Personal and Public Identities: every key term you need (+ practice quiz)

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Jikoshōkai (自己紹介)

Self-introduction: はじめまして、〜と申します。〜から来ました。どうぞよろしくお願いします。 The AP speaking task often begins with one.

申します

Humble (kenjōgo) form of 言います used to give one's own name: 田中と申します。 More formal than 田中です.

First-person pronouns

私 (watashi, neutral), 僕 (boku, male casual/polite), 俺 (ore, male rough), あたし (female casual); pronoun choice signals gender, age and formality.

Second-person address

あなた is avoided with people you know; use name + さん, a title (先生, 部長), or omit the pronoun entirely.

Name suffixes

さん (neutral polite), 様 (very polite/customers), 君 (male juniors), ちゃん (children/close female friends), 先生 (teachers, doctors).

Tatemae and honne (建前・本音)

Public stance vs. true feelings; Japanese communication often preserves harmony (和) by expressing tatemae in soto settings.

Wa (和)

Group harmony, a core cultural value that shapes indirect speech, consensus and reluctance to say no directly.

Aizuchi (相槌)

Listener responses such as はい、ええ、そうですね、なるほど that show attention; silence during listening can seem cold.

Indirect refusal

ちょっと… or それは難しいですね often mean 'no'; understanding this is key in interpersonal listening.

Meishi kōkan (名刺交換)

Business-card exchange with both hands, reading the card, and placing it on the table; identity is displayed through company and title.

Seifuku (制服)

School uniforms (sailor fuku, gakuran, blazer) that mark students' school identity and are worn even outside school.

Kōkōsei life

High school students identify strongly with their 学校, 部活 and 学年 (一年生・二年生・三年生); club membership shapes friendships.

Juken (受験)

Entrance-exam culture; a 受験生 spends a year in 塾 (cram school) preparing, and university identity is a strong social marker.

Shūkatsu (就活)

Job hunting by university juniors and seniors in identical dark suits (リクルートスーツ), reflecting conformity in public identity.

Salaryman and OL

サラリーマン (male office worker) and OL (office lady): postwar identity categories tied to lifetime employment (終身雇用).

Ikigai (生きがい)

One's reason for living or sense of purpose, a common vocabulary item in passages about personal identity and aging.

Nihonjinron (日本人論)

Popular writings on what makes Japanese people unique; useful context for discussing national identity critically.

Hāfu and multicultural identity

People with one Japanese and one non-Japanese parent (ハーフ) and 在日 Koreans raise questions about who counts as Japanese.

Zainichi (在日)

Long-term Korean and Chinese residents of Japan, many born there, whose legal and cultural identity has been debated for generations.

Ainu and Ryūkyū peoples

Indigenous Ainu of Hokkaidō (recognized 2019) and Okinawan/Ryūkyūan culture, showing Japan is not culturally uniform.

Hōgen (方言)

Regional dialects such as 関西弁 (おおきに, あかん) vs. 標準語; dialect is a strong marker of regional identity.

Kansai-ben markers

〜へん for negation (行かへん), や instead of だ, ほんま for 本当; Osaka identity is linked with humor (漫才).

Gendered speech

Sentence-final particles わ・かしら (feminine) vs. ぞ・ぜ (masculine); women more often use お-prefixed words like お弁当.

Sonkeigo verbs

Special respectful verbs: いらっしゃる (be/go/come), おっしゃる (say), 召し上がる (eat), ご覧になる (see), なさる (do).

Kenjōgo verbs

Humble verbs: 参る (go/come), 申す (say), いただく (eat/receive), 拝見する (see), いたす (do).

お/ご + verb stem + する

Productive humble pattern: お持ちします (I will carry it), ご案内します (I will guide you).

お/ご + verb stem + になる

Productive honorific pattern: お読みになる, お帰りになる, raising the status of the person acting.

Ganbaru (頑張る)

To persevere; 頑張って/頑張ります express personal effort as an identity value in school, sports and work.

Shūdan ishiki (集団意識)

Group consciousness; individuals often identify themselves by school or company first (〜の田中です).

Nickname and SNS handles

Young people use ニックネーム and あだ名; on SNS, ハンドルネーム allow a separate public identity.

Ryūgakusei (留学生)

International/exchange student; AP prompts often ask you to compare your identity as a student in your country with Japanese students.

Shumi (趣味)

Hobbies as identity: 私の趣味は〜ことです pattern (趣味は本を読むことです).

Seikaku vocabulary

Personality words: 真面目 (serious), 明るい (cheerful), 内気 (shy), 優しい (kind), おとなしい (quiet), 社交的 (sociable).

Ijime (いじめ)

Bullying, often of those who stand out; linked to the proverb 出る杭は打たれる (the nail that sticks up gets hammered).

Deru kui wa utareru

出る杭は打たれる: proverb about social pressure to conform, frequently cited when discussing individuality in Japan.

Otaku identity

Passionate fan subculture (anime, idols, trains); once negative, now increasingly a positive self-label.