Journal article

Thanking Episodes Among Young Japanese: A Preliminary Qualitative Investigation

Jun Ohashi

JAPANESE STUDIES | ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD | Published : 2008

Abstract

This paper will illustrate naturally occurring thanking episodes among Japanese students at a university campus in Tokyo, and compare them with the conventional Japanese thanking ritual (o-rei). This comparison illustrates the diverse and changing nature of the thanking repertoire in Japanese. The qualitative analysis of the data illustrates striking differences between o-rei rituals and expressions used by Japanese university students in thanking episodes. The students' speech repertoire contains some innovative speech formulae; yet, none of the data suggest that the students are influenced by the established communication practice of debt-credit balancing. © 2008 Japanese Studies Associati..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a Japan Foundation Fellowship. I am indebted to Professor Masatoshi Yamazaki for his invaluable support and advice and to the members of professional staff who made my data collection process enjoyable. Thanks also to the students who offered me some snapshots of their real lives, and insights into their contributions to enriching the speech repertoire of thanking.