The Japanese language is subtle. Small changes in the grammar can cause a dramatic change in the meaning. In English we use the tone of our voice to hint things like happiness and that something is a pain in the ass for us while in Japanese you can also do this with light grammatical changes. There are also extremely vague expressions and it’s possible to answer peoples questions without giving them any information. In English, when someone asks you “Where are you coming from?”, there aren’t many ways to get out of answering this short of lying. In Japanese however, you can say “Sugo soko” or “Right over there” and it basically hints that you don’t want to answer and the person you are talking to is not likely to take offense to your avoiding of their question. When you can’t go out today, in English you might say “I can’t go out today” and you are likely to give a reason. In Japanese, you might say “Kyou ha chotto…” or “Today is a little…” and that would be sufficient.

The Wa 　（和）

This subtlety does not only apply to the Japanese language but also to Japanese culture. So if you are studying Japanese it’s important to understand Wa. Wa is a concept not often spoken of but something generally understood and practiced by most Japanese people. Wa basically means “peace” and the idea is to not disturb the peace or not to disturb the atmosphere. This is, perhaps, why cell phone use is discouraged on public trains. Many people are tired or trying to enjoy their day so someone shouting on the cellphone would certainly disturb the Wa. This is also why many Japanese people dislike confrontation and it is rare to see a couple fighting on the street. Confrontation almost always causes a disruption in the atmosphere and is therefore seen as undesirable by all means. Japanese people are used to this and it is one of the things that makes Japan an easy and safe place to live. It is also the reason they see many foreigners as loud and incapable of understanding Japanese culture. Of course, it isn’t easy to prove them wrong if you try.

KY

KY (Kei wai) is an abbreviation of “Kuuki wo Yomenai” means “Can’t read the air” and is something you might say to someone who doesn’t realize they are disturbing the Wa or is otherwise pissing you off. Since the Japanese language and Japanese people are very subtle, there are many slight hints that they may give off instead of flat out telling you that they don’t like something. Some non-Japanese do the same thing. If someone can’t understand these hints or especially if they can’t understand it when you make the hints more and more obvious where you might as well just tell them flat out, they are KY. You might here someone referred to as “KY Yatsu”, someone who has a hard time reading the air. This can refer to someone who sticks around when their friend is trying to have a private conversation with their date, or it might refer to someone who decides for himself that the group will go drinking when everyone else hinted that they weren’t interested. It would be a disruption in the Wa to disagree on where to go so it would be ideal if he could read the Wa and see that he is the only one who wants to drink. These are concepts that we have in the west but things we put much less thought into, so try to think of which one of your friends are KY and try your best not to be KY yourself!

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