One of the invisible pillars of Japanese society is tatemae (tah-tay-MAH-eh), literally meaning façade but in actual use, “the way we pretend things are, even though we know they’re not”; the word is usually paired with honne (HOHN-neh), which means the way things really are, or a person’s real intentions. I learned about these concepts during my brief career as a city employee when I served as the Facilitator of Internationalization, doing things like translating documents for the mayor and helping out foreigners who couldn’t speak Japanese. On the surface, I was in charge of coming up with new ways to serve the foreign community of our city, yet every suggestion I put forth to the bureaucracy was declined with a polite so desu ne, a phrase which literally means “yes, that’s so” but which appears to carry the nuance of “forget it, silly gaijin,” too. Of course, Japan isn’t the only country to wear different faces for different situations. During the love-fest surrounding the death of King of Pop Michael Jackson by the media that did nothing but tear him down at every opportunity while he was alive, I’m reminded that America, too, has its tatemae and its honne at times. Anyway, Michael, thanks for all the fun memories over the years!
