is a
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
concept of interpersonal communication.
[Davies, R & Ikeno, O; ''The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture''; Tuttle 2002 p103-108] It also appears in martial arts circles, with a somewhat different meaning; see
below
Below may refer to:
*Earth
*Ground (disambiguation)
*Soil
*Floor
*Bottom (disambiguation)
Bottom may refer to:
Anatomy and sex
* Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or ...
. Literally translated, the term means "stomach art", and it refers to an exchange of thoughts and feelings that is
implied in conversation, rather than explicitly stated.
It is a form of rhetoric intended to express real intention and true meaning through implication. In some societies, it can also denote charisma or strength of personality.
Takie Lebra identified four dimensions of Japanese silence – truthfulness, social discretion, embarrassment and defiance.
In Western literature, the essence of the difference between just talking and really communicating through silence is analyzed in
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...
's ''
The Dumb Waiter
''The Dumb Waiter'' is a one-act play by Harold Pinter written in 1957.
"Small but perfectly formed, ''The Dumb Waiter'' might be considered the best of Harold Pinter's early plays, more consistent than ''The Birthday Party'' and sharper tha ...
''.
In negotiation, is characterised by euphemisms, vague and indirect statements, prolonged silences and careful avoidance of any comment that might cause offense.
[Binnendijk, H; ''National Negotiating Styles'', DIANE Publishing, 1987 p55] Information is communicated through timing, facial expression and emotional context, rather than through direct speech. It is sometimes considered a duplicitous tactic in negotiation to obfuscate one's true intentions, which may cause to be viewed with suspicion. It can also be misconstrued by those with limited experience in the tactic.
also functions as a method of leadership, replacing direct orders to subordinates with subtle, non-verbal signals. It is considered a desirable trait in a leader in Japan. However, it may make assigning of responsibility or blame to the leader difficult.
In martial arts
In martial arts circles, has a different meaning, although the concepts are related. Here it refers to those arts which enable the practitioner to sense threats or anticipate an opponent's movements.
[Durbin, W]
The Fighting Arts of the Samurai: the Warrior's Combat Handbook
in ''Black Belt'' Magazine March 1990 edition p42[Lovret, F; ''The way and the power: secrets of Japanese strategy'', Paladin Press 1987, p96]
See also
*
High- and low-context cultures
In anthropology, high-context culture and low-context culture are ends of a continuum of how explicit the messages exchanged in a culture are and how important the context is in communication. The continuum pictures how people communicate with ...
*
Implicature
In pragmatics, a subdiscipline of linguistics, an implicature is something the speaker suggests or implies with an utterance, even though it is not literally expressed. Implicatures can aid in communicating more efficiently than by explicitly sayi ...
*
*
References
{{reflist
Japanese culture