Z What is "sincerity"? by YAMAGISHI, K.
Edward Sapir, the famous American linguist,
writes in the beginning of the tenth chapter
of his Language (Harcourt, 1921) as follows:
Language has a setting. The people that speak it belong to a race (or
a number of races), that is, to a group which is set off by physical characteristics
from other groups. Again language does not exist apart from culture, that is, from the spocially
inherited assemblage of practices and beliefs that determines the texture
of our lives.
This passage, especially the underlined
part, best describes the "inseparableness"
between language and culture. For example,
Japanese often use such expressions as, Karewa [Kanojowa] nandemo hakkiri iisugirukara
dooryookara kirawarerunda. A direct translation of this sentence would
be, He [She] is disliked by the people he [she]
works with, because he [she] says everything
too clearly. The Japanese sentence suggests that in the Japanese culture things like "outspokenness,"
"straightfowardness," and "unreservedness" aren't well
received. It also suggests that in the Japanese culture people are expected
to guess how another person feels or to have the power or ability to share,
understand and feel another person's feelings; this may be best called
"empathy."
Different Culture, Different Connotations
Since the Japanese word seijitsu is usually translated to "sincerity,"
there is sometimes misunderstanding between
Japanese and English-speaking people. Ruth
Benedict, in the eighth chapter of the Chrysanthemum and the Sword ('46), explains the difference with a good example. She cites a passage
from Yoshio Makino's autobiography, which goes as follows:
I visited upon one of the missionaries to whom I had more confidence than any other.I told him my intention to go to America in hope that he might be able to give me some useful information. To my great disappointment he exclaimed, 'What, you are intending to go to America?' His wife was in the same room, and they both sneered at me! I stood on
the same point for a few seconds in silence, then came back to my room
without saying 'goodbye.' I said to myself, 'Everything is quite finished.' On the next morning I ran away. Now I want to write the reason.
I always believe that insincerity is the greatest crime in this world, and nothing could be more insincere than to sneer!
The Japanese artist, Yoshio Makino,
goes on writing that he always forgives the
other's anger, because it is human nature
to get into bad temper, and he generally
forgives if someone tells him a lie, because
human nature is very weak and very often
a person can't have a steady mind to face
the difficulty and tell the truth; that he
also forgives if someone makes any groundless
rumor or gossip against him, because it is
a very easy temptation when some others persuade
in that way; that he may forgive even murderers
according to their condition. He definitely
says, however, that he can't forgive a person
who sneers; there's no excuse for sneering,
because someone can't sneer at innocent people
without intentional insincerity.
Makino goes on defining the two words murderer and sneerer. To him, a murderer is a person who assassinates some human flesh and
sneerer is a person who assassinates others' souls and hearts. To him, also, soul and heart are far more
important than the flesh, therefore sneering
is the worst crime. He thought that the missionary
and his wife tried to assassinate his soul and heart, and he had a great pain in his heart. To
Makino's reaction, Benedict, after saying
that it is hard for Americans to realize
the deadly seriousness that attaches to light
remarks in Japan, writes, as follows:
He had been 'assassinated,' as he felt, by the missionary's incredulity
about a penniless provincial boy's going to the United States to become
an artist. His name was besmirched until he had cleared it by carrying
out this purpose and after the missionary's 'sneer' he had no alternative
but to leave the place and prove his ability to get to America. In English
it reads curiosity that he charges the missionary with 'insincerity'; the
American's exclamation seems to us quite 'sincere' in our sense of the
word. But he is using the word in its Japanese meaning and they regularly
deny sincerity to anyone who belittles any person whom he does not wish
to provoke to aggression. Such a sneer is wanton and proves 'insincerity.'
This episode vividly describes the connotational difference of the Japanese word seijitsu and its equivalent English word "sincerity." We can say that what's considered sincere to the Americans isn't necessarily so to the Japanese. Benedict points out that the Japanese have no ethic which teaches that a man can't be insulted unless he thinks he is and that it's only 'what comes out of a man' that defiles him, not what is said or done against him. She also points out that the vulnerability of the Japanese to failures and slurs and rejections makes it all too easy for them to harry themselves instead of others. This is true. However, it's also true that even today's young Japanese will be able to understand Makino's feelings pretty well and sympathize with him.
Foreigners who teach in Japanese colleges,
universities, and many other places should
know this connotational difference of the
word seijitsu and its English equivalent "sincerity."
Otherwise, they will be misunderstood by
Japanese students, colleagues, or people
they work with. And the same thing is true
with the Japanese; they should know the real
meaning of the word "sincerity."
Otherwise, they will be misunderstood by
non-Japanese people.