論文

The Use of English
in Japanese MediaMarie KJELDGAARD

要旨

現在の日本では，英語は様々な場所で使用されている。特にメディアや広告には英語の単語がよく使われており，これらの英語はおそらく情報を伝える為ではなく，ポジティブでインターナショナルな連想をさせる為のものであろう。しかし，ネーティブスピーカーの目で見ると，使い方が不自然であったり，間違いであると感じる事も多い。本論文は，日本で使用されている約53個の屋外広告を調べ，実際に英語のエラーがどれほど多くみられるかを調査した。調査された屋外広告の半分以上の英語にエラーはなく，使い方が少し不自然なものが約20％，和製英語を間違って使用してしまっているものが約10％，文法や綴りの間違いがあるものが約10％，という結果になった。約40％に英語の間違いや不自然な表現がみられたりしたものの，本来の言語の役割というものは，他者に言いたいことを伝えるという事である。そして，その目的が果たされ日本人客が広告のメッセージを理解しているのであれば，これらの英語も言語としての役割は果たしているといえるのではないか。そして，その一部は新しい日本の英語つまり世界英語の一つと考えてもいいのではないだろうか。
Keywords: Sociolinguistics（社会言語学）, media（メディア）, advertisements（広告）, culture（文化）, Japan（日本）, World Englishes（世界の英語）― 47 ―

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Abstract

English is commonly used in Japanese media and advertisements.
This use of English is often understood to bring forth positive,
international associations in the mind of the Japanese consumer whileconveying little referential information. Many English advertisements inJapan contain what a native English speaker would consider errors. This
study investigated the use of English in Japanese billboard advertisements
to determine how prevalent these errors actually are. English advertisingsamples were divided into four categories: those containing no errors,
those containing contextual errors, those containing grammar or spelling
errors, and those containing English loanwords with a different meaningin Japanese. The samples without errors comprised over half of the total.
However, samples containing errors are likely still effective in conveying
the intended message to the Japanese consumer.

Introduction
In Japan, English is everywhere. Aside from the helpful signs in subway stations orinstructions posted next to a complicated toilet in a hotel, English can be found on
billboards, on t-shirts, in the lyrics of popular songs, and in many other locations, both
unexpected and mundane. However, the prevalence of English does not imply correctness.
Advertisements may contain grammatical or spelling errors, or simply sound strange to anative speaker’s ear. Despite the fact that Japanese students spend years studying English inschool, the errors in Japanese media seem to be pervasive.
The popularization of English in Japan is not a new phenomenon. According toStanlaw (1992), shortly after the Meiji Restoration in the late 19th century, ‘English studies’
was a popular subject at many universities, and it was fashionable to intersperse one’s
conversation with English loanwords (p. 59). During World War II, English was abandoned
and Japanese terms were coined to substitute for loanwords, but during the post-war
occupation English made a rapid return. Ever since then, the use of English loanwords has
continued to increase.
Currently, it is estimated that about 10% of Japanese words are loanwords, or gairaigo(Tomoda, 1999). (This category does not include the many words of Chinese origin in the― 48 ―

The Use of English in Japanese MediaJapanese language.) In advertising, however, this percentage is much higher. Tomoda
estimated it at 20%, or 25% for product names. Daulton (2004) claimed that theproliferation of English product names is the most important linguistic effect of Japan’s
post-war economic success. New loanwords emerge on a regular basis. According toDaulton, these words are being created so quickly that many normal Japanese people do nothave a clear idea of their meaning, a claim that Tomoda also supported.
Haarmann (1984) was one of the first researchers to examine the use of foreign
languages and loanwords in Japanese advertising. He claimed that the use of English andother languages in Japanese media was generally associative rather than referential. In otherwords, English was used to evoke positive associations in the minds of Japanese consumers,
not to convey a literal meaning. Tomoda (1999) cited a study which found that 45% ofEnglish terms used in media were “special effects givers,” while only 16% were usedbecause of a lexical gap (p. 241).
English is used in Japanese advertisements for various associative purposes. According
to Haarmann (1984), English may evoke a sense of reliability, high quality, confidence, orpracticality. Hogan (2003) reported that residents of a rural Japanese town associatedEnglish with youthfulness, modernity, informality, and cosmopolitanism. Survey
respondents in a study by Seaton (2001) called English “cool” (p. 237). Whatever theconnotations, it is clear that English in Japanese advertising is used for more than simply
conveying information.
Sherry and Camargo (1987) took that notion one step further, claiming that English isoften used as an element of graphic design, while the meaning is of secondary importance.
In their study of the English used on beverage labels in Japan, they suggested that, from aJapanese perspective, the phrases were written in “understandable foreign” idioms (p. 184).
Stanlaw (1992) held a similar view. He called the English used in Japanese ads “Englishinspired vocabulary item[s]” and argued that the most important consideration was the way
a phrase was created and interpreted in Japan (p. 73).
Seaton (2001) used the term Japanized English to refer to “incorrect or unnatural
written English produced by the Japanese and displayed in the public domain” (p. 234). He
argued that as long as Japanese consumers receive the intended message from an English
phrase, then it serves its purpose. The English used in Japanese advertisements is not meant
to be objectively correct or error free, but rather to convey meaning through easilyunderstood key words and associative implications.
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It may help to consider the discussion of Japanized English in the context of the Three
Circles model of World Englishes, which was first outlined by Kachru (1986). Kachru’smodel divides the English-speaking world into three groups: the Inner Circle, consisting ofcountries where English has traditionally and historically been the primary language, suchas Britain, Australia, and the United States; the Outer Circle, consisting of (primarily postcolonial) countries where English is used for a range of purposes, such as India, Singapore,and Nigeria; and the Expanding Circle, where English is taught as a foreign language andused for international communication. Much of the rest of the world falls into theExpanding Circle, including China, Russia, Brazil, and Japan. As Rajadurai (2005)
described, in the initial model the Inner Circle was seen as norm-providing, the Outer Circle
as norm-developing, and the Expanding Circle as norm-dependent. However, this model
has been criticized as Euro-centric and simplistic, with the argument that the varieties ofEnglish spoken in the Outer and Expanding circles deserve more consideration and, perhaps,legitimization (see, for example, Bruthiaux, 2003). In this context, the Japanized English
used in the media of Japan could be viewed as a newly developing, non-Inner-Circle-based
variety of World English.

ResearchMany studies have discussed the incidences of errors found in Japanized English.
However, there is a lack of research investigating the frequency with which these errors
actually occur. It seems possible that the seemingly incorrect or unnatural uses of English
catch the attention and overshadow English usage that would be considered normal by anative speaker. In addition, the intent of the writer should be considered; if these phrases
are understood as intended, then it is difficult to consider them in error. This study wasdesigned to investigate these possibilities. The following questions were considered:▪ What percentage of English words and phrases used in Japanese advertisements would
be considered correct English by a native speaker, and what percentage contains errors(in grammar, spelling, and so on)?
▪ What types of errors are most common? Are there recurring errors?
▪ Are the phrases that a native speaker might see as incorrect truly used in error, or canthey be considered a uniquely Japanese form of English?
― 50 ―

The Use of English in Japanese MediaFor this study, I wanted to examine actual English phrases used in Japaneseadvertisements. I chose to focus on billboards and similar posted advertisements because
they are common in Japan, easy to find, and contain many English words and phrases. Insome cases I included store signs, as the distinction between store name and billboard
advertisement was not always clear.
I used pictures of ads gathered from locations throughout Japan. All the pictures weretaken within the last five to ten years. Many were gathered over the course of my residence
in Japan, and others were contributed by friends and colleagues.
The pictures were examined to be sure the text was legible and complete. Out of a
total of over 70 pictures, 53 were suitable for evaluation. Once these pictures were collected,
the English text was evaluated. In cases where one sign had multiple lines of text, thelargest and most prominent phrase was used. These phrases were separated into four
different categories: those with neither errors nor contextual problems; those that did notcontain errors, but were contextually odd or inappropriate; those with errors in spelling orgrammar; and those which contained a uniquely Japanese usage of an English loanword.

Results
The majority of the phrases were judged to be error free. Out of a total of 53 samples,
30 fell into this group; as shown in Figure 1, these phrases comprised 57% of the total.
Phrases such as “Gold Point Card” and “New! Rainbow Mountain Blend” were in thiscategory.
Figure 1. English in Japanese Billboard Advertisements

The next category consisted of phrases that did not contain overt grammar or spelling― 51 ―

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mistakes, yet still did not seem to use English correctly. They ranged from slightly strange
to completely contextually inappropriate. Examples included “Dog-Cake shop” and “Happy,indecent class development!”. 11 of the remaining samples were in this category.
The third category consisted of phrases that contained legitimate errors. These
included problems with pluralization, punctuation, subject and object usage, and spelling.
There were six samples in this category. Although the sample size was too small to be sure,there did not seem to be an overarching trend toward any particular type of error. Figure 2
contains a listing of their type and frequency.
Figure 2. A classification of the errors found in Category 3

The final category included words and phrases that have been adopted into the Japanese
language with a slightly different meaning or usage than is found in Inner Circle English.
There were six samples in this category. For example, the word “make” was used in an adfor a beauty salon. This is an abbreviation of the English word “makeup.” The phrase “hairmake” is widely used to mean “hair and makeup,” and it can also refer to a salon.
Please see Appendix 1 for a complete listing of the phrases, along with a full analysisof all the phrases in Category 3 and 4. Appendix 2 contains a small sample of the pictures
used in the study.

Discussion
It seems noteworthy that the majority of samples were error-free. Even if contextual
errors are grouped with spelling and grammatical errors, they only amount to about one
third of the total. The perception that most Japanese advertisements contain errors inEnglish seems to be untrue, but it could be explained by the fact that the mistakes are more
visible. An ad containing the phrase “Happy, indecent class development!” is more likely tocatch the attention of a native English speaker than one proclaiming “New! Rainbow― 52 ―

The Use of English in Japanese Media

Mountain Blend.”
However, this discussion of errors may only be valid from a native English speaker’s
perspective. If an advertisement is effective in communicating the intended message to theJapanese consumer, then from the creator’s perspective, there is no error. I believe that all
the examples from Category 4 and many of the examples from Category 2 support thistheory. For example, the phrase “Good Coffee Smile” from the second category contains
strong, easily recognizable keywords that convey the intended message to a Japanese
consumer, even if a native speaker finds the phrase odd.
Although some errors were probably not deliberate—“Marmaid,” for example, waswritten next to a picture of a mermaid, and it seems doubtful a spelling error was intended—these items are in the minority. For the most part, it seems that Japanese advertisements use
English effectively for a Japanese purpose, supporting the idea that a uniquely Japaneseversion of English is seen here. This view could be tested in another study; for example,
native Japanese speakers could be shown a selection of advertisements using “corrected”
English and asked to rate their effectiveness and appeal versus the original uncorrected
signs.
Although the study contained over 50 samples, some of the categories ended up with
only five or six samples each. This made analysis of individual categories difficult.
Specifically, for Category 3, I had hoped to analyze the errors found to determine if aparticular type of error was most prevalent. However, with only six samples, the results
were inconclusive. It would be interesting to expand this study to determine whether or nota trend exists.
Another possible problem was the division of examples into each of the four categories.
As a native speaker, I believe my analysis was fairly accurate. However, there were somesamples that were initially difficult to categorize, and my interpretation may not be fully
correct. For future research, it would be helpful to collect a range of opinions on the proper
categorization of each sample to determine whether or not it contains errors.
Assuming that the results are indicative of a newly emerging Japanese variety ofEnglish, from a pedagogical standpoint, it is important to educate students on the differences
between Japanese English and Inner Circle versions. Students using English phrases in a
Japanese context should be taught not that their version of English is wrong, but that it is aJapanese usage of the language. This will allow them to make the appropriate word choices
for their audience without giving them the impression that their native use of the language is― 53 ―

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bad or inferior.

Conclusion
The use of English is widespread in Japan, particularly in the media and inadvertisements. Although much of the English used in Japan contains errors in the eyes ofnative English speakers, in reality only a small percentage contains actual grammar orspelling mistakes. Some other advertisements contain English that seems strange orcontextually inappropriate. However, it is reasonable to assume that the majority of theseads are effective in conveying the intended meaning to Japanese consumers. This isJapanese English, used to sell Japanese products to Japanese people in what seems likely tobe an emergent Japanese version of English. The opinions of Inner Circle native English
speakers may very well be incidental.
References
Bruthiaux, P. (2003). Squaring the circles: Issues in modelling English worldwide. International
Journal of Applied Linguistics, 13(2), 159-178.
Daulton, F. (2004). The creation and comprehension of English loanwords in the Japanese media.
Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development, 25(4), 285-296.
Haarmann, H. (1984). The role of ethnocultural stereotypes and foreign languages in Japanesecommercials. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 50, 101-121.
Hogan, J. (2003). The social significance of English usage in Japan. Japanese Studies, 23(1), 43.
Kachru, B. 1986. The alchemy of English: The spread, functions and models of non-native Englishes.
Oxford:Pergamon Press. (Reprint 1990, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL.)
Rajadurai, J. (2005). Revisiting the concentric circles: Conceptual and sociolinguistic considerations.
Asian EFL Journal, 7(4), 111-130.
Seaton, P. (2001). 'Shampoo for extra damage': making sense of Japanized English. Japan Forum,13(2), 233-247.
Sherry, J. F. Jr., Camargo, E. G. (1987). "May your life be marvelous:" English language labelling andthe semiotics of Japanese promotion. The Journal of Consumer Research, 14(2), 174-188.
Stanlaw, J. (1992). For beautiful human life: The use of English in Japan. In Tobin, J. (Ed.) Re-madein Japan: Everyday Life and Consumer Taste in a Changing Society (58-76). New Haven andLondon :Yale University Press.
Tomoda, T. (1999). The impact of loan-words on modern Japanese. Japan Forum, 11(2), 231.

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Appendix 1
This section contains a full listing of the text samples that were excerpted from the advertisements.
They are listed by category in alphabetical order.

Category 1: Error-Free
1. Adult Goods DVD
2. Asahi Super Dry
3. Bar Nowhere
4. Baseball Heroes
5. Be as One
6. Christmas Fantasy
7. Christmas Street ‘06
8. Coffee
9. Do It Yourself
10. Fitness Club
11. Gold Point Card
12. iPhone for everybody.
13. Leading Light for Life
14. Liquor House HOTTA
15. Love Pika Project (Note: “Pika” refers to an animated character named Pikachu.)
16. Mega Teriyaki
17. Never Hide
18. New! Rainbow Mountain Blend
19. Next Stage Next Dream
20. NO Drugs!!
21. Penguin Square
22. Sea Dream
23. Shall we dance?
24. Star Movies Cafe
25. Thanks Mom Stay beautiful forever
26. The KICK 2nd Stage27. Tuxedo Jazz
28. Welcome back! Mega Mac
29. You are cute if you drink a pack of Lipton outside.
30. You need HEP Five. (Note: “HEP Five” is the name of a department store.)

Category 2: Contextually Strange or Inappropriate
1. America Village SATISFACTORY― 55 ―

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2. CHILD fashion UNDER wear
3. Dog-Cake shop
4. Every (Note: This was the name of a credit card.)
5. God Mountain
6. Good Coffee Smile
7. Hard-Off Off-House
8. Kobe hot point! Happy, indecent class development!
9. magic hand club esthetic space
10. MYLORD
11. Sound Bar Man Pee

Category 3: Errors

2.

3.
4.
5.
6.

1. All Kinda Hot Music for Boozers
Pluralization error: Here, “kinds of” is misinterpreted as “kind of” and mistakenly shortened to“kinda”.
I’ve, never seen_like this!
Punctuation error: There is an unnecessary comma.
Object omission error: A direct object is necessary after the verb “seen”.
Marmaid
Spelling error: It should be “mermaid”.
MATERIAL GIRL It yearns after the MADONNA
Subject error: The pronoun should be “I/you/he/she” instead of “it”.
Oppen Nail Café
Spelling error: It should be “open”.
We Love Pet’s … No. 1
Pluralization error: There is an unnecessary apostrophe (the plural form of “pet” is “pets”).

Category 4: Japanese Usage of English Loanwords
1.

2.

3.

BEST ALBUM out now!!
Best Album ( ベスト・アルバム besuto arubamu) In English, this would be called a greatest
hits album. It is a compilation of the artist’s most popular or “best” songs.
Gourmet Court Akiba
Gourmet ( グルメ gurume) The meaning is generally the same as in English, but it encompasses
a slightly wider subject area. The use of the word “food” (as in “gourmet food court”) would be
redundant, although it is necessary in English.
hair make S-TAGE
Make ( メーク mēku) This is an abbreviation of the English word “makeup.” The phrase “hair― 56 ―The Use of English in Japanese Media

4.
5.

6.

make” is widely used to mean “hair and makeup,” and it can also refer to a salon.
Roadshow
Roadshow ( ロードショー rōdoshō) This refers to the date a movie is released in theatres.
Super HItension
Hitension ( ハイテンション haitenshon) The phrase “high tension” has been combined into
one word in Japanese, meaning “energetic” or “excited.
Takoru shock!!!
Shock (ショック shokku) The meaning is generally the same as in English, but the part ofspeech is more flexible, so it can be used as an adjective or a self-contained exclamation as well asa noun or verb. In this example, it probably means “Takoru was shocked!”

Appendix 2This section contains sample pictures from each category.
(1)Error-Free: “Gold Point Card”(2)

Contextually Strange or Innapropriate: “Dog-Cake shop”― 57 ―

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(3)

Spelling Error: “Oppen”(4)Japanese Use of English: “hair make S-TAGE”― 58 ―

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