jsn Journal

Expectations Regarding the Daughter in the Short Story "Juusanya"

Chalantorn Panitwiboon — 2023-12-16

Higuchi Ichiyo is Japan's first female professional writer and has been considered a headstrong anti-patriarchal writer. On the other hand, research on her biography reveals that Ichiyo had to perform the traditional role of a daughter all her life. This article studies Higuchi Ichiyo's famous literary work “Juusanya” (十三夜) to explore the theme of parents' expectations toward daughters and the role of the daughter characters in Higuchi ichiyo’s literature, including the relationship between women and patriarchal society. The study found that the daughter characters are commonly expected to get married. Despite the daughters’ resistance, the stories often end with their unsuccessful struggles to break away from the patriarchal norms because of gratitude. The writings also show that these traditions were ingrained in the daughters’ families themselves and that the women are forced to live up to the misogynistic standards. This reveals the status of women during the Meiji period.

Gender in the Kitchen Space: A Case Study of the Gay Characters in the Antique Bakery by Yoshinaga Fumi

Chalida Purininnat — 2023-12-16

This research aims 1) to study the interplay between gender and the kitchen area through a gay character and 2) to study the change in the image of the kitchen area in Japanese society through a gay character in Yoshinaga Fumi’s work by investigating 12 episodes of the anime series Antique Bakery (Seiyō Kottō Yōgashiten) (2008). This research discusses “gender” through the viewpoint of the kitchen area where it can be reflected through the gender-stated system created by society. As found from the findings, the kitchen area in the Antique Bakery anime series is played by Yusuke Ono as the chef, who is the main character of this anime series, to present gender diversity. The character in this anime presents the idea of liberation from the expectations of a patriarchal society. Gays in the kitchen area are considered unacceptable in Japanese society, while Yusuke Ono represents the image of a liberating and revealing gay person in society through the characters of pastry chefs in the kitchen area. As a result, the space in the kitchen reflects the beginning of the shift in gender roles between men and women, as it reflects gender equality in that all genders can use the kitchen area and demonstrates that the space in the kitchen cannot define the gender role to be used.

A Study of Methods for Memorizing and Reading Hiragana Letters Through the Self-Assessment of Beginning Japanese Learners

Pornrat Yenjai — 2023-12-14

This study aimed to explore differences in Hiragana letter memorizing methods and Hiragana reading. There were 154 participants, who were 3^rd-year students enrolled in JPN-301 Business Japanese 5 at the Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology. A questionnaire was used as the research instrument. The statistics used for analyzing the data were mean, standard deviation, and t-test. The participants were divided into two groups; the students in the first group had higher Hiragana reading test scores compared to the score average, while the second group had lower Hiragana reading test scores compared to the average. The findings illustrate the different techniques applied among the two groups. In terms of the memorizing method, listening to the sounds was not paid attention to by the second group as much as other methods; and in terms of the Hiragana reading, in the first group, the reading score and student self-assessment were congruent with their actual ability. Conversely, the second group score was not congruent with their actual ability.

Pronunciation Errors of Short and Long Vowels in Japanese: A Case Study of Upper Secondary Students in Three Southern Border Provinces of Thailand

Chaiyot Rongdech — 2023-12-14

This research studied the pronunciation errors in short and long Japanese vowels by pronunciation testing phonological structure /CV/,/CVR/,/V/,/VR/,/CyV/,/CyVR/. The vocabulary has meaning for every word and it is classified at the knowledge level of JLPT N5-N3 of 101 words. The sample was 115 Thai learners of Japanese that were studying at the upper secondary level (Matthayom 4-5) at six schools in three southern border provinces in Thailand. According to the analyses, the mispronunciation from short vowels to long vowels occur easily with the /o/ phoneme. When considering the mispronunciation at the beginning and end of the words, it was caused by the influence of adjacent consonant sounds, while the mispronunciation at the middle of the words was caused by the influence of the vowel sounds that come before them. These factors provide the circumstance to add one more mora. However, the mispronunciation from long vowels to short vowels occur easily with the /i/ phoneme. When considering the mispronunciation at the middle and end of the words, it was caused by the influence of the consonant sounds that come before them; however, the mispronunciation at the beginning of the words was caused by the vowel sounds.

A Comparative Analysis of the Types of Words and Factors Influencing the Selection of Address Terms in Japanese and Thai

Roykaew Siriacha — 2023-12-14

This research aimed to compare the types of words and factors influencing the selection of address terms in Japanese and Thai. Data were collected from Thai original short stories and their Japanese translated versions. The results revealed that the address terms more prevalent in Thai than in Japanese were proper nouns, nouns and noun phrases, second-person pronouns, and kinship terms. Those are the direct address terms on a high level of entering the addressee’s personal space. On the other hand, the address terms more prevalent in Japanese than in Thai were demonstrative pronouns and the absence of address terms. Those are indirect address terms on a low level of entering the addressee’s personal space or not entering the addressee’s personal space at all. Therefore, it can be concluded that the level of directness in each address term related to the level of entering the addressee’s personal space was one of the factors that make the selection of types of address terms in Japanese and Thai different.

A Study of the Request-Responses Found in the Quick Response Listening on Japanese-Language Proficiency Test

Patcharaphan Suvanakoot — 2023-12-14

The purpose of this study is to investigate request utterances and their responses in the quick response listening part of Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N2. For the analysis, 53 utterances in N2 and 46 of those in N3 which met the pragmatic conditions were extracted from 43 JLPT workbooks in order to examine the differences between the two levels. The results of the data observation revealed that in the N2 workbooks, a request in the form of asking permission by using “-temorattemoiika” was found. In addition, negative expressions, sentence-final expressions such as “wakeniwaikanai” and introductory remarks such as “osashitsukaenakereba” were used as well. As for the response, the numbers of negative acceptances and responses where listeners inquired about the request rather than provided prompt replies were remarkable. It can be said that these request-response patterns are often observed in daily life, and therefore they correspond with the linguistic competence required for N2, which states that one is able to comprehend orally presented materials such as coherent conversations. Based on the results of this study, it is expected that Japanese instructors might be able to design teaching methods for N2 preparation so that learners would develop skills for tests and as a result, communicate more efficiently in the future.

Speech Acts on Japanese Posters to Raise Environmental Awareness

Tewich Sawetaiyaram — 2023-12-14

The objectives of this research are 1) to classify the speech acts that appear on Japanese posters aimed at raising awareness about the environment, based on Searle’s speech act theory (1969). 2) to study the occurrence of both direct and indirect speech acts on these posters. The dataset comprises Japanese utterances from 235 posters issued by Government Agencies across Japan's 47 prefectures. The posters were divided into 3 parts: headline, sub-headline, and body text, to facilitate an investigation into the types of speech acts present in each part.

The result showed that first, out of a total of 1986 utterances from 235 posters, the distribution of speech acts was representatives: 1181 utterances (59.47%), directives: 722 utterances (36.35%), expressives: 44 utterances (2.22%), declarations: 36 utterances (1.81%) and commissives: 3 utterances (0.15%). Representatives and directives were found in significant numbers across all parts of the posters. Second, a total of 1911 utterances (96.22%) were identified as direct speech acts, while 75 utterances (3.78%) were categorized as indirect speech acts. Among the indirect speech acts, directives were the most prevalent (42 utterances or 56%). Notably, commissives and declarations were not employed as part of indirect speech acts.

The findings of this research underscore the prevalence of representatives and directives, aligning with the posters' overarching objective of promoting greater environmental understanding and awareness. Consequently, representatives were used to convey factual information, while directives were employed to encourage readers to respond to the intentions of the message sender.

Opportunities for Thai People as Specified Skilled Workers in the Food Service Industry in Japan: Challenging Possibilities

Kamolthip Phonlabutra — 2023-12-14

This study examines the opportunities and challenges of working in Japan with a Specified Skilled Workers-1 (SSW-1) visa and requirements, including the Japanese language proficiency test (N4/JFT-Basic) and Food Service Industry Skills Proficiency Test. The study found that: 1) There are a lot of opportunities for Thai people to work in the food service industry in Japan under an SSW-1 visa because the current number of SSW-1 workers in this category is only about 10% of the admitted maximum number; 2) Japanese language proficiency plays a critical role in passing the JFT-Basic, the Food Service Industry Skills Proficiency Test, and communicating with Japanese companies; and 3) The lack of communicative competence in the Japanese language can lead to financial challenges in paying recruitment agency to support the application process until starting to work in Japan.

Human Behaviour Change Based on Nudge Theory: An Empirical Test at an Expressway Rest Area in Japan

Takuji Takemoto — 2023-12-14

Nudge theory is an approach that uses behavioural science findings and theories to ‘gently push’ people into acting. This paper focuses on the possibility of using nudges to improve the satisfaction of highway rest area users. We set up a mechanism for users of highway parking rest areas to engage not only in functional behaviour but also free behaviour and to conduct a demonstration experiment based on nudge theory.

Previous studies have focused on whether or not the nudge theory approach is effective or not and have come to fairly uniform conclusions. In this study, we measured whether the effectiveness of the nudges varied according to ‘subject demographics’ and ‘location’. The data were examined using the two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) method. Results of the experiment, we were able to detect significant differences between attributes (adults and parents with children) due to the nudge mechanism.

Editor's Note

Yupaka Fukushima — 2023-12-14