Honne and tatemae

In Japan, honne and tatemae are Japanese terms relating to a person's feelings and outward behaviors.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Transliteration refers to a person's Template:Nihongo, and Template:Transliteration refers contrastingly to Template:Nihongo. This distinction began to be made in the post-war era.<ref name="Takeo Self">Takeo Doi, The Anatomy of Self, 1985</ref>Template:Rp

A person's Template:Transliteration may be contrary to what is expected by society or what is required according to one's position and circumstances, and they are often kept hidden, except with one's closest friends. Template:Transliteration is what is expected by society and required according to one's position and circumstances, and these may or may not match one's Template:Transliteration. In many cases, Template:Transliteration leads to outright telling of lies in order to avoid exposing the true inward feelings. In English speaking countries they are telling “white lies.”

Causes

In Japanese culture, public failure and the disapproval of others are seen as particular sources of shame<ref name="Ruth Chrysanthemum">Template:Cite book </ref>Template:Rp and reduced social standing,<ref name="Takeo Dependence">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="Dower War">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="Dower Defeat">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp so it is common to avoid direct confrontation or disagreement in most social contexts.<ref name="Ruth Chrysanthemum"/>Template:Rp Traditionally, social norms dictate that one should attempt to minimize discord; failure to do so might be seen as insulting or aggressive.<ref name="Ruth Chrysanthemum"/>Template:Rp For this reason, the Japanese tend to go to great lengths to avoid conflict, especially within the context of large groups.Template:Citation needed By upholding this social norm,<ref name="Ruth Chrysanthemum"/>Template:Rp one is socially protected from such transgressions by others.<ref name="Hearn Interpretation">Template:Cite book Template:ISBN for 2002 reprint.</ref>Template:Rp

The conflict between Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration (social obligations) is one of the main topics of Japanese drama throughout the ages.<ref name="Ruth Chrysanthemum"/>Template:Rp For example, the protagonist would have to choose between carrying out his obligations to his family/feudal lord or pursuing a clandestine love affair.Template:Citation needed

Effects

Contemporary phenomena such as Template:Transliteration seclusion and parasite singles are seen as examples of late Japanese culture's growing problem of the new generation growing up unable to deal with the complexities of Template:TransliterationTemplate:Citation needed and pressure of an increasingly consumerist society.Template:Citation needed

Though Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration are not a uniquely Japanese phenomenon, some Japanese people feel that it is unique to Japan, especially those who feel their culture is unique in having the concepts of "private mind" and "public mind". Although there might not be direct single word translations for Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration in some languages,Template:Citation needed they do have two-word descriptions; for example in English, "private mind" and "public mind".

A similar discord between one's true feeling and public appearance is observed in Template:Transliteration,<ref name="Dower War" />Template:Rp a phrase whose meaning literally translates as "starving to [one's] skeleton", referring to being content or pretending to be so. Nowadays, the phrase is used for two different meanings, expressing the samurai virtue of self-discipline,<ref name="Ruth Chrysanthemum" />Template:Rp silent moral heroism,<ref name="Hearn Interpretation" />Template:Rp or ridiculing stubbornness, face-savingness.<ref name="Dower Defeat" />Template:Rp

Criticisms

Many scholars assert that honne–tatemae is a concept integral to understanding Japanese culture, such as Professor Takeo Doi, who considered the honne–tatemae divide to be of paramount importance in Japanese culture<ref name="Takeo Dependence" /> as well as other researchers like Ozaki, who utilized the concept to study Japanese perceptions of class and status.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Despite this, there remain criticisms regarding the concept's uniqueness to Japan, as many argue that the concept is widespread rather than distinct to Japan.

Research has shown that many Japanese view the concept as unique and culturally significant. One study found that while foreign students' perceptions regarding examples of honne–tatemae were rather nuanced, Japanese students would often limit perspectives and reinforce stereotypes according to more rigid cultural prescriptions of the concept.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Some researchers<ref name="Hall">Template:Cite book</ref> suggest that the need for explicit words for tatemae and honne in Japanese culture is evidence that the concept is relatively new to Japan, whereas the unspoken understanding in many other cultures indicates a deeper internalization of the concepts. In any case, all cultures have conventions that help to determine appropriate communication and behavior in various social contexts which are implicitly understood without an explicit name for the social mores on which the conventions are based.

Hence other researchers have argued that this kind of dualism, separation of one's true feelings and what they present outwardly, is not culturally specific,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> one scholar even suggests that the concepts honne and tatemae may have originally stemmed from Chinese concepts of "Yang" and "Yin".<ref name=":0" /> Evidently similar concepts of "face" (as in "saving face") have been observed in several different societies and cultures.

See also

• Ambivalence
• Double standard
• Egosyntonic and egodystonic
• Emotional conflict
• Face
• Japanese values
• Persona (psychology)
• Preference falsification
• Presentational and representational acting
• Self-discrepancy theory
• Smile mask syndrome, Japan
• Splitting (psychology)
• Tadanobu Tsunoda
• The Anatomy of Dependence, Japanese book
• True self and false self
• Template:Transliteration