the latest issue
EDITORIAL
An increasing number of Japanese companies are strengthening their in-house
English language teaching (ELT) programs for employees. Often, even college students
who are slated to graduate in March and start working in April are required by their
employers-to-be to participate in those courses. Since most Japanese businesses are
internationally oriented, they need their personnel to be highly proficient in this global
business language for the individuals’ specific job assignments.
Japanese corporations and organizations tend to use English phrases for their motto
such as: “Inspire the Next” (Hitachi), “Drive Your Dreams” (Toyota), “Innovation for
Tomorrow” (Daihatsu), “To be Your Best” (Keio Railways), and “Have a Rice Day!”
(Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries). These phrases are reflections of the
Japanese ethos and linguistic characteristics. Indications are that English is being used
as an extension of the Japanese language for intra-national as well as international
communication.
Considering the growing volume of e-business, furthermore, every company,
whether blue chip or not, has an equal opportunity for business expansion by creating an
informative and persuasive website in English as an additional language. Globalization
has uprooted the assumption that Japanese products, commodities and services are best
suited for Japanese customers. While traditional Japanese inns find themselves pushed
out of business by more convenient, better furnished, and multipurpose hotels in Tokyo,
exceptions are those who adapt. An English-language website can make the difference.
At the same time, a brief study of bilingual websites created by Japanese enterprises
often discloses a grave discrepancy in messages conveyed in Japanese and English. For
instance, the president of a company whose criminal malpractice of business interaction
was recently discovered apologized in cyberspace in Japanese, but not in English. This
disparity clearly reveals how deep-rooted the perception of English as an American
language remains in Japanese society. Some people still believe that non-native speakers
should use English the way Americans do. Their conclusion is that if Americans do not
apologize in a profuse way, Japanese shouldn’t either, when they switch to English.
In order to rectify the ambivalent bilingual situation, it should be emphasized
repeatedly in on-the-job ELT that English today is not a unicentric, but a pluricentric
language and that Japanese can speak English and sound Japanese. Moreover, saying
two different things in two different languages can be seen as a questionable act of
reflecting a dual personality. Most likely a company found following such a practice
will be considered an unreliable and untrustworthy outfit. Japanese companies should
not let their principles and policies fluctuate, whatever language they may use for
communication.
Asian Englishes welcomes studies in English usage in bilingual contexts from this
perspective.
Nobuyuki Honna
Editor in chief
Asian Englishes
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Nobuyuki Honna
Aoyama Gakuin University
4-4-25 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8366, Japan
Fax:+81-3-5485-0782
E-mail: nyhonna@a2en.aoyama.ac.jp
Managing Editor
Yuko Takeshita (Toyo Eiwa University, Japan)
Review Editor
James D'Angelo (Chukyo University, Japan)
Editors
Donald Smith (Gainsville State College, U.S.A.)
Hiroko Miyake (Tokyo Keizai University, Japan)
Judy Yoneoka (Kumamoto Gakuen University, Japan)
Fujimi Sakai Tanaka (Toyo Eiwa University, Japan)
Leah Gilner (Bunkyo Gakuin University, Japan)
Editorial Assistant
Saya Ike (University of Melbourne, Australia)
Editorial Advisors
Maria Lourdes S. Bautista (De La Salle University, Philippines)
Erich Berendt (Seisen University, Japan & Assumption University,
Thailand)
Susan Butler (Macquarie University, Australia)
Saran Kaur Gill (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia)
Peter Hassall (Zayed University, United Arab Eminates)
Ho Wah Kam (Singapore Teachers’ Union, Singapore)
Bates Hoffer (Trinity University, U.S.A.)
Jia Yuxin (Harbin Institute of Technology, China)
Braj Kachru (University of Illinois, U.S.A.)
Andy Kirkpatrick (Griffith University, Australia)
Joo-Kyung Park (Honam University, Korea)
David C. S. Li (Hong Kong Institute of Education, China)
Paroo Nihalani (Nayang Technological University, Singapore)
Anne Pakir (National University of Singapore, Singapore)
Zoya Proshina (Moscow State University, Russia)
Qi Fang (Shenzhen University, China)
Euginius Sadtono (Ma Chung University, Indonesia)
Larry Smith (Christopher, Smith & Associates, U.S.A.)
Song Li (Harbin Institute of technology, China)
Suphat Sukamolson (Chulalongkorn University, Thailand)