Common mistakes in keigo

Since I'm taking Business Japanese classes this semester, I will keep the "educative" contents of the blog alive with one more post about Japanese polite language, a.k.a. keigo.

I won't go through explaining it all. There are many sites on the internet that do it better than I probably could. I will link Wikipedia just for the sake of having a direct link from this blog.

I said in my previous post about keigo that even Japanese make mistakes with it. So, I will discuss a little about some common mistakes people make when using Japanese honorifics. Some call those mistakes famikon go (ファミコン語) because they are heard most often in family restaurants (ファミリーレストラン) and convenience stores (コンビニ) that hire many temporary staff, but can't give them all proper training in keigo. (Japanese companies usually train their staff in business manners during their first year.)


Example 1: It will become what!?

Wrong: これはサラダになります。 (Kore wa sarada ni narimasu.)
Right: これはサラダでございます。 (Kore wa sarada de gozaimasu.)

One of the mistakes I can identify when I hear, which makes it the one I hear the most. It can be heard most often when waiters bring meals or drinks.

The same sentence in a less formal way would be これはサラダです (kore wa sarada desu), which literaly means "This is (the) salad." The polite way for です is でございます (or でいらっしゃいます when the subject is another person), justifying the correct form.

The wrong form translates as "This will become (or becomes) salad." Yes, this mistake has many openings for jokes. But why this mistake happens? My best guess is that they resort to the "generic form" of sonkeigo (尊敬語), trying to be respectful towards the client.

That generic form consists basically of adding になる at the end of a verb in the continuative form (連用形) preceded by the proper affix (接辞) - the 御 (o/go) mentioned in the previous post. For example, send (送る) by that form becomes お送りになる; wait (待つ) becomes お待ちになる. Even some verbs with special forms also have になる at the end, like ご覧になる and お越しになる.

And we finally see a pattern on how something that IS a salad manages to BECOME a salad...


Example 2: A 5000 bill is giving what!?

Wrong: 5000円からお預かりします。 (5000 en kara o-azukarishimasu.)
Right: 5000円をお預かりします。 (5000 en wo o-azukarishimasu.)

This one I also hear sometimes. It is most common to hear it when paying a bill.

As you may have noticed, it is not so much a mistake in honorifics. It is a general grammar mistake; more especifically, a mistake in the use of particles (助詞).

The meaning is, in a free translation, "(You) have entrusted (me) with 5000 yen" (this verb is not a simple one to translate. I will oversimplify and use "receive" henceforth). The particle を usually indicates the direct object of the sentence and that in accord with the correct form.

On the other hand, the particle から indicates point of origin. And under this interpretation, instead of "receiving 5000 yen", that person would be "receiving from 5000 yen" (I wonder what that person is receiving).

About the reasons for this mistake, I am a bit clueless. Since that sentence is often said when there is some change involved (a bill of 4500 yen paid with a 5000 yen note, for example), I guess it is a form of saying that the bill will be paid deducting FROM that 5000 note.


Example 3: It was ok already, right?

Wrong: ご注文は以上でよろしかったですか。 (go-chuumon wa ijyou de yoroshikatta desu ka?)
Right: ご注文は以上でよろしいですか。 (go-chuumon wa ijyou de yoroshii desu ka?)

This time I have to start with the translation. The correct version means "Will that be all?" or "Is there anything else you'd like to order?" As the translation itself indicates, this sentence is said after a customer orders something as a mean to verify if there's nothing else he/she would like to order.

The different point between the two sentences is the use of the word "よろしい", which means in this case "ok" or "all right". The first sentence is in past form (よろしかった), while the second is in plain form (よろしい).

So, instead of asking, it seems like the person saying the sentence decided that the customer doesn't want anything else and is just confirming when using the past form. Something like "Oh, you didn't want anything else anyway, right?".

Why there's a verb tense mistake among the problems with keigo? For this one I am on shaky ground, but the past form may look more polite. It's probably related to how the Japanese culture favors indirectiveness in speech, especially when making or refusing requests. So the past form looks more roundabout, therefore - for many people - more appropriate.

However, in this case, it actually makes a question look almost like an imposition...

Japanese Polite Language (敬語)

After you reach a certain level of Japanese proficiency, there are two types of classes that are especially challenging.

One is old Japanese. Usually necessary for those who read old books or do research related to Japanese culture or History. Not my case. And since modern Japanese still gives me a lot of trouble, even though it helps to explain modern Japanese (for example, why there are two characters for "o"? Namely 「お」 and 「を」), I'll pass this one for now.

Another one, and this one is very hard to ignore, is polite Japanese, or keigo (敬語).

Why is this challenging? One point is that in many cases, words and even sentences are altered completely. For example, "soshite" (そして), which means "and / then", becomes "narabi ni" (ならびに); "Ashita" ("tomorrow") becomes "myounichi", even though the kanji is still the same (明日). Even the simple "sou desu ka?" (そうですか), meaning "really?" or "all right", becomes "sayou degozaimasu ka" (さようでございますか).

Another point, although this one is personal, is that from my Brazilian background, it is not so easy to always think of the relative ranking of the person I'm talking to and use the correct level of politeness. I'm used to just mirror the politeness of the person I'm talking to, and to get informal as the person is closer to me. That doesn't work here.

As I mentioned "correct level", it is important to mention there are various forms of polite language in Japanese. Sonkeigo is used to elevate other people (used towards people who are older or "socially superior" in some way); kenjyougo is used to humble oneself (towards someone "superior"); teineigo is the standard polite language (and the one I usually stick to for being the safest and simplest).

So, if a professor sees my report, "sensei wa watashi no repooto wo goran ni naru" (先生は私のレポートをご覧になる); if I see my professor somewhere, "watashi wa sensei wo haiken suru" (私は先生を拝見する); if I see a movie, "watashi wa eiga wo mimasu" (私は映画を見ます). Those were, respectively, the sonkeigo, kenjyougo and teineigo forms of the verb miru (見る), whose meaning is easy to guess from the examples.

There are some other details and variations, like placing 御 ("o" or "go") at the beginning of words to beautify them, but I won't go too deep this time.

The bottom line is that even Japanese people themselves often make mistakes when using polite language beyond the simple teineigo.

A comic book I read recently after reading about it on Muito Japão 2 is 日本人の知らない日本語 (free translation: "Japanese Language Japanese People don't Know"). It is very funny for those who had the chance of studying Japanese in Japan, for they can relate to some situations mentioned in the comics. It also has many curiosities, mostly about Japanese language. And the book also mentions Japanese polite language, how Japanese people often make mistakes on it and some situations with foreign students.

And how much keigo should foreigners know? It depends. This Japan Times article says that foreigners who use too much keigo are seen as show offs. On the other hand, Japanese raised abroad are eventually criticized for their shaky command of keigo. The only problem is since I have Asian looks I may be closer to the second case.

The article also says that "Making mistakes in keigo or using too much keigo and seeming 'ingin burei' (appearing insincere with excessive politeness) leaves a worse impression than not using it." So I guess I'll try to stick to the safe side.

But before I mentioned that keigo is hard to ignore, didn't I? Yes, and it is because even if you don't use it, be sure you will listen to it... a lot.

Himeji Castle Moon Viewing Festival

Between the heat of summer and the red leaves of autumn, there is another event in Japan. Although less celebrated, tsukimi (月見), or moon viewing, is also an important point in the Japanese calendar.

While looking for references, I found this blog that explains tsukimi in a nice way. So, instead of keeping my usual (long) explanations, I will recommend people to go there take a look.

One thing that should be noted is that the event follows the lunar calendar. Although it makes sense considering it's a moon viewing event, that also means the actual day changes every year in the usual Gregorian calendar. This year (2009), the day is October 3rd.

On that day, the moon is at its fullest. Also, skies were clear enough for clear visibility, with some occasional clouds that actually made the scene more beautiful.


Where was I? Back in Himeji for the Himeji Castle Moon Viewing Festival (姫路城観月会). At the park in front of the castle, people gather to watch performances, enjoy the moon, eat and drink. And about drinking, there is also another point that festival is famous for: buying just one cup of sake (500 yen, if I remember well), it is possible to drink all the sake you want from various makers who participate in the festival.

That also leads to very drunk people here and there. Anyway, that's a different story...


In my case, it was just a good opportunity to meet some friends in Himeji (or part of it as some people were absent) and take pictures of the moon and the castle.

(Note: this is a computer processed picture. The moon and the castle weren't that perfectly aligned.)

Those may be my last pictures of the castle, so I could not miss the chance as well. Why? Well, besides the fact I'm approaching graduation, Himeji Castle will go under restoration from this moon viewing festival to 2014.

To those who have never been there, until March it seems they will only bring materials for the restoration, so it will still be possible to see and go inside the castle. Don't miss this chance.

China - Part 2: Beijing (北京)

Continuing the trip in China...

After leaving Guilin on September 17th, we went by plane back to Beijing. Greeted once again by the Beijing Capital International Airport. And, as we were flying with Air China, we were in Terminal 3. Beijing Airport was in 2008 the 8th busiest airport in the world, 21st in aircraft movements (also the only Asian airport in the top 30), and 8th in cargo. Terminal 3 is only second to Dubai International Airport Terminal 3 in size. It is also one of the most modern, the fastest airport terminal ever built, among other notable characteristics. To make it short, a very impressive airport.

From the airport, we went to the hotel. A guest building inside Fang's former university, the Beijing Foreign Studies University. This allowed me to watch glimpses of student life in China, which was great. There was even a small group (of staff, I guess) practicing Tai Chi in the mornings. But after arriving at the hotel, we left again to meet one of Fang's close friends who studied at the same university, Q., and her fiancee for some tea and small dinner.

On the next day, after a late start Fang decided to show me one of her favourite places in Beijing that I should see: the 798 Art Zone. It is an former industrial area that after deactivation gradually turned into an special art zone. Structures from the industral times remain, some with unique architectural style. Those merge well with the galleries, cafes, sculptures and other artistic manifestations of the district.

The place is far and large. So much that it became our only spot for the day, for we already had something scheduled for the night: meeting again Q. and fiancee to eat the famous Peking Duck. At this time, I realized something about Chinese people. Chinese may be loud, noisy, and even disrespectful (for our standards) at times. But earn their friendship and they'll go to great lenghts and do many things for you... warmly. Even because sharing the bill is not part of Chinese culture.


As Fang was also going to another city for her research, before the farewell another friend, Y., and her fiancee (is it just me who is seeing a pattern here?) also joined the group to chat at a department store. The three Humanities girls who haven't met for ages, and the three Technology boys struggling to get their points across (I don't speak Chinese, but I think we did a good job with English). Anyway, it was an excellent opportunity to interact with Chinese people in an environment which is not of "international exchange" or "tourism". All four are nice people that I hope I can meet again.

September 19th. Alone in a country I don't speak the language (even though I might have a local face because I got asked directions more than once), it was time to join an English tour to some famous touristic spots.

The first one was the Ming Tombs (明朝十三陵), more especifically the Changling Tomb. During the Ming Dynasty, 13 emperors built complexes of palatial buildings in the suburbs of Beijing. Those were later called the Ming Tombs. An interesting feature of the Changling Tomb is the division between Heaven and Earth. The tomb has two areas: a square one representing Earth and a circular one representing Heaven. A gate marks the division between the two.

After that, one stop at the Long Di Superior Jade Factory (couldn't find a good link). It was nice to see they carving some sculptures in jade, as well as hearing one curiosity of two (about the 2008 Olympic Medals and the symbolism of some sculptures). Still, the lack of Chinese customers tells me something about those places...

... Well, as a broke student, I wasn't going to buy jade stuff on the first place...

The group had lunch and then we went to the real highlight of the day: the Great Wall of China (万里长城). One of the great wonders of the world and a construction that can be seen from space, the Great Wall doesn't need further introductions. The tour went to Badaling section... they just forgot to tell (until the last second at least) that the cable car was not included on the tour fee.

... Typical.

The most annoying is that there was no alternative to the cable car. Or it was, but it meant climbing from a place very far away from there. Impossible given the tour schedule.


The Great Wall was nice. It's good to say I've been there. There were just a couple of problems:
1- It was foggy (what I later guessed that could be haze)
2- It was crowded (can't be avoided, but with problem number 1 made good shots almost impossible)
3- I started to feel bad. I first thought it was because we had just eaten (No, I've exercised after eating quite a number of times and it was never like that); then that it was the altitude (only 800 meters!? Oh, C'mon!); and my final guess was it was the pollution.

For those reasons, I returned a little after reaching the highest part of the Wall. Too bad...

From the Great Wall, the tour had a last stop: Beijing Dong Wu Silk Museum (couldn't find any link either...). Again, there were interesting explanations about silk, including a special Chinese type where two insects make their coocons together into a stronger one. And again I could see no Chinese customers...

Since the silk museum was close to the Olympic Green (北京奧林匹克公園), I decided to leave the tour (instead of getting a ride to the hotel) and go see it. As I wasn't exactly well, I just wandered a little around the Olympic Park looking the the main structures: the National Stadium (also called Bird's Nest), place for the Opening and Ending ceremonies; and the National Aquatics Center with its famous architecture. As a bonus, I also saw some other structures nearby, like the National Indoor Stadium. All of them from the outside only, though.

September 20th. The last day. I was feeling better and was finally able to see a bit of the blue sky (It is said Guilin weather is such that locals call "cloudy" weather "clear" weather... In Beijing it was cloudy most of the time, but there was also the haze).

Time to storm some places until my return flight.

Without finding a place to put my bags (one backpack with luggage and another to walk around), I went around carrying them. So imagine myself carrying two backpacks to the following places.

The first place was the controversial Tian'anmen Square (天安门广场). With the Monument to the People's Heroes, Great Hall of the People, Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, among other features, it is the place that many people think about when Beijing comes to their minds. Of course, for many people it also brings the issue of the protests of 1989.

Talking about it, as October 1st 2009 is the 60th Anniversary of the Chinese Revolution, the Government (and the citizens) are preparing a HUGE celebration. As one of the consequences, there were guards at every sensible point. Tian'anmen Square had even x-ray scanners, the Chinese SWAT, and soldiers questioning all large groups who didn't look like tours.

Nevertheless, there was a large crowd in Tian'anmen and in my next destination: the Forbidden City (故宮), now called Palace Museum. Occupying 720,000 square meters and with 9,999 rooms (because of Chinese numerology), it was the Chinese imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties and is divided in mainly two parts: the outer court, where the emperor had audiences and other activities related to his "function" as supreme ruler; and the inner court, where the emperor lived with his family. That lasted until the last emperor of China was driven out in 1924.


As I had little time, I just went straight through, without seeing other structures at the sides. At the other side of the Forbidden City, there's still Jingshan Park (景山). The main reason to check the park was that from the peak of a hill there it is possible to see the whole Forbidden City.

With still some time to spare, the next stop was Beihai Park (北海公园;), a former imperial garden. With some of its structures and scenes considered masterpieces of gardening technique, the park also hosts a white pagoda which body is made of white stone. Surprisingly, there were few foreign tourists there.

After the park, I realised I was late, so I rushed to take the Airport Express train back to PEK Airport, and from there back to Japan.

Just like it was the case with Korea, there were some points when I thought China is more similar to Brazil than Japan. Although I have the (common) impression Chinese are constantly irritated or angry, in part that's just the way the language sounds. I say in part because, unlike Japanese, they really show what they feel. So sometimes they may really be irritated (like when a taxi driver said we were taking to long to leave the taxi - he was waiting for the next customer) or angry.

Talking about people, that was the most strikingly characteristic of China in my opinion. It doesn't matter the time of the day or where you were. It was very hard to be alone. And often there was a crowd with you. People everywhere. Well, that's to be expected from a country that has about one fifth of the world's population I guess.

Traffic was a sort of organized chaos. Lots of car horns being heard, but the accident rate is relatively low. Don't expect pedestrian preference over vehicles, but as a Brazilian (not resident in Brasilia) I'm used to that.

It was again interesting noticing people's reaction after realizing I wasn't Asian, but Brazilian. After explaining, people always made references to the same thing: soccer. This time, though, I thought it was a good idea not mentioning to anyone that I was Japanese descendent and that I was studying in Japan. Some old people still don't like Japan because of WWII, and even some young Chinese, who mostly don't have these strong nationalistic problems, would like at least to hear an apology from Japan for its war atrocities. Especially because Japan apologized to the United States, but not to Asian countries, which actually suffered more than the US.

The "Great Firewall of China" and other forms of censorship were also interesting to see. Reading a Chinese newspaper in English, I could see no news saying bad things about the government. Quite unusual from the perspectives of any country I've been so far. There were also more good news than usual for a newspaper. Is that necessarily bad? Maybe some good news could cheer people up... Still, when the price is the control of information to the point of nothing bad about the government can be said, I don't think it's a worth trade.

Whoops, I just said something bad about Chinese politics! What will I do? Well, nothing. Many Google services, including blogspot, are blocked in China. That means that no mainland Chinese can read this blog through normal means (nothing that can't be solved, as some Chinese also know. It's troublesome nevertheless).

Ah, I have uploaded pictures as usual for people who want to see more. This time, though, as Picasa is also blocked in China and I would like some people there to see the pics, I uploaded them in a different place. It's here.

To end the post, two sentences I found most useful in China (my pronunciation is awful, so it wasn't much of a help actually):

我是巴西人 (wǒ shì Bāxīrén): "I am Brazilian." When people looked at me wondering what am I.

不用 (bù yòng): "Don't need." The golden words when someone tries to sell you something you're not interested in (and believe me when I say it WILL happen if you go near a touristic spot. Especially if you don't look Asian). Say two or three times in sequence with appropriate gestures for better effect.

But the big prize goes to my Beijing guide in Japanese. There were Chinese sentences for "Don't kill me!" or "I don't have money on me." Will tourists ever remember those sentences even if eventually a "proper" situation arises?

China - Part 1: Guilin (桂林)

With less than one year until graduation, it was time to go somewhere in Asia during summer vacation. Without time and money to do something crazy like a round the world trip, I decided to settle for a country that I promised myself I'd visit while in Japan.

So, from September 14th to 20th I went to China.

This time, I went alone without speaking the local language (like in Korea), but there I'd meet Fang (a.k.a. elfinjp), who was in China doing research.

That made things A LOT easier...

After meeting at the airport in Beijing (we'll return to the airport, so I'll save my comments for that time), we flew to Guilin... via Xian! I only realized later that we would go through such a famous place. Unfortunately, it was just a temporary stop and we never left the airport. Well, the terracota warriors will have to wait...

Arriving in Guilin, the hostel we booked sent someone to pick us up. After a day flying, realizing you have a room with a great view to the river is an excellent way to end the day...

Second day, and as work comes before the fun, Fang went to look for some interviews for her research. I followed and even joined one that happened to be in Japanese. Still, I don't know how much I can disclose here, so I am not giving details.

After eating some real Chinese food for dinner, we still had time to visit the Sun & Moon Pagodas (日月双塔). The 41m high Sun Pagoda is also the tallest copper pagoda in the world. The pagodas are said to be built by Jianzhen, one important character in Sino-Japanese cultural exchange, during the Tang Dynasty. Unfortunately, these are not the original structures, but rather a reconstruction. And that's why I guess these towers are not usually listed as one of the "main atractions" of Guilin.


Nevertheless, the towers are beautiful. Especially at night. We managed to join a guided tour (in Chinese) to the pagodas; and walking around Fang managed to find a place with local traditional clothes to rent. Girls dresses only. Better for me who was free to take pictures.

September 16th. Cloudy weather with occasional light rain. Perfect for a cruise on Li River (漓江). Guilin area is famous for its natural topography - especially its hills - and it's during a cruise on Li River that characteristic may reach artistic/dreamlike levels. A Chinese saying even states the scenery in Guilin is "the best under heaven" (桂林山水甲天下).

And that's not for nothing. Of course, being surrounded with boats carrying tourists takes some of the magic away, but the foggy scenario thanks to the cloudy weather made the hills look like some painting. And there's even a hill they can "the pen of God", which He used to draw the Guilin landscape.


Talking about the shape of the hills. They have figures for many of them. One of the most interesting is one that resembles a panel. And it is said that nine horses are pictured on that panel, but only smart people can see all nine.

... Well, I saw only four...

The boat arrived in Yangshuo, and from there we could join a paid tour or explore for ourselves. Guess which we chose?

We took a quick walk at West Street, the oldest street in Yangshuo and also called the "foreigners street", because the number of foreigners there sometimes outnumber the number of Chinese (and after being in China, I recognize that as a great feat), and many stores and hotels in the area have English signs. Then, we rented a bike with two seats (for the sake of experience) and cycled with a local guide to the Butterfly Spring Park.

The park got this name because of a butterfly-like stalactite found inside a grotto in the park. The grotto also has some other forms, including one that resembles a couple embracing each other. For those reasons, the place is also often associated to the story of the Butterfly Lovers. The park also has a butterfly garden, although we could see very few when we were there.


After the park, we had planned to go to some other place, but the lack of time made us return to the rendezvous point and return to Guilin.

As a side note, we made our reservations through our hostel. But guess what... The tour in Chinese was less than half the price of the English one. We took the Chinese tour, as did two German tourists staying at the same hostel, even though they can't speak Chinese. The only problem was that the final meeting point to go back to Guilin changed, and Fang called the guide to check the new place. I guess the Germans couldn't do that, and they were left behind (we also didn't have means to contact them)... They at least knew how to get back, fortunately.

Fourth day and the last in Guilin. We had planned to see the Elephant Trunk Hill in the morning. But Fang was very tired (she had been walking around for her research for days before we met), so we thought better to stay put and rest in the hostel. For lunch, we had time to eat one typical food in Guilin. This time in a popular restaurant, meaning eating what the locals really eat. The dish was Guilin mifen (桂林米粉), or rice noodles. The noodles came with some meat and vegetables that were unexpectingly tasty... and unbeliavebly cheap.

After four days, we went to the airport and from there to Beijing.

The Chinese saga continues...