science

Kotobagari

Kotobagari is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kotobagari rather than just read about it. In short: Kotobagari (言葉狩り; "word hunting") is a sardonic term which refers to the reluctance to use words that are considered potentially offensive or politically incorrect in the Japanese language. For instance words such as rai (癩; "leper"), mekura (盲; "blind"), tsunbo (聾; "deaf"), oshi (唖; "deaf-mute"), kichigai (気違い or 気狂い, "crazy"), tosatsujō (屠殺場; "slaughterhouse"), and hakuchi (白痴; "moron/retard") are currently not us…

Key takeaways

Kotobagari belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kotobagari to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kotobagari from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kotobagari (言葉狩り; "word hunting") is a sardonic term which refers to the reluctance to use words that are considered potentially offensive or politically incorrect in the Japanese language. For instance words such as rai (癩; "leper"), mekura (盲; "blind"), tsunbo (聾; "deaf"), oshi (唖; "deaf-mute"), kichigai (気違い or 気狂い, "crazy"), tosatsujō (屠殺場; "slaughterhouse"), and hakuchi (白痴; "moron/retard") are currently not used by the majority of Japanese publishing houses; the publishers often refuse to publish writing which includes these words. Another example is that a school janitor in Japan used to be called a kozukai-san (小使いさん; "chore person"). Some felt that the word had a derogatory meaning, so it was changed to yōmuin (用務員; "task person"). Now yōmuin is considered demeaning, so there is a shift to use kōmuin (校務員; "school task member") or kanrisagyōin (管理作業員; "maintenance member") instead. This pattern of change is an example of the linguistic phenomenon known as the "euphemism treadmill". Other examples of words which have become unacceptable include the replacement of the word hyakushō (百姓) for "farmer" with nōka (農家). Since World War II, the word Shina (支那) for China written in kanji has been recognized as derogatory, and has been largely superseded by the Japanese pronunciation of the endonym, Chūgoku (中国), or with Shina written in katakana (シナ). In the 1960s, the Sino-Japanese word Mōko (蒙古) meaning "Mongol" was recognized for its connotation of a "stupid, ignorant, or immature" person (compare the English term "Mongoloid"), and the ethnic group is now referred to by the katakana term Mongoru (モンゴル).

Kotobagari and ideology

Kotobagari has led to some confusing terminology. NHK, the Japanese Broadcasting Company, runs a Korean language study program, but the language is referred to as "Hangul". This is a result of both the North and South Korean governments demanding that the language be called by their respective preferred name of Korea suffixed with "language" (語). North Korea wanted the show to be called Chōsen-go or "Chōsen language" (朝鮮語), taken from the Japanese pronunciation of the full name of North Korea, Chōsen Minshu Shugi Jinmin Kyōwakoku (朝鮮民主主義人民共和国) or "Democratic People's Republic of Korea". South Korea wanted Kankoku-go or "Kankoku language" (韓国語) from Daikan Minkoku (大韓民国) or "Republic of Korea". As a compromise, "Hangul" was selected and Korean is referred to as "the language on this program" or "this language", but this has led to the use of the neologism "Hangul language" (ハングル語) to refer to the Korean language, which is technically incorrect since hangul itself is a writing system, not a language.

Notes

References

Bibliography Gottlieb, Nanett (2006). Linguistic stereotyping and minority groups in Japan. Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 0415338034.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kotobagari

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kotobagari claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kotobagari before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kotobagari ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kotobagari

In research: Kotobagari appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kotobagari in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kotobagari is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Censorship in Japan, Euphemisms, Japanese vocabulary, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kotobagari outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Kotobagari in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kotobagari means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kotobagari out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kotobagari in simple terms?

Why does Kotobagari matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kotobagari?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kotobagari.