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internaitonalism

Do Japanese people hate Americans? Hiroshima teen has touching answer on atomic bomb anniversary

Ground zero volunteer guide says there is hatred, but not for what everyone expects.

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Roughly one in eight of Tokyo’s new adults is foreign-born, study shows

“The truth is that without foreigners, Japanese society cannot function,” says researcher.

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Japanese American tells of how she was teased in school, and the touching way her mom stepped up

Young Melodee didn’t want to take Japanese-style lunches to school after being teased by classmates, but her mother had the perfect solution.

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‘Tis the season for grumbling about cultural differences, but does it have to be?

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To –san or not to –san? Should you use the Japanese honorific suffix when speaking English?

For roughly the past two decades, I’ve woken up every morning and asked myself the question “How can I use more Japanese vocabulary today?” That desire was the major reason I decided to study abroad in college, plus move back to Japan after graduation, and I’ve actually reached the point where I’ve got a pretty sizeable stockpile of Japanese words I wish I could import into my native language.

And yet, often when I hear someone use the Japanese honorific “-san” when speaking English, it feels awkward and superfluous to me. But it turns out there’re actually a few compelling reasons behind English-speakers peppering their speech with “-san,” as it solves a couple of linguistic limitations of the English language.

So what are the pros and cons of importing the word into English? Let’s take a look.

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