In and Out

And again I am posting while still in the States - I have no shame. But as it will certainly come up later, I want to explain the Japanese concept of uchi-soto, which is deeply ingrained in the society and something I still struggle to grasp.

Japanese culture is stereotyped for being incredibly formal and hierarchical, but that is only partially true. Instead of assessing a person's position on a ladder, you determine the relationship of their group to yours. One shows deference to the out-group (soto) and expresses humility when referring to one's in-group (uchi). If I am representing my uchi dorm when speaking to the soto Henry Bienen, I would adjust my actions, language, and a body language, sometimes drastically.

The "fun" part about this is that uchi and soto changes depending on the context. If I am talking to the President of Nanzan University before I enroll, Henry Bienen would be a part of my in-group, and I would speak as to humble his name and myself. Sometimes the changes required are easy to figure out, sometimes not. Even Japanese people make mistakes in adjusting their language.

A concrete example: my first Japanese instructor at NU, Shiojima-sensei, is a fellow at my dorm and would often come to our social events. In class, the instructors are very patient with us, but are clear that we are to use keigo, the polite level of Japanese which (annoyingly) has its own sets of verbs. This is because - for us - teachers are soto and students are uchi. However, at dorm events, Shiojima-sensei would speak informally and joke with me. When other students talked with us, she would sometimes make me translate what she said from Japanese to English, while she was perfectly fluent in English.

I know part of her motivation was to keep me practicing, but I think a deeper reason is that she is allowing me to join her in an in-group, with other students as an out-group. As a Westerner who doesn't think in these terms, this is very tiring to follow, but I see the strengths in having a group-orientated mentality, as opposed to a individual-oriented one.

It makes me wonder if there are such deep differences between my American culture and all the others I interact with at Northwestern. It's both exhausting and exhilarating.