Introduction

While all languages probably lead their male and female speakers into somewhat different patterns of talk, Japanese is particularly well-known for conspicuously differentiated gendered language/speech. Beginning in the late 1970s, gendered language, particularly so-called women’s language, has attracted considerable attention from researchers. An increasing number have concluded that the alleged characteristics of Japanese gendered language are not necessarily grounded in empirical observations of the way Japanese men and women actually speak. Rather, it may be that these characteristics are firmly rooted in language ideology, defined as “any sets of beliefs about language, articulated by the users as a rationalization or justification of perceived language structure and use” (Silverstein 1976: 193). This chapter will explore Japanese gendered language both as a reflection of linguistic ideology and as a phenomenon present in its day-to-day use.

When used in combination with an elaborate honorific system (see Chapters 20–21), Japanese gendered language makes possible depictions of multi-party conversations without overt identification of each speaker. Japanologist Edward Seidensticker (1989: 145), who translated numerous Japanese novels including Genji monogatari [‘The Tale of Genji]’, noted that if the following conversation were made by four interlocutors – Maude, George, Aunt Margaret, and Uncle John – it would be impossible to record it in English without labeling who said each line: