Why does the Japanese language have English loan words for things they already have words for?

Question

Words like “relax” (rirakkusu) and “hose” (hosu) seem like something that would have existed before contact with English-speaking people.

In: Culture

Answer 1

While the other answers are also correct about there sometimes being subtle differences between English and Japanese words, there’s also another major historical/cultural factor: English is “cool” (*kakoii*) in Japan.

While other languages certainly borrow loan words, this is a uniquely Japanese phenomena related to the country’s post-WWII relationship with America. Many people forget that while we did bomb the hell out of them in WWII, we also helped build the country back up afterwards (and secretly forced them to adopt modern rights for women and some other progressive stuff). This it led to a unique love of America in Japan: there’s a reason why the only non-English loan word I can think of is bread or “pan” (it’s use predates WWII).

As an example, here’s a story my Japanese teacher told me. She was in Japan having dinner at a restaurant with an older Japanese woman, and the woman ordered *torii-niku* (chicken). The younger waitress “corrected” her and said “you want to order the “*tchi-ken*”?’

The older woman corrected her back “no, I don’t want to order the *tchi-ken*, I want to order the *torii-niku*!” Eventually the waitress gave up, but it highlighted the basic fact that in certain cases in Japanese the English versions of words are “hip”, and what the cool young people use. It’s also used heavily in advertisements, apparel (see www.engrish.com) and (evidently) trendy restaurant menus. But it’s not like the original Japanese words went away or anything, and (for instance) older people still use them exclusively.

If you watch anime or otherwise listen to Japanese pop music, you’ll hear English words used this way frequently. It’s not all English words though, because not all Japanese (young or otherwise) know English well enough to have a full vocabulary. It’s just a certain subset of words that the “cool kids” use that everyone (or at least the younger generation) knows.