Leave it to Japan to turn concepts as simple as “yes” and “no” into something more complex than it needs to be. But because of the differences in language and culture, sometimes even these simple ideas can cause confusion. “Yes” in Japanese is hai, and in addition to affirming a statement or question, it’s also used to let the person whose talking to you know you’re listening attentively. This is called aizuchi, words of agreement that a Japanese will say while listening to another person. It’s not uncommon for gaijin to assume that a person saying hai…hai or so desu ne (yes, that’s so) to us is actually agreeing with what we’re saying, when in fact the opposite may well be true. A classic example of this this tradition to insert words of agreement in the middle of what someone else is saying are folk songs in which one singer sings the lines of the song, interrupted by a chorus of shamisen-playing background singers who shout out their agreement to what the first singer has just said. I learned soon after arriving in Japan that to not give this verbal feedback to someone who’s talking to you can be rude, and they’re likely to stop what they’re talking about and ask, “Are you listening to me?”
