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Japanese Politeness: Difference between revisions
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Japan has a very distinct culture compared to its neighbors, and one aspect noted by many visitors to Japan -- especially Western ones -- is the extreme emphasis on politeness. Although other Asian cultures often come across to Westerners as obsessed with confusing rules of etiquette, the Japanese have a reputation for being ridiculously polite even in other Asian countries. This is all a relic from [[Medieval Japan|the Middle Ages]], when Japanese society was built around a rigidly hierarchical caste system. It's [[Truth in Television]], but seems to come out in broad parody.
The general principles of politeness in Japanese culture involve [[Hint Dropping|avoiding explicit disagreement or refusal]] at all costs, [[My Country, Right or Wrong|never criticizing one's own in-group]] (whether that's your family, your company, your school club or whatever) in front of outsiders, being [[Extreme Doormat|extraordinarily deferential]] toward others in general and authority figures in particular, and indirectly praising others while [[Think Nothing of It|downplaying one's own accomplishments]]. These are all taken to such extremes that it's necessary to learn a [[Keigo|drastically different vocabulary and even set of grammar rules]] for expressing degrees of politeness in the Japanese language.
The rules can interact in ways that are hard for foreigners to predict: for example, one consequence is that it is entirely polite to diss even your superiors when talking to an outsider, but ''not'' if they are present. That's because in this situation both you and your opposite are not your own people, but the representatives of your respective groups first and foremost, and the humility clause kicks in. If anyone else from either group is present, on the other hand, dissing them becomes a sign of the intra-group tensions, [[My Country, Right or Wrong|which is a big no-no]].
The Japanese side of this (as in, everyone else is rude -- especially Westerners and ''especially'' Americans) often comes out as [[Eagle Land]]. A Western equivalent to this sort of culture can be found in [[Minnesota Nice]]. Contrast [[Asian Rudeness]].
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== Anime & Manga ==
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== Mythology ==
* In Japanese folklore, many otherwise bloodthirsty monsters take politeness seriously, allowing humans to [[Beat It By Compulsion|beat them by compulsion]]. For instance, a [[Kappa]] will always return a bow, forcing them to spill the water stored on their head which weakens them. The [
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[[Category:National Stereotyping Tropes]]
[[Category:Japanese Politeness]]
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