One of the themes of being an American living in Japan is discovering how much the country has taken various cues from Britain. It starts out with cars, getting used to “strange” car-related words, like the hood of the car being called a bonnet, or seeing your first Toyota Super Saloon, a car with a name that makes Americans think of the Old West until they learn that saloon is just the British word for sedan. Americans might make a visit to the bathroom or the restroom, but in England (I’m told) they are more likely to use the word “toilet,” which is the same in Japan — and I’ve gotten some funny looks in stores in the States asking the cashier where the “toilet” was. Then there are clothing-related words that the Japanese imported from Britain, like a jacket or sweater being called a “jumper,” and of course the infamous word “pants,” which refers to trousers, jeans or slacks in the U.S. but underwear in Britain and Japan. It seems that the Japanese have looked to Britain in other ways, too. For example, I can’t think of a single situation where I’d call a friend or acquaintance by his last name, but it’s common for classmates in Japanese schools to do this, for example saying, “Nagashima, let’s go” instead of using the person’s first name of Takeshi. When reading the Narnia books with my son, I saw characters referring to each other by last names, and it made me think that Japan and Britain were somehow closer than it seemed on the surface.
