Many people see the Japanese as extremely hardworking and who can blame them for that impression with so many Japanese working ridiculous overtime hours. While the amount of work being done and the efficiency of it is debatable, there is certainly a very strong sense of social responsibility. With that sense of responsibly comes a strong work ethic. At the very least, the Japanese work long hours and try to stay busy. Looking at the language may give us some insight into where this dedication to work comes from.

Ganbaru

When you start studying Japanese, it won’t be long before you run into some form of the word Ganbaru. Ganbaru in short means “to do your best”. You can say “Ganbarimasu” to tell someone (your boss for example) that you are going to do work really hard on something. When someone enters a company and gives a welcome speech they often end the speech by saying that they’ll do their best. When someone makes a mistake, they often assure that they will do their best from then on. At New Years parties, people often announce that they’ll do their best with something in the following year. It is common to hear students saying that they’ll do their best in everything from sports to grades to cleaning the hallway to having class meetings. While the meaning is not all that different from English, the variety of situations and frequency in which it is used is quickly noticeable. Since it is used so widely it can be thought of as a concept more than just a word.

“Ganbare” is how you would cheer someone on and say “Do your best!” It might be better to think of this as “Good luck!” if said before a sports event or performance. If your friend just broke up with his girlfriend and is having a hard time you might cheer him along the same way.

Ganbatte kudasai means “Please do your best”. Since this concept is so ingrained into the Japanese psyche, sometimes this is used in a dismissive way. Imagine you are working overtime every day despite having health problems. Your boss might say to you, “Ganbatte Kudasai”. While many people would translate this as “Please do your best” or “Please continue to work hard.”, I think it is fair to see this as a polite way of saying “Deal with it”.

Gaman

Another way to say “Deal with it” is “Gaman Shite”. Gaman most accurately translates to “to put up with” and is another word that is much more casually tossed around than it’s English counterpart. When you think about it, all most Japanese employees do is “gaman”. When your boss says “Jump!”, you say “How high?” with enthusiasm. People are not only supposed to work hard but also respect people with more experience then them. This often means holding in things that they want to say, not only with their boss but also with most of their coworkers. That can add up to a whole lot of “Gaman”. When your Japanese study starts to feel like too much, just give yourself a “Gaman shite kudasai!”.

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