Honne and tatemae
Encyclopedia
Honne and tatemae are Japanese
words that describe recognized social phenomena.
s and desires. These may be contrary to what is expected by society
or what is required according to one's position and circumstances, and they are often kept hidden, except with one's closest friends.
, literally "façade," is the behavior and opinions one displays in public. Tatemae is what is expected by society and required according to one's position and circumstances, and these may or may not match one's honne.
The honne/tatemae divide is considered to be of paramount importance in Japanese culture. The very fact that Japanese have single words for these concepts leads some Nihonjinron
specialists to see this conceptualization as evidence of greater complexity and rigidity in Japanese etiquette and culture.
were of vital importance in everyday life. For this reason, the Japanese tend to go to great lengths to avoid conflict, especially within the context of large groups.
The conflict between honne and giri (social obligations) is one of the main topics of Japanese drama throughout the ages. Stereotypically, the protagonist would have to choose between carrying out his obligations to his family or feudal lord or pursuing a forbidden love affair. In the end, death would be the only way out of the dilemma.
and parasite singles are seen as examples of late Japanese culture's growing problem of the new generation growing up unable to deal with the complexities of honne/tatemae and pressure of an increasingly materialist society.
Debate over whether tatemae and honne are a uniquely Japanese phenomena continues in the West, especially among those in the anthropological and art fields.
, a point of view which considers Japanese society completely homogeneous, presupposing that the Japanese differ radically from all other known peoples, an example of this being the opinion of the author Chie Nakane. Many Japanese researchers such as Yoshihiko Amino
and Eiji Oguma argue these nationalist visions are just an illusion, and have tried through their work to deconstruct the misconception of a homogeneous Japanese nation and the idea that the rules of Japanese society can only be understood by native Japanese and not foreigners.
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
words that describe recognized social phenomena.
Definition
refers to a person's true feelingFeeling
Feeling is the nominalization of the verb to feel. The word was first used in the English language to describe the physical sensation of touch through either experience or perception. The word is also used to describe experiences, other than the physical sensation of touch, such as "a feeling of...
s and desires. These may be contrary to what is expected by society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
or what is required according to one's position and circumstances, and they are often kept hidden, except with one's closest friends.
, literally "façade," is the behavior and opinions one displays in public. Tatemae is what is expected by society and required according to one's position and circumstances, and these may or may not match one's honne.
The honne/tatemae divide is considered to be of paramount importance in Japanese culture. The very fact that Japanese have single words for these concepts leads some Nihonjinron
Nihonjinron
The term literally means theories/discussions about the Japanese. The term refers to a genre of texts that focuses on issues of Japanese national and cultural identity. The literature is vast, ranging over such varied fields as sociology, psychology, history, linguistics, philosophy, and even...
specialists to see this conceptualization as evidence of greater complexity and rigidity in Japanese etiquette and culture.
Cause
Honne and tatemae are arguably a cultural necessity resulting from a large number of people living in a comparatively small island nation. Even with modern farming techniques, Japan today domestically produces only 39% of the food needed to feed its people so, before the modern era, close-knit co-operation and the avoidance of conflictGroup conflict
Group conflict, or hostilities between different groups, is a pervasive feature common to all levels of social organization .. Although group conflict is one of the most complex phenomena studied by social scientists, the history of the human race evidences a series of group-level conflicts that...
were of vital importance in everyday life. For this reason, the Japanese tend to go to great lengths to avoid conflict, especially within the context of large groups.
The conflict between honne and giri (social obligations) is one of the main topics of Japanese drama throughout the ages. Stereotypically, the protagonist would have to choose between carrying out his obligations to his family or feudal lord or pursuing a forbidden love affair. In the end, death would be the only way out of the dilemma.
Effect
Contemporary phenomena such as hikikomoriHikikomori
is a Japanese term to refer to the phenomenon of reclusive people who have chosen to withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement because of various personal and social factors in their lives...
and parasite singles are seen as examples of late Japanese culture's growing problem of the new generation growing up unable to deal with the complexities of honne/tatemae and pressure of an increasingly materialist society.
Debate over whether tatemae and honne are a uniquely Japanese phenomena continues in the West, especially among those in the anthropological and art fields.
Danger of culturalism
Some scholars argue that the concepts of honne and tatemae should be analysed very carefully in order to avoid the trap of a culturalist view of Japan and Japanese people which does not correspond to reality. The concepts of tatemae (建前) and honne (本音) can be linked very easily with NihonjinronNihonjinron
The term literally means theories/discussions about the Japanese. The term refers to a genre of texts that focuses on issues of Japanese national and cultural identity. The literature is vast, ranging over such varied fields as sociology, psychology, history, linguistics, philosophy, and even...
, a point of view which considers Japanese society completely homogeneous, presupposing that the Japanese differ radically from all other known peoples, an example of this being the opinion of the author Chie Nakane. Many Japanese researchers such as Yoshihiko Amino
Yoshihiko Amino
was a Japanese Marxist historian and public intellectual, perhaps most singularly known for his novel examination of medieval Japanese history. Although little of the work by Amino has been published in the West, Japanese writers and historians of Japan regard Amino as one of the most important...
and Eiji Oguma argue these nationalist visions are just an illusion, and have tried through their work to deconstruct the misconception of a homogeneous Japanese nation and the idea that the rules of Japanese society can only be understood by native Japanese and not foreigners.