Thammasat Journal of Japanese Studies

A Failing Mission? Salvation in the Jesuit Mission in Japan Under Francisco Cabral

Benjamin Ivry — 2024-12-20

This book examines how sixteenth century Japan rejected the political, societal, and cultural pressures of evangelization by Jesuit missionaries.

A case study of the militant and militarized leadership of Francisco Cabral, SJ (1529 - 1609) a Portuguese Jesuit priest and missionary who arrived in Japan in 1570, indicates that some fellow Jesuits argued that a more conciliatory, flexible approach was needed to win over the Japanese public. Yet the Catholic church preferred the leadership of Cabral to these progressive views, even though his efforts would eventually fail.

Details such as whether Jesuits in Japan should wear silk garments in imitation of Buddhist monks, to declare their identity to the public, were subjects of ardent debate.

Likewise, the extent to which evangelizing Christians should learn the Japanese language, eat Japanese food, and follow other local customs, was a matter of disagreement amongst Jesuit superiors.

Ultimately, the most estranged and despising view of Japan, Cabral’s, was allowed to dominate, with tragic results for Christianity in Japan over the next decades, when martyrdoms and other violence occurred.

The Perception of the Japanese /r/ Sound by Thai Learners of Japanese

Yupaka Fukushima — 2024-12-20

There were three objectives for the research. The first was to study the perception of the Japanese flap sound by Thai Learners. The second was to analyze the relationship between the voice recognition accuracy of Thai Learners and the JLPT level. The third was to analyze the relationship between the voice recognition accuracy of Thai Learners and their experience of passing the Japanese Pronunciation Course at Kasetsart University. The target group of the research was first- to fourth-year students in the Faculty of Humanities at Kasetsart University, both regular-program students and special-program students, for a total of 120 students. The information was gathered by using a flap sound recognition accuracy test with a total of 20 points. The following are the results of the study. One, the /ra/ sound in the initial position before the /k/ sound was the most misrecognized first syllable sound of the Thai learners, mostly misheard as /da/. In addition, the /re/ sound in the medial position after the /d/ sound was the most misrecognized non-first syllable sound, mostly misheard as /de/. Two, the difference between the Thai learners’ flap sound recognition accuracy at each JLPT level was not statistically significant. Three, there was a statistically significant difference between the students that passed and did not pass the Japanese Pronunciation Course and their accuracy in the recognition of the flap sound. Both groups mostly misrecognized the /r/ sound as the /d/ sound.

Names of the Mascots which appears in Public Enlightenment Advertisements for Raising Awareness of Global Warming Prevention: Linguistic Analysis and Classification

Hiroki Goto — 2024-12-20

Since the Yuru-kyara boom in the late 2000s, many municipalities in Japan have created their own local mascots used in municipal promotion and various public enlightenment advertisements. This study investigates 358 mascots (154 “PR mascots” for municipal promotion and 194 “enlightening mascots” for public enlightenment) that appear in advertisements to raise awareness of global warming prevention created by municipalities in Japan. In this research article, the names of these mascots were analyzed and described from three perspectives: semantics, word formation/word structure, and sound symbolism.

Semantic analysis shows that more than 90% of PR mascots are named after things associated with the municipality, and more than 70% of enlightening mascots are named after words that remind people of global warming prevention. The role of each mascot was reflected in its name.

An analysis of word formation and word structure shows that approximately 60% of the names of PR mascots are based on the whole or a part of the base. On the other hand, fewer of the names of enlightening mascots based on the whole or a part of the base was found, while names formed by compound words and contractions of compound words accounted for approximately 40%. Furthermore, regarding phonetic modification to the base, only approximately 20% of the names had modification, and the three most frequently used modifications are vowels lengthening, geminated consonant insertion, and syllabic nasal insertion. Regarding suffixes, more than 75% of the names based on things associated with the municipality and words associated with global warming prevention have a suffix, while over 80% of the names formed by compound words that do not have a suffix.

Analysis of sound symbolism shows that the names of mascots with a “strong” appearance are more likely to include voiced sound and begin with an obstruent than mascots with a “cute” or other appearance. In addition, while many names end with a resonant as a whole, the names of “strong” appearance mascots were more likely to end with an obstruent than other types.

Trends and Contrasts of Attitudes toward Kanji Learning between Thai Learners of Japanese Language and Thai Teachers of Japanese Language

Isao Hashimoto — 2024-12-20

Attitudes toward Kanji learning for Thai learners of Japanese language are full of variety. However, researches on attitudes for Thai teachers of Japanese language have scarcely been done. It is important to contrast the attitudes held by Thai learners and Thai teachers. Questionnaires were conducted based on 129 Thai learners majored in Japanese language and 35 Thai teachers in charge of Japanese language. Similarity and differences were shown by contrastive analysis with statistics. Results and discussion are described below.

For Thai teachers, the attitude toward Kanji learning is relatively more affirmative than Thai learners. When it comes to Kanji learning, Thai teachers are more likely than Thai learners to believe in the importance of Kanji learning with purpose and strong connections to Japanese culture.
For young Thai teachers, the attitude toward “significance of reading Kanji” is relatively more apparent than middle-aged and elderly Thai teachers. In other words, it suggests that middle-aged and elderly Thai teachers place importance on “significance of writing Kanji” more than young Thai teachers. This attitude may affect Thai learners’ Kanji acquisition.
For Thai learners, the attitude toward “avoidance behavior of using Kanji” is observed, when they are likely to make mistakes of writing.

Given the current situation that young Thai teachers are likely to focus on “reading Kanji”, active use of ICT could be desired in classroom activities for Kanji education.

The Use of Tsuiku Literary Technique with Opposite Items in Hōjōki

Attaya Suwanrada — 2024-12-20

Hōjōki is a famous Japanese literature written in the year 1212 by Kamo no Chōmei. The first half of this work reflects the impermanence of life through narrating various disasters such as fires, storms, famine, and earthquakes. The latter half describes the tranquility of monastic life and the ascetic lifestyle. The purpose of this research is to study and analyze what the author intends to convey through the use of tsuiku literary technique, which involves juxtaposing opposites in Hōjōki. Tsuiku is a technique where two contrasting things are arranged in similar complex sentences to create a melodious rhythm and to emphasize or compare the two things mentioned. From the study, it is found that the authors often juxtapose two contrasting things with tsuiku to emphasize what they want to convey in the story, which is the image of the hardships of life on this earth. This is also to link to what the author wants to suggest at the end of the story about the lifestyle that helps to avoid those hardships, which is the ascetic lifestyle just like the author himself.

A Study of Intercultural Competence and Intercultural Communication Competence of Thai Japanese Interpreters

Patcharaporn Kaewkitsadang — 2024-12-20

This study investigated the intercultural competence and intercultural communication competence of Thai Japanese interpreters. Qualitative research was done with data gathered by in-depth interviews with thirty Thai nationals who worked as Japanese language interpreters in general business enterprises, service industries, and healthcare service industries. Samples, whose Japanese language proficiency level was N2 or higher according to the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), had an average age of 36 and average professional experience of 10 years.

Results from self-assessment surveys showed that samples rated their intercultural and intercultural communication abilities as “good”. Interview findings indicated that samples demonstrated 1) knowledge about social norms, culture, language, communication patterns, and the relationship between language and sociocultural aspects; 2) an open and accepting attitude toward understanding and accepting different cultures instead of being limited by their own culture; 3) an ability to interpret their culture to others, possessing the knowledge, attitude, and skills to explain events and engage in responsive communication as well as objectively and critically evaluate their own and others’ cultural values.

These findings may help enhance knowledge, intercultural understanding, and cultural awareness and facilitate the development of intercultural communication education and interpreter training.

Difficulties Faced by Thai Graduate Students in Writing Theses: A Search for Supportive Activities

Takako Muraoka — 2024-12-20

The purpose of this paper is to identify the difficulties faced by Thai graduate students in writing their dissertations and, from their perspectives, activities that help to support them using an exploratory, qualitative survey. The survey consisted of semi-structured interviews with one graduate and two former graduate students who wrote their dissertations in either Thai or English, and a qualitative analysis was conducted using SCAT. It was found that, although writing in different languages, the three students agreed that the difficulties lay in choosing the research method, in doing the discussions, and in editing their writing. As for supportive activities, they highly valued the seminars under the guidance of their instructors and the collaborative research. The research points out the importance of the research support encouraged by the advisors concerning the research’s position, profound discussions and repeated writing practices so that the research is well-written and logical, as well as the need to accumulate one’s experiences in editing theses in collaboration with others.