Why do the Japanese use English words so much?

[nicoleb]

I just wanted to know why the Japanese do it. In songs, in Anime titles, etc. I'm not saying it doesn't sound/look cool. I think it's a great idea. "Hora, Catch you, catch you, catch me, catch me, Matte!" But what I want to know is, what gave them that idea? Why did the Japanese decide to use English characters so much?

 

[digi-kun]

now, should someone move this to Anime/Manga or could this stay here? XD

ah well, they tend to borrow a lot of words...heck, even Anime was taken from america's "Animation", still, they borrow lots of words from all over the place

 

[Eliana]

Hm...XD Well you do have a point there, Digi....=3 Point taken...I have no knowledge of Japanese stuff, but I will move it~

~Eli


P.S As I have said before supposing I made a stupid move, sorry! XD

 

[Imite]

Well, mainly because it's cool.

I mean, I know that us looking at some giant sign advertising "Burgers Let's!" may not seem like Coolsville to us, but it's cool for them because it's a different language. Believe it or not, Japanese people like American stuff, just like lots of us like Japanese stuff. It also makes them seem a little more intelligent, because it's in another language.

By that same token, why do a lot of anime fans use words like 'kawaii' and 'neko' and greet each other with 'konnichiwa' ? Whether we care to admit it or not, we consider it cool because it's a different language. And how many music artists use words from other languages in their songs just for effect or because it sounds different or cool? It's basically like that. It just stands out to us, because "Ai ravu yuu" sounds more like an exotic dish than a love confession.

 

[devilicious]

Make a search at PC.

2/3 of the members have something Japanese on their profile.
So don't be surprised if at a Japanese forum ya see a lot of people with English words in their profile~

 

[Chibi-chan]

We think the word 'kawaii' and the Japanese ending 'chan' is really neat, so vice versa, they think the word 'cute' and 'friend' are also neat! We really like eachother's language, that we do :3

 

[kohei]

I'm confused... I'm Japanese but I don't tend to use Enlgish a lot when talking with Japanese friends back in Japan, nor I see lots of English in Japanese forums (but instead of English, some Korean here and there).

 

[Chairman Kaga]

I suppose it may just be trendy to have English spoken in some anime and in Japanese society as a whole. I've had a person tell me before that in some schools, the children prefer to speak English to speaking with their own language. There may be a lot of english on japanese signs because it's so much simpler than their languages. Not only do they have two separate alphabets that consist of syllables instead of sounds, but their other method, the pictographic kanji, has thousands of symbols in endless combinations and represent concepts instead of sounds. I can definitely understand why the Japanese would prefer the romanized alphabet over their own writing systems. I take it that english is mandatory in the lower grades of school as well (for business reasons, I would guess, as much as an American would want to learn Japanese for business reasons) and therefore soon becomes second nature to them. As others have said, it's merely exotic, even if many people only partially grasp it.

www.engrish.com is quite possibly my favorite site on the internet. It shows what happens when the Japanese and Chinese aren't fluent in english...

 

[Chiru]

www.engrish.com is quite possibly my favorite site on the internet. It shows what happens when the Japanese and Chinese aren't fluent in english...

That site is amazing. I was going to post it here, but CK beat me to it XD. You should definately go there for a few good laughs.

Have a good die!

 

[Miyu-chan]

Well... The Japanese adore our Western culture. They borrowed heavily from us during the Meiji Restoration, no? They basically adore foreign stuff. Which is why they dye their hair blond, other colors, etc. o.o; And also the use of English and other languages in their songs. <<; (I'm just generalizing here) a lot of their names were borrowed from originally English names - for example - 'Arisu', which came from 'Alice'.

People tend to have a sense of curiousity towards the unknown, or strange ('foreign') Yeah, which is why I have the 'Miyu-chan' in my username. xDDD

 

[zero-hunter x7]

yeah, maybe it is because they like how our words sound, I mean, I like how japanese sounds more then english for some strange reason. Probably because I like how they talk fast... Maybe they like some aspect of our speech or something like that

 

[The S]

I don't think there's a single anime that doesn't have at least one word of English in one of their songs...

 

[digi-kun]

Re-sublimity - Kannazuki no Miko OP

Haruka ni sotto yurameku urei Kattou no kioku ni ugokasare
Mabuta ni zutto haritsuku shiroi zekkyou ni kogoeta
Shizumu tsuki no mayoi
Sonzai wa tashikani Ima koko ni
Matte iru no wa
Namida nado mou nagasanai
Tada dakiaeru shunkan The confusion of the setting moon
Ienai... Kikenai... Mienai... Maboroshi dake
Toki no mukou kawa e to nagasarete Mayoigo ni naru Yurusenu negai
Koe dake... Yubi dake... Chikazuku ondo dake...
Todokanu omoi ga Chigirarete yokaze wo someru
Soko wa kitto mayakashi to guuzou datte ki ga tsuiteta
Sore nanoni fukai zassou no naka Amai mi futto mi wo yudaneta
Noboru taiyou no mayoi
Guuzen wa hisoka ni shikumareta
Isso hitsuzen
Me no mae ni ima sarasareta
Fukaku ni yugamu kanjou
Nakenai... Kosenai... Wakaranai... Ketsumatsu nado
Doko e yukoutomo Tada kimi dake wo mamoritakute Sakaratteiru
Ima dake... Kako dake... Tsugunau mirai dake
Sukueru no naraba Kare hatete kietemo ii to
Ienai... Kikenai... Mienai... Maboroshi dake
Toki no mukou kawa e to nagasarete Moyoigo ni naru Yurusenu negai
Koe dake... Yubi dake... Chikazuku ondo dake...
Todokanu omoi ga Chigirarete yokaze wo someru
Kare hatete kietemo ii to
Kimi dake no hikari ni naru to

and don't give me the "It's in the title" stuff" XDactually i just heard this a while ago XD

 

[Miyu-chan]

I don't think Tori no Uta has English in it also... does it? o.o;

 

[Kylie-chan]

Make a search at PC.

2/3 of the members have something Japanese on their profile.
So don't be surprised if at a Japanese forum ya see a lot of people with English words in their profile~

Good point. =D

*pokes username*

...what DOES "no" mean in Japanese, anyway? o.o;

 

[fearow]

"no" is a possessive marker. It could be equated to the possessive apostrophe. For example, "Tenshi no Shippo" could be translated to "Angel's Tail" or "Tail of the Angel".

"Tori no Uta" would be "Bird's Song" or "the song of birds" or something.

 

[.::Tsunami::.]

Good point. =D

*pokes username*

...what DOES "no" mean in Japanese, anyway? o.o;

dunno what it is whatever it is i wander if it is simalar to our language?

 

[Shadowfaith]

Same reason we use Japanese words. I mean, you look at the forums and there are a great deal of Japanese words being used:

Usernames: San, Kun, chan, ext
Words: Kawaii ext

You know, using Japanese seems cool to those who like the Japanese culture but can't speek the language...and thus the same goes for the Japanese using English words ^ ^