Arguing and interpretation

It starts off-topic, but it's main topic all the way through so stand by me.

It starts with the reading of yet another tepid article in the tepid Japan Times. One guy wants Japanese schools to teach kids empathy. What else, English, debating competence, Powerpoint slideshow editing, thinking by oneself, daring having opposing views? When do you expect math to be taught now that empathy gets into the curriculum? And who will teach these things? And why not teach kids on the other side - because there are two side you know, us and we - not to carry lethal weapons at school? Anyway. Again, it's the Japan Times state of mind, and it's not a song about New York.

Then serendipity comes in. I jump to this article in the (giggle) Education section : Mastering the gentle art of arguing in Japanese. Good title, but who is the Master? The best part of the article turns to be the raising of the very subject. But I quit when it starts veering into the "how-to" chapter with pieces of words and expressions you must "master".

I can't refrain though and click on the link to jump onto Michael Gakuran web site. The original article is more meaty and worth a re-read. The large collection of comments are worth perusing to. Common are matters of communication and the frustrations of it from a  Westerners point of view living in Japan will be familiar to some.

The most interesting part of the story is again that anyone would raise as clearly the issue of argumentation (between Western and Japanese side, manicheistically speaking), with the standard Western complaint of "I can't have satisfactory debates with Japanese", "I have no friends (not in the Facebook sense) to talk to who is Japanese", and the rest of the litany.

Michael Gakuran is part of the next generation of Westerners to fill the pages of tepid Japan Times and equivalent. Japan needs tepid lenient Westerners they are not afraid of. Nothing new with that. What is rather new is that the next generation will deliver even better than the previous, because it was soaked into Japanmania right out of the womb. No jealousy involved. It's the plain truth and a matter of fact.They feel good here, or at least have the knack to pretend they do even before turning into a Gaijin Talento.

Gakuran's style matches tepidness and it makes sense when you want to write in the Japan Times. He writes the way pages want to be filled here. Still into JET program, it shows how committed and directive and strategic one can turn even under leniency and very few years spent in the country. These are premature experts at fitting in the local marketing pool.

Way much more interesting is what is being implied, and I want you to watch what is announced as a humorous video by the end of the article, showing the differences in argumentation styles. Behind the caricature, especially the so-called messy Western way of arguing versus the restrained and brilliant imitation of a Japanese exchange of opposite opinions, there is an essential story to take back home.

These guys are truly brilliant and tell a story Gakuran cannot catch - I don't think he skips this on purpose of additional strategic tepidness - that the correct question is not : How to Argue in Japanese, awkward title that one day will turn into a classic book for Westerners in Japan. No, the correct question should be instead : Why argue with Japanese? And the brilliant guys in the video implicitly spill out the core issue at stakes ...

... and that's where we come back to The Liaison Interpreter' blog main topic .....
(wheeww!) ....

What do you want to achieve by arguing?

The answers are provided in some of the comments that show the author is still behind his readers. One states the following :

My feeling about debating with Japanese people is, "don't". They aren't taught critical thinking in school and are discouraged from engaging in opinion-based arguments. They're at a disadvantage because their cultural priorities are different. They're supposed to consider not only the other person's viewpoint, but also their relative status. If you're a guest or a teacher or a person of higher rank in your company, they are unlikely to disagree with you overtly anyway. It's not a level playing field, and it feels like taking advantage for some sort of person ego gratification to try and debate with Japanese folks. So, I simply don't. There are plenty of foreigners to have such discussions with, and we're all operating on from the same cultural perspective and were educated to have such arguments.

Then, how to avoid arguing and rather focus on what you want to achieve?
The answer to this pops up in another brilliant comment.

I've had plenty of discussions and generally explore topics carefully with them (almost daily, actually). Mainly, I make sure not to try and score points for my "side" (which I see as debating) or trying to prove that I have a better point or more supported perspective. What I tend to do is ask questions to spiral outward from what a Japanese person expresses until they reach a conclusion. That conclusion is the point I want to make, but they get there thinking its their realization, not my viewpoint. I don't usually assert anything about what I think or feel actively, but just try to lead people along a line of discussion that will help them be open to other ideas. In the end, they "agree" with me because they've not been challenged or even asked to agree. They've just been lead to "understand". It's absolutely non-confrontational and is more about educating than debating.

So, discussion, yes. :-) Debate, no. ;-)

In business liaison interpreting with Japanese as interlocutors, when the setting is somewhat controversial, playing the mantra of neutrality and just transferring what your client says is usually a guarantee for failure. And as experience shows, you probably simply cannot refrain that urge to bend the blunt angles of your client when you know that this won't do. It is the very reason why I ask my clients : "What do you want to achieve by the end of the session?" Because as an helper, chances I may slightly bend the speech for their benefit, helping them getting closer to achieve what they want to take away.

As for the issue of satisfactory discussions with Japanese, I have found a clue recently in a book that has apparently no relationship with Japan it totally ignores. It is a book (in French) about politeness, savoir-vivre and social relations.

One unknown writer would suggest to teach empathy at Japanese school. I would suggest to learners of the Japanese language, and those punitively uneasy with themselves in front of the lack of satisfactory discussions with Japanese people two thing : learn keigo (honorific language) - there are plenty of books for that, and learn why you need keigo. There are no books I am aware of that are asking and answering the "why" question. Interestingly enough, you will get hints why keigo and the behaviors that come with it by reading a book on savoir-vivre. It won't sooth the pain in one day, but it may help reset the mind toward more strategic things to enjoy life here.