getting someone’s attention, sumimasen is also used when ending a conversation or taking leave. A typical conversation closing might look like this:

Dracula: Ja, sumimasen
Frankenstein: A, odaiji ni

Dracula: Well then, I’m off.
Frankenstein: Oh, take care then.

When using sumimasen as either a conversation opener or closer, how grateful or regretful you feel becomes somewhat irrelevant. At this point, sumimasen is more of a routine expression than anything else. And since it is being used as a greeting and no offense is involved, it has become a supportive expression rather than a remedial one.

However, since there are other greetings used to open and close conversations such as konnichiwa or sayoonara, sumimasen does still display a slight sense of thankfulness or regret for the attention that the speaker received in conversation.

6. Affirmative Response

As sumimasen leans more and more on the side of a supportive expression rather than a remedial expression, the meaning of sumimasen becomes more and more vague, making it difficult to translate and understand if you haven’t been marinated in Japanese culture.

Another function of sumimasen is to confirm something or respond to someone in an affirmative manner. Here’s an example:

Imagine that you are at the bank, sitting with a group of people waiting to be served at the counter. Suddenly, the man next to you is called. “Ieda-san! Omataseitashimashita (thank you for waiting)!” the clerk shouts, and the man responds with “sumimasen.”

Sumimasen? The first thing I would be thinking is “what in the world has this man done wrong?!” Absolutely nothing. Saying sumimasen in this context allows the man to respond to the clerk in a face-to-face situation while also acknowledging the fact that she is going through the trouble to call him and give him service.

In other words, using sumimasen here is the polite way to respond “OK” or “yes.” Honestly, this can be tricky to wrap your mind around if you’re not too familiar with Japanese culture, but it’s not uncommon to hear.

7. Ritual Greeting / Exchange of Acknowledgement

At this point, we are the furthest distance away from a sincere apology, the original function of sumimasen, that we can get. It’s all ritualistic yakking from here on out. Imagine the following:

A woman goes to the department store to buy a new bicycle which requires her to fill out a registration card. After she fills it out, and the clerk assisting her checks it, the clerk returns it saying “sumimasen,” and of course, she replies, “sumimasen.”

So much sumimasen. Does it even mean anything anymore? The first sumimasen is similar to number six, an affirmative response, as he acknowledges the fact that the registration card is complete. The second sumimasen? Perhaps a polite way of a receiving the card.

Whatever it is, the most basic way of looking at sumimasen in this context is as a “symbolic gesture of concern.” I guess awkward silences have to be filled somehow, and sumimasen just happens to be the way to do it. In a way, you could compare this use of sumimasen to high school students greeting each other in the hallway with “sup?” in the sense that it is only a symbol of acknowledgment and has no real meaning.

What It All Means

Alright, so I’m sure that you get it by now: sumimasen is used heavily in Japanese communication. As you can see from the examples above, this one word is used to express many ideas besides “I’m sorry.”

However, all functions of sumimasen do have one thing in common: the “acknowledgment of indebtedness to others in society.” Understanding this, we can clearly see how some Japanese societal values are reflected linguistically in the term sumimasen.

Japanese society is highly concerned with indebtedness towards others and also the individual’s social role in public. Even very small favors have the effect of forming mutual debts and responsibilities between members of the society.

The priority put on public appearance and debt in Japanese society is perhaps the reason why the term sumimasen is used so often in public interactions; it allows Japanese speakers to put themselves in a humble position and show their “debt” in many circumstances. Could this high prioritization of “debt”  be the reason why the term sumimasen is more polite in places where alternative expressions such as “thank you” would normally be said in English and many other languages?

What do you think? Do you see any connections between Japanese values and sumimasen? How do you feel about it being used so often? Is there anything similar to this expression in your language?

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Sorry for your kindness’: Japanese interactional ritual in public discourse

In some places, brushing your teeth once a day might be considered more than enough, but in other places, brushing only once could be considered a disgrace!

In Japan, the saying “cleanliness is next to godliness” might be the best way to describe tooth brushing culture. People are generally expected to brush their teeth after every meal, or as many as three times a day. Brushing your teeth may sound simple enough, but every place has their own thoughts on the subject, too. Let’s take a look at tooth brushing, or hamigaki, from the Japanese perspective.

The History of Hamigaki

Believe it or not, toothbrushes as we know them today haven’t been around forever, but that doesn’t mean that no one cleaned their teeth in the past. Before the invention of modern synthetic toothbrushes, people turned to nature for the tools to polish up their pearly whites.

In ancient times, the Japanese relied on toothpicks or tassel made from branches with antibacterial qualities to clean their teeth. It’s unclear when the Japanese picked up this habit, however, in Japanese Buddhist scriptures there is a story in which Buddha throws a used toothpick to the ground, causing a large tree to sprout forth from the earth. Therefore, toothpicks must have been in use shortly after the introduction of Buddhism to Japan at the latest.

In 1223, the Zen Master Dōgen Kigen recorded that he witnessed Chinese monks cleaning their teeth using brushes made from horse-hair and attached to the end of an ox-bone handle. It may have been around this time that the Japanese were first introduced to the idea of a modern toothbrush. Later on, toothbrushes started to look like what we know today, especially after contact with the West. The following picture comes from an 1880′s pharmacy catalog:

As a side note, another factor that contributed to the maintenance of teeth in Japan was the tradition of “ohaguro,” or the blackening of teeth.

While this tradition was done primary for reasons of fashion and status, it also indirectly protected one’s teeth by forming a protective barrier around them. Usually this was done with a dark-brown concoction made of ferric acetate, made by dissolving iron filings in vinegar. When the solution was combined with vegetable tannins it would turn black and become non-water soluble [Source]. Oh, and you’d have to apply this once every day or every few days. I wonder how it tasted!

Hamigaki Culture Today

Often times a people’s values are reflected in the lessons taught to their children, and in the case of tooth brushing in Japan, this is especially apparent. One of the earliest memories many Japanese people share is learning how to brush their teeth with their parents. In fact, tooth brushing is considered a family bonding activity and is done so until a relatively late age.

For me, this was shocking news and what made Japanese hamigaki culture stand out to me, as I realized I didn’t have one memory of brushing my teeth with my parents. If you search YouTube for “hamigaki,” be careful – you could be captured for hours by all the adorable home videos of children learning to clean their little chompers. In order to save you from such a terrible fate, I’ll just show you some here:

As the ritual goes, children usually try to clean their teeth on their own first. Then, when they are all finished, the child will usually lay their head down on their mother’s (or father’s) lap where the parent finishes the job, making sure to get all the nooks and crannies.

But tooth brushing is not just an activity done between parent and child. In Japan, children are expected to brush their teeth after every meal – even at school! In fact, Japanese school children are all made to brush their teeth as a group in the classroom every day.

Of course, as you can imagine, keeping the attention of a group of 8 year-olds on a task as mundane as tooth brushing isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do, but Japan has a (cute) solution for everything it seems. Over the years, several tooth brushing songs focusing on the fun sound effects of hamigaki have been created to keep kids’ attention.

Honestly, I wish I had heard these when I was a kid:

This kid loves the tooth brushing song so much, he keeps asking his mom to do it over and over again or else he stops brushing his teeth!

In addition to songs, many tooth brushing toys have been created to help demonstrate the correct way to brush your teeth and instill good habits in children’s minds. That, or just scare them into doing it. I’m not sure which. Even candy companies have developed their own teeth cleaning toys.

Either way, the amount of effort put into teaching kids good tooth brushing habits seems to have good results. According to What Japan Thinks, around 50% of adults brush their teeth after every meal, even if that means brushing in public. To be blunt, from the perspective of someone outside of Japanese culture it can be a bit strange to see your professor brushing his or her teeth in the office if you aren’t used to it.

Brushing Your Teeth In Japan

So, you’re in Japan and you forgot to bring your toothbrush. That, or you’re going to be there for a long time and you’re going to have to adjust to everyday Japanese culture. Looks like you’re going to have to make a trip to the store. However, when you get to the toothbrush aisle you will find yourself confronted with a million products, none of which look familiar to you. Excluding running out the door and not brushing your teeth for a year, what would you do?

There are several rumors out there concerning Japanese toiletries, and toothbrushes / toothpaste are not excluded, but here’s the truth of the matter.

In general, Japanese toothbrushes, or haburashi (歯ブラシ), are made much smaller and softer than those in some other countries. Some people have problems with this, but they are made this way to make brushing less harsh on your teeth and gums, and also to make it easier to maneuver the toothbrush. If you happen to prefer more “petite” brushes, you might want to consider ordering one from Japan.

When it comes to toothpaste (also known as hamigaki), there are about a million and a half brands on the shelf, all of which are in Japanese and can be very hard to sort through for those who can’t read the language.

In addition, many people are under the belief that Japanese toothpaste doesn’t contain what could be considered essential ingredients, such as fluoride. After checking the ingredients of a few brands myself, I found that this is partially true. However, some brands do contain fluoride. If you’re in Japan and you’re looking for a brand of toothpaste that does contain fluoride, I would stick to using Aquafresh. That, or you can look for fluoride (フッ素, ふっそ) in the ingredients.

It seems funny to me that you would brush your teeth so many times a day and yet not use fluoride. Surprisingly, it also happens that some Japanese people don’t use toothpaste at all. In places where you don’t want to make a mess such as school toothpaste is also not used.

In Japan, teeth related products are made to be a much bigger deal than many other places. In America, I recall seeing some unmemorable ads here and there for toothpaste and toothbrushes, but none of those could compare to the magnitude of Japanese advertising campaigns in this field.

Recently, world renown J-pop artist Kyary Pamyu Pamyu signed on to be the selling face of Ora2 toothpaste.

She will be advertising the product in countries such as Singapore and Thailand in addition to Japan, making this her first appearance in an ad campaign outside of her home country.

With this toothpaste,  Kyary Pamyu Pamyu can take the kimo right out of your kimo-kawaii.

Personally, I find this campaign makes a statement about the role of oral health in Japanese society because I simply couldn’t imagine someone like Lady Gaga advertising Crest toothpaste. Besides, I really wouldn’t like raw meat flavored toothpaste.

The Future of Hamigaki

So what is in the future of hamigaki? About a year ago scientists in Japan created a microscopically thin film that coats the teeth and prevents tooth decay and can even make the teeth appear whiter. Although this product isn’t available yet, it will be in the next couple of years. Perhaps brushing your teeth will become unnecessary in the future? Well, maybe not, but it’s a nice thought.

What do you think about hamigaki culture in Japan? How is it compared to your own culture? Let me know in the comments!

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Have you ever been in a situation where you’re having a conversation with someone in Japanese and you know exactly what to say in your head, but it comes out sounding more or less like “lsiguhligfhslejfaoifjwa?” That, or your tongue seems to instantaneously tie itself into a big knot and you feel like you’re tripping over nearly every word coming out of your mouth, making speaking both a humiliating and exhausting experience.

As you probably know already, learning Japanese (or any other language for that matter) requires a lot more than mere rote memorization of lines or grammar theory from a book. It demands not only mental training, but physical training as well, as you gain the muscle memory to produce new sounds. Here, I’m going to present you with some great ways to improve both the speed and pronunciation of your speech in Japanese, and I promise, you won’t be bored.

Tongue Twisters

Tongue twisters are something you probably won’t come across in your Japanese classroom. In fact, it’s likely that you won’t even hear them in everyday Japanese conversation. Sometimes it seems that people forget about their existence entirely, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t useful and extremely fun.

Japanese has many tongue twisters for you to give a try. Below, I’ve listed some of the most popular ones, and a few favorites.

東京特許許可局（とうきょう　とっきょ　きょかきょく）

生麦生米生卵（なまむぎ　なまごめ　なまたまご）

裏の竹垣誰竹立てかけた（うらのたけがき　だれ　たけ　たてかけた）

蛙ぴょこぴょこ三ぴょこぴょこ合わせてぴょこぴょこ六ぴょこぴょこ（かえる　ぴょこぴょこ　み　ぴょこぴょこ　あわせて　ぴょこぴょこ　む　ぴょこぴょこ）

すもももももももものうち　すもももももももううれた（すももも　ももも　もものうち　すももも　ももも　もう　うれた）

Honestly, I believe tongue twisters have significantly helped me improve my Japanese pronunciation by forcing me to practice making difficult to make sounds. Not only can tongue twisters helped you build muscle memory, they can also give you a fun activity to do with your Japanese friends and classmates.

At first when you do them, they’ll surely be difficult. Start off slow and do one part at a time. Then, begin to combine them together until you can say the whole thing at once at a moderate pace. From there, speed them up until they sound fluent. With tongue twister practice, you’ll make yourself able to say the more difficult pronunciations in Japanese. If you can do a lot of the difficult stuff, the normal stuff becomes easy peazy lemon squeezy. Give it a shot! If you like it, you can find more Japanese tongue twisters here.

Voice Shadowing

Voice shadowing? What’s that? Only one of the most useful things you can do for yourself in terms of language learning. That’s what.

Voice shadowing refers to the listening to and simultaneous mimicking of a foreign language. This can be really helpful if you want to improve your pronunciation because it trains your brain to mimic native speakers.

Voice shadowing can be done in the following steps:

Step 1: Listen to a clip of your foreign language of choice (in this case Japanese) from any source, whether it be a recorded book, TV show, movie, or even a real person (if they have the patience).
Step 2: Do it again.
Step 3: Do it again and then again, again.
Step 4:  Slowly, begin to repeat after the recording, doing so in small parts.
Step 5: Do it again.
Step 6: Once you get good enough, try speaking in time with the recording, doing your best to mimic exactly what you hear. This will train you to speak more like a native.
Step 7: DO IT AGAIN.

Voice shadowing is a lot like learning a song, except, this song is teaching you the melodies heard in conversations and everyday speech. Tricksy. The best part is, you can turn your habit of watching your favorite shows every day into learning a useful skill! The only down side to this is that it takes a lot of time, and that means that it will take longer to get to the end of Naruto. In fact, you might die before you get to the end of that series.

Also, make sure to pick sources that are sensible to mimic so you don’t end up sounding like Kermit the frog in the end. The following would be a bad example of mimicking a TV show, that is, if you want to learn Japanese:

Your Japanese friends will be so overwhelmed, they won’t know what to say.

Karaoke / Singing

Singing!? That’s everyone’s favorite thing, right? No? Well, even if it’s not, singing songs in a foreign language can help you speak said language. If you have a thing for Japanese music and you want to boost your speed and pronunciation, use your voice to your advantage and sing, sing, sing.

In Japan, singing karaoke is a popular activity to do with friends, but even if you don’t have karaoke near you, you can practice on your own or with friends at home. Check out these Youtubers who are willing to share their talents with the world:

This girl practices rap songs in Japanese. I haven’t tried this myself, but it seems particularly good if you want to speak faster Japanese, yo. Honestly, I’m pretty amazed.

The next video went viral in Japan a while ago just because the amount of passion this guy has is hilarious. I’m pretty sure he can’t understand Japanese based upon the video, but even so, his pronunciation isn’t bad, perhaps because he is able to mimic the sounds through song. Just imagine how good you would be if you knew Japanese and sang this passionately.

Seriously, this shows the true powers of music.

Story Telling / Acting

Story telling is an important part of every culture and language. An important part of good story telling is the expression of a range of emotions, characters, and situations through language and voice. I mean, how exciting was that monotone story your 7th grade history teacher told about something you can’t even remember? I’m sorry, I want it to be exciting, too, but it just can’t be without the right voice.

Practicing story telling is beneficial for a number of reasons, other than it being seriously entertaining. First of all, telling stories gives you the chance to practice a wide range of language through different characters as you give your story life. Your pronunciation, speed, and quality of speech should change, so in other words, it offers you the opportunity to give your vocal chords more exercise and might even broaden your everyday speech capabilities. In many ways, it is similar to voice shadowing and also has many of the same benefits.

The Japanese art of story telling is called rakugo (落語, shown above), and involves a lone story teller on stage who usually depicts a long, comical story. One of the most famous stories, and personally my favorite, is called Jugemu (寿限無). This story is often used for training rakugo artists because the humor in it involves the repetition of a boy’s name which happens to be very, very long and very hard to say. Below is the “Fullmetal Alchemized” version of this humorous point, which I’m sure has confused many unsuspecting victims on the internet.

Personally I’ve tried memorizing this myself and I’ve got to say rakugo is one of the funnest things to learn if you want to invest the time into improving your voice in Japanese.

Talking to Yourself

So, you’re walking down the road home from school or work when you realize that you are talking to yourself in Japanese and it doesn’t even make any sense. “Dear, Jimmy! I must be crazy!” you might be thinking, “I better call the doctor!” But wait, hold the phone, and let me reassure you that this is 125% normal. In fact, talking to yourself has a name in linguistics, it’s called “private speech.” Sounds much less crazy now, right?

Private speech happens in many different ways, whether it be talking under your breath in class, or reciting a grocery list, but private speech in any form has one thing in common: it is necessary for language learning. In fact, it is impossible to internalize a language without first externalizing through speech. So, the more you talk to yourself, the better. Who cares if people think you are a nutcase as long as you can learn Japanese, right? That being said, it is pretty sad to call ただいま when no one is home to answer you.

Remember to Forgive Yourself

The most important thing to remember when practicing your Japanese speech is to forgive yourself and try your best! If at first you don’t succeed, although it is eternally frustrating, try, try again. You might have to practice pronunciation for a week, a month, a year, but all of a sudden it will happen without you realizing it.

Keeping Japanese fun for yourself is essential if you really want to learn the language, so when it comes to speech, relax, sit back, and try a million tongue twisters! If you have the ability to do so, we’d love to see how fast you can do them. Or, let us know what has helped you improve your Japanese fluency. Hit me up in the comments below!

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As expected, there are not many places in the world that take more of a jaw-dropping turn than Japan when it comes to disturbing toys. That being said, here are my top ten most disturbing Japanese toys that I would seriously hesitate giving to any child.

10. Poop and Pee Plushies

Japan has a strange relationship with poop. I can’t tell you how many potty-training and poop related children’s toys I’ve come across, but it’s more than I could have ever imagined. Sure, poop jokes are always funny, but somehow the idea of teaching your child to snuggle with their own excrement via plushies just doesn’t sound healthy to me. Please, prove me wrong.

9. H-Bouya USB Toy

The H-Bouya is a plug in USB toy in the form of a small boy. I’m not sure what twisted tween-age mind came up with this one, but the H-Bouya’s main trick is giggling and blushing every time you press the letter “h” on your keyboard. In Japanese “h” stands for “etchi,” meaning sex, erotic, or pervert (oh my god, she said “h” hehehehe). The H-bouya also reacts to other love related words like suki (like/love), deeto (date), and much more.

I guess it’s kinda funny, but I’m not sure if the H-bouya is supposed to be amusing for kids or adults. It seems like it would get old faster than the new Ferby which lasted only about 30 seconds after I turned it on.

8. Virus Plush

In the past few years, plushies in the shape of diseases have become pretty common in the States, but that’s not the only place. This Japanese plush for babies is modeled after a virus for maximum fun time! Above left is the Japanese virus plush. Below, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). And above right, a small child that appears to be contracting AIDS.

Am I the only one that sees the resemblance? No? Well, this is sure to be a happy ending. I can’t see how anything could go wrong here.

7. Face Bank

My parents have always taught me the importance of saving money, but honestly, I’ve never really been any good at it. But you know, It’s really a shame that a bank like this one didn’t exist when I was a kid because I’m sure I would have saved money in fear that Satan would devour my soul if I didn’t offer it my lunch money as tribute.

As shown, the Face Bank comes in solid colors and is rather plain – that is, expect for the soulless, haunting eyes and subhuman face protruding from the front of it. The Face Bank will stare you down with its lifeless, chimpanzee face until you appease it with your pocket change. It will then proceed to devour said change with its robotic jaws and then let out a satisfied belch.

There is something truly terrifying about a robotic creature mimicking human-like functions in such a lifeless manner. Seriously, this thing is pure nightmare fuel.

6.Road Kill Cat

“Mommy? What happened to Mittens?” Don’t even bother conjuring up some BS story about Mittens running  away or going off to play with the neighbors. Just throw your kid this thing and they’ll eventually get the idea. Or, at least it will give them something to do with all those extra Hot Wheels cars laying around the house. I’m sure they’ll be just as happy as the kid on the package- all smiles! :D

5. Rubber Lips

Do you remember those old “candy” lips that looked really tasty but actually tasted like freshly waxed baboon butt (and were about the same color)? That’s what these Japanese toy rubber lips reminded me of when I first saw them, only somehow much more disturbing (not at all in a suggestive way). Japanese rubber lips are mobile, so you can preform a range of activities while wearing them including talking, eating hoagies, or even scaring the Milk of Magnesia out of your aged neighbors! Honestly, I’m not sure what the purpose of these things is, but I really don’t want to know.

4. Russian Roulette Toy Gun

“Hey guys! I’ve got a great idea!” Let’s play with guns!” That’s basically what this Japanese Russian Roulette game says to me. The game includes a toy gun similar to a Nerf gun that “fires” randomly. Young children put the toy gun to their heads and pull the trigger to test their luck. Somehow making the gun shoot out hippopotamus legs instead of bullets is supposed to make this so much more acceptable.

Sounds like a roaring good time to me. In expert mode kids use a real gun!

3. Japanese Pregnant Doll

All this time I’ve been deluded into thinking Japan has been coming out with a steadily more shocking line of toys every year, but I was wrong. This 19th century doll showing the stages of pregnancy is on my list of the top 3 most disturbing toys ever. It’s only saving grace is the fact that this doll was originally made as a medical model. However, evidence suggests that it was later used for entertaining children.

This, however, raises more disturbing questions. Call me culturally ignorant, but who decided a pregnancy doll was a great thing to use as a child’s play thing? My money is on a doctor giving whatever he had on hand that wasn’t pointy to his children in order to make them shut up, and it happened to be this.

2. You Can Shave the Baby!

This toy has become a sort of myth on the internet and among Japanese toy enthusiasts. However, after doing some research, I found that this toy was originally designed by the Polish artist Zbigniew Libera. Even though this discovery was slightly disappointing, I still think “You Can Shave the Baby” qualifies as one of the disturbing toys ever in Japan.

As you can see, this baby doll comes with hair on all sorts of exciting regions of the body. And you know what the best part is? You can shave it! Unfortunately, it doesn’t grown back, but nothing beats the joy one gets from a good, clean shave. Am I right?

In all seriousness though, I wouldn’t touch this thing with a ten foot pole. Just look at its death glare (it must be unhappy from all that hair). And from the looks of things on the internet, I would say people tend to agree on this subject.

Warning: This video is PG-13

I sincerely hope I’m not the only one here who thinks there is something exceedingly unnerving about having your child shave an infant’s pelvic hair. This is psychopath-making material, right here.

1. Baby in the Microwave Toy

It both encourages me and horrifies me to know that, no matter how desensitized I think I am to ludicrous Japanese inventions, there is always something new to prove me wrong. The baby in the microwave toy is, sadly, exactly what it sounds like: the model of a small child who has been blown up in a microwave. I’m not sure if things could get any more deranged even if I tried.

Honestly, I would have loved to be there to see the sales pitch for this one. The man who pitched this must have been a genius (or a great comedian) to convince someone to market this “gem” of a toy.

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This is just a small sampling of the number of disturbing toys in the world. Unfortunately, there are many, many more both inside and outside of Japan. What is the creepiest toy you’ve ever seen or heard of? Let us know! Share your story with us in the comments section below!

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