Current location:Earth Encounters news portal > style
VOX POPULI: Use of honorifics complex at times and not always appropriate
Earth Encounters news portal2024-05-21 13:52:41【style】3People have gathered around
IntroductionWhen I started out as a rookie reporter on the local police beat, I was initially addressed as “kish
When I started out as a rookie reporter on the local police beat, I was initially addressed as “kisha-san” (Mr./Ms. reporter), not by my name.
I told myself this was something I should just live with as a good sport, since I was still a virtual “nobody” in the community.
After I had covered the beat on a daily basis for some time, my appellation changed to “Asahi-san,” signaling which newspaper employed me.
And when the local law enforcement community finally got to know me by my name, I was addressed by my surname with the honorific “chan,” a term of endearment.
These memories from 35 years ago came flooding back when the Justice Ministry on Feb. 15 announced a series of prison reforms in response to the discovery of repeated inmate abuse by correctional officers at Nagoya Prison.
According to a third-party committee established after the scandal came to light, prison guards before World War II addressed inmates by their numbers, while most postwar guards switched to addressing them by their names without an honorific.
But at Nagoya Prison, the committee found, inmates were referred to contemptuously as “choeki” (cons) and “yatsura” (those losers) by guards in informal conversations.
How one calls someone depends on how one intends to relate with that person. Those Nagoya Prison officers, who completely ignored the inmates’ human rights, were said to have acted as they did “to vent their frustration.”
This gave me a glimpse of a deep darkness that exists in an organization that is supposed to help convicted criminals to rehabilitate themselves.
The reforms call for the end of the tradition of inmates addressing correctional officers respectfully as “sensei” (teacher) and switching to more egalitarian appellations such as “shokuin-san” (Mr./Ms. Officer) or “tanto-san” (Mr./Ms. Representative).
The fact that the prison guards were being addressed as “sensei” is shocking in itself. How people call one another can often determine or emphasize their “superior-inferior” relationship.
Unlike “kun” and “chan,” the honorific “san,” which derived from “sama” during the Edo Period (1603-1867), can be used universally, irrespective of the person’s gender and age.
I suggest that the political community adopt “san” uniformly and stop addressing lawmakers as “sensei” and calling anyone taking the Diet floor by their name plus “kun.”
--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 17
* *
*Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Address of this article:http://sudan.camilleandconfettis.com/article-95b699902.html
Very good!(13)
Related articles
- Jon Wysocki dead at 53: Staind drummer passes away
- Nadal gets even with De Minaur at Madrid Open. Top seeds Sinner and Swiatek advance
- Lauren Goodger cuts a stylish figure as she joins her TOWIE co
- Brandt scores with 3 seconds left, Boston beats Minnesota 2
- Insider Q&A: CIA's chief technologist's cautious embrace of generative AI
- Mississippi Senate agrees to a new school funding formula, sending plan to the governor
- Rams hope they drafted a new defensive core in post
- Josh Naylor, Ramon Laureano help Guardians outlast Braves 4
- Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 26
- Team Penske's Power, McLaughlin lock up front row at IndyCar after controversial week
Popular articles
Recommended
Adams, Reyna, Turner, Ream are US concerns ahead of Copa America
Chiefs owner: Leaving Arrowhead is an option after rejected sales tax
Blinken will visit the Mideast again this week. What can he achieve?
Rams hope they drafted a new defensive core in post
Devout Christian doctor, 68, who punched dementia
South Africa will mark 30 years of freedom amid inequality, poverty and a tense election ahead
Sean 'Diddy' Combs dismisses some claims in sexual assault lawsuit
Chinese scientists propose new solutions for fast
Links
- Zendaya finds the Met Gala 'terrifying' as she prepares to co
- Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah looks to finish historic season unbeaten and with more trophies
- Pakistan women's great Bismah Maroof retires from international cricket
- Mac of the net! Football
- The German parliament votes for an annual veterans' day to honor military service
- Woman, 43, accused of murdering her disabled mother
- The German parliament votes for an annual veterans' day to honor military service
- Bruins beat Maple Leafs 4
- Revealed: The 5 popular brands responsible for the most plastic pollution in the world
- The Latest: Trump takes to social media before Supreme Court arguments