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Japanese people do use sarcasm sometimes, but not as frequency as English speakers, and not necessarily in the exact same ways. So it would be incorrect to say that Japanese people don't use or can't understand sarcasm. But you can say not all sarcastic comments in English translate well into Japanse. So if you want to use sarcasm correctly in Japanese, you need to learn Japanese. And if you want to learn Japanese with me, I can send you some Japanese lessons where I teach you the kind of Japanese that Japanese people actually speak. Click here and subscribe bit.ly/2LEhfbS
Coolio. I've heard some people say that they don't use sarcasm but I've seen some anime that have had plenty of sarcastic moments in them esp comedy times of anime. I know that dialogue conversation in anime don't necessarily translate into real world conversations of Japanese people but the fact that they use sarcasm in some anime means that it's still a form of medium of conversation that is used and understood.
Based on the many comments asking why Japanese wouldn't understand sarcasm under this very video, I now have to question the ability of a subset of your *NON*-Japanese, comment-posting viewers to understand sarcasm, interestingly. At any rate, it was nice to hear this stereotype being debunked.
@@cyqry Idk man... I used to learn Japanese and my Japanese teacher said that Japanese people don't really use that much sarcasm so it might be hard for them to understand. Well it's also that even if they understand it tend to call it a joke rather that play along which makes it super awkward.
@@cyqry I'm not sure I've seen a claimed *expert* opinion saying that but many people who have lived in Japan for a long time have made the observation so there must be some truth to it even if it might be exaggerated. Yuta did indeed concede that at least the Japanese tend to use sarcasm less often even if part of the experience of these observers might be due to sarcasm being different (rather than merely less prevalent) or just due to lack of language skills.
@@Viscid Don't be too hard on him, he is not a native English speaker. Each language has it's own way of conveying sarcasm. As a french speaker, i can tell you that we do not have the same way of conveying sarcasm as English speakers. And I agree that japanese people use less sarcasm (it's not really compatible with their culture) but i do believe they would get it if someone use "japanese sarcasm".
It is actually true that generally speaking Japanese don't use sarcasm. Japanese are the second least funniest people in the world, just behind Germany.
During my exchange year in Japan I had a lot of misunderstandings because I used sarcasm, when someone asked me something that I considered to be a question with a really obvious answer, nobody asked me exactly this question but something like "Do you brush your teeth on a daily basis in Germany" could have been such a question, I would sometimes jokingly say something like "no, I haven't ever at all in my entire life", and sometimes my host families were quite surprised, and they didn't quite see how this would be a joke and how it could be funny. But as is with almost everything, one of my host-families did actually understand those jokes and started making some on their own, so you just need to find the right people and get used to how to phrase sarcasm in Japanese!
it's not only Japan is something that basically happens in any country, many people don't get it, and some people even think is offensive, you were lucky that someone actually think it was funny, many people can take the sarcasm like you trying to be an smart ass.
"when someone asked me something that I considered to be a question with a really obvious answer" This actually makes you sound like a smart ass. You'd be surprised how many people ask questions with obvious answers because they genuinely don't know or because they are trying to start up a conversation.
@@zuliam420 Thinking that people in Germany don't brush their teeth regularly is really weird. I'm not surprised he answered sarcastically, it's a dumb question
@@zuliam420 they prob didnt know how stuff was in germany so they took his word for granted, that is why i avoid being sarcastic and joke about shit in brazil even to americans, it isnt really about the sarcasm itself but the context it is in
@@funkyfranx I guess you really haven't travelled enough around world to be asked about dumb question about your country of origin. I myself have had to deal with pretty dumb ones and I don't really get angry unless it is obvious they are doing it on purpose.
I like how a lot of the things Yuta says in this video are sarcastic to add irony to the video. "It must be true because many Japanese *experts* online share their research and an *exceptional* understanding of Japanese culture." "Research purposes." "Because everyone on the internet gets sarcasm." "Such smart people."
@@deltawastaken Well it was a joke, yes. But I wasn't sarcastic. I meant that explaining a joke makes it unfunny and cringy over all, unless you're aiming for double whoosh but I don't think you do...
BRUH, this guy watches anime FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES. EDIT: It is an honor for me, a newbie, to have so many responses from these intellectuals with true culture. Thanks for the likes
@@dafaqu694 I know, but it was so on point, that i was surprised no one mentioned it. Still i also sometimes feel like it was a sarcasm phrase rather then a compliment.
I understand. I'm from Japan, I had trouble following English speakers' chatting. Especially when they say great, it usually means that it is not great. I was tired of my own confusion, or rather irritated by the unnecessary sarcasms. But I am happy to hear that you guys are also suffered from this communication problem from the other side.😉
As a Japanese student learning English, it's very hard to distinguish between a sarcasm and a serious one when a native speaker says both of them in the exact same way. The Japanese often change their tones when being sarcastic, which makes it easy to understand with a relatively limited context. But sometimes, native speakers use sarcasm or irony that requires a full awareness of their cultural backgrounds only with contextual cues available, which is harder to understand.
@@user-vj6ci9pc8m As a rule, sarcasm is supposed to have a verbal or visual tell. When it doesn't, the speaker is either making a mistake or is serious but trying not to start a fight.
I used to be very sarcastic, but I've been toning it down. I realised it's very annoying (when used too much). Especially in comments/texts, there's a high possibility it gets "lost in translation".
Same here. I used to think I was somehow smarter by going out of my way to make every comment I made sarcastic. But like you said, it gets annoying really quick, it gets lost in translation, and usually people will just think you’re an asshole. Now I only apply it when talking to close friends, and family members.
@@HackWindows +1, I also feel that when I was being sarcastic all of the time in the past it was an attempt to gloss over the fact I often didn't really have much to say. It's always easy to make an ironic comment, but if it adds up too much people get annoyed. Someone had to tell me this for me to stop, lol.
I used to be very sarcastic for entertainment. I still do but mainly use it to show when someone’s being ridiculous or I’m beginning to be impatient with someone without telling them straight up “I’m not interested in this conversation anymore and I don’t want to talk with you any longer right now”. What happened to being honest instead of walking on eggshells for the sake of feelings that end up becoming resentment? I fear the sensitivity of people has made incompetence and impatience the normal state of being for a large majority. I come off as an A-hole, though that’s my vetting process for finding people with more on the mind interested in critical thinking and discussion, and less on trends and superficial nonsense. I dunno, I guess I’m destined to have few friends or be a hermit, and that’s fine with me. Oh well
This video made me realise that I hardly ever use sarcasm. Communicating is hard enough without introducing layers of insincerity that people may or may not get. It's just easier to be straightforward (or to just keep your mouth shut).
There is also the expression: "American joke", used when Japanese people don't quite get the joke. I think that applies to sarcastic and cultural jokes that perhaps don't translate well into Japanese. I've heard that phrase in both anime and variety shows like Gaki no Tsukai.
I've seen many misunderstandings of americans commenting on japanese artists work with "this shouldn't be allowed" "this hurts me" or "I Hate this" with the meaning of "your art evokes strong emotions, those characters are in a sad moment and it makes me feel so much" and not "I actually hate this". This is really an issue. English speaking people should, just in case, not use this type of language. It hurts the artists even unintentionally.
I appreciate this video! When I was in college majoring in Japanese, I did research on sarcasm. I found some scholarly articles and did some of my own research reading manga in Japanese and looking for examples. What I noticed and hypothesized was basically that Japanese people don't use sarcasm the same way we do in English- something you also mentioned. I feel like in English we use sarcasm a lot in all kinds of situations with all kinds of people. We especially use it with friends and others to build our relationships. I might be outside when the weather is horrible and say something like "This weather is fantastic! Driving home will be great!" to a friend and they might respond similarly "My favorite!" and we both know we don't mean it- and we can joke about the situation. In Japanese though, I noticed most often that sarcasm is pretty much only used in a negative way, to make someone feel bad and that it's harsh like you mentioned. Japanese people from what I have learned appreciate and strive to act sincere with each other- and sarcasm is kind of the opposite of being sincere. What do you think? I use sarcasm a lot and definitely caused a lot of confusion when I lived in Japan and tried to be sarcastic.
I think “This weather is fantastic! Driving home will be great!” and “My favorite” count as _irony,_ not sarcasm. Sarcasm has a bit of nastiness and contempt-the harshness and making someone feel bad, that you mentioned-that irony doesn’t. I think something like Chandler’s “What did the police say?” is more ironic than it is sarcastic.
The (Monotone voice) comment is a dead giveaway on the differences between the sarcasms. In English you make a different intonation to hint the sarcasm, for example you don't say "Great" but you say "greEeeat" prolonging a letter or changing pitch. Meanwhile the anime examples used a monotone/annoyed/indifferent intonation, and I totally understand now how this can confuse people or just gets unnoticed. Thank you for the explanations!
My Japanese grammar guide actually has an example of sarcasm in it... it took some time for me and a few other foreigners to get our heads around the example, because we weren't expecting sarcasm in a proper textbook.
Well there might be another thing that plays into the stereotype. From what I read and what I experienced, Japanese don't really like to bring negativity to discussion. Even if that negativity means saying "sorry I don't understand" or "sorry I don't get it". So you may say something sarcastic, but instead of being angry (which misunderstood sarcasm often makes you) or laugh (if they get it), they just politely smile which is basically weird reaction to sarcastic comment, so your impression may be "well apparently that's not what they do".
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think inflection and tone also have a part to play in the misunderstandings. Apart from British Humour (if any others, please let me know), English speakers usually exaggerate the tone, inflection, and/or their facial expressions when using sarcasm in real life while it seems that Japanese speakers use an overly flat or monotone voice. Curious to hear what other people think about this.
Incorrect, the best sarcasm is done to a point where you don't know if the person is telling the truth or not. No change in intonation or facial expression.
@@dragonslayergeorge898 I believe that the “best use of sarcasm” is subjective. Hence the reason why I mentioned British humour using sarcasm. The British use of sarcasm is, usually, exactly what you are describing. However, I haven’t noticed much use of sarcasm in that manner, in regards to humour at least, outside of British comedy.
King Saheb: i think the overly flat monotone voice may be just in the examples of Yuta (?). I think the key is to create just a contrast between what is sad and how it is toned. But: if you are right with the exaggeration vs. monotony, this can really be interesting. This may be also just chosen by temperament. As Japanese tend to be a bit calmer than many people from western countries. An exaggerated voice can also be read as more aggressive, while a monotonous voice just seems to be not interested with lesser chance to be taken as attack.
@@chrom0xide123 Ah, that’s very interesting. I never considered how a more exaggerated voice may be considered to be more aggressive by native Japanese speakers due to the general difference in temperament between the two societies (western and Japanese). I can see what you mean by the overly monotone voice being an example of Yuta’s use of sarcasm while the main point is a difference between what is said and how it is toned. That seems to make more sense to me. Perhaps I missed the point when originally watching the video. However, I think more research into uses of sarcasm by other native Japanese speakers is needed for us to be certain. Thank you for the reply. I found your perspective very intriguing.
In line with your comments at 3:45, I found that my Japanese friends got my verbal English sarcasm much more often if I hammed it up with a stronger inflection. It was definitely not a conceptual barrier but the intonation. There's more to language than just words, the tone of voice means a lot, and in text people fall back with ObViOuS TeXt or /s or (棒読み monotone voice) indications.
Japanese sarcasm is delivered monotone, with pitch accent removed, to indicate complete dismissal. American sarcasm is delivered with exaggerated accent, to emphasize the unnecessary drama. Complete opposite. Does that seem accurate?
This is actually why some Japanese people didn't get Cranky Kong's character in Donkey Kong Country. He jokes about the game you're playing being bad. On Japanese audiences that was likely lost in translation. I remember hearing about this in a GameXPlain discussion.
I disagree, Cranky's whole shtick is that he's extremely grumpy - he complains about everything! He's also apparently the original Donkey Kong (from the arcade game) - he would complain about Donkey Kong Country, because it's not *his* game XD
@crummyy Yeah. A lot of overseas artists have been known to receive comments on their work from English speakers, who make meme related comments or inside jokes that don't make sense to non-English speakers. Worse, some will say "I hate this" as a joke, but the artist won't understand that they're using it in a joking context. So a lot of them end up feeling bad, even if that wasn't the intention.
i was thinking this too! i see sarcasm in anime sometimes, so when people say that japanese dont understand sarcasm, i get confused? thanks for the video yuta!
“Because everyone on the internet understands sarcasm” Actually yuta I think you might be wrong here, there are tonnes of people who don’t get sarcasm on the internet, might wanna rephrase that
What do you think about the type Chris Broad mentioned in one of his older videos? The type of British extreme sarcasm where you say you’d rather do something horrible (injure yourself, for example), than do something. He even said it in Japanese to some students if I recall. Might it be because that type is too much, and it just sounds nonsensical? Or maybe did he not use a tone of voice that would make it obvious to Japanese people that it’s sarcasm?
@@quintrankid8045 I think the main difference is that Americans have a tone for sarcasm in the first place. You can immediately tell someone is being sarcastic by the tone of their voice. British people often deliver their sarcastic remarks mostly deadpan. Can cause a lot of confusion
@@Yotanido It's the same in Swedish. While it's another language entirely, we like to deliver jokes deadpan mode. The Finns are even better at this. Luckily when I visit my friends in Britain they vibe with this really well so I'll say you're pretty spot on there. While brits and others can use a special tone for Sarcasm, my experience is also that they more often don't. Which makes it confusing for many people coming here.
@@Yotanido As an American I can say that the _only_ way to deliver sarcastic remarks is the British way, i.e., deadpan. Delivering them in a “sarcastic” tone is a bit like laughing and winking at your own jokes.
I think the English language makes it easier (or is built) for people to be sarcastic compared to other languages like Japanese. Maybe it has to do with our tone of voice and body language or maybe how we're all raised in different countries & cultures.
No, its actually more complicated but you don't even notice it because of how familiar you are with it. Its subtle tone differences or word picks, even the speed at which you say something that matter most. Of course if you don't know how people normally speak you also wouldn't know how they speak sarcastically. But no I mean its super easy
@@ThreadBomb See, this is always the assumption people put forth but that never added up to me. Mainly, it assumes that sarcasm is always mean-spirited, and it isn't. If it's a cold, wet day and you say "Lovely weather we're having," that's sarcastic, but you're not insulting anyone.
You know where I think this idea came from? People telling lame jokes to Japanese people and them not laughing so they come to the concussion that Japanese people don't understand sarcasm. But if you told the same joke to a native English speaker they wound't laugh either.
Yes! I can totally relate to the cultural aspect of sarcasm. Don't know why I tend to speak more sarcastically in English than in my native language (spanish). Thanks for making me feel I wasn't the only one. Great video and congrats on your 900k subscribers!
A kind of sarcastic word in Japanese that I don't think is very well translated is いい加減 (ii kagen). It contradicts its meaning when describing something/one (turns into a 悪い加減 kind of meaning), but when you tell someone to do いい加減 (like "いい加減にしろ"), the meaning is straightforward
Hahaha, I love the sarcasm you used in this video. Some of it was quite subtle and made me appreciate your command of English much more. Well done. I can definitely see that sarcasm is much harder to pick up on when you're less familiar with the language. Chandler would definitely be hard to understand. I'll have to look out for sarcasm with Japanese speakers too.
Even within English sarcasm doesn't travel - Americans and Canadians often just don't pick up on the type of subtle sarcasm thats often used in Britain, Australia, or Ireland.
Sarcasm is a skill that is independent of language mastery. A few things can happen that make sarcasm difficult for foreign people in any language: 1) the cues are sometimes similar, but seemingly different in every language 2) if you have an obvious accent or make mistakes often, usually the listener will have to assume more of what you meant. Usually this means the listener tries to interpret your statement literally, since it is difficult to fix errors on the fly and infer sarcasm simultaneously. 3) similar to word play, the alternate interpretation has to make linguistic sense in the current context. This is often hard for a non native speaker to judge.
I think probably sarcasm, and the various facets of sarcasm, vary far more than you give it credit for. For example, I think in the US it is largely used as a gag or a joke, where as in the UK its slightly more intrinsic to communicating naturally. Even with the UK, different groups have different niches of sarcasm that can sometimes be hard to catch. All that said and done though, I think its probably not so difficult a concept to grasp in any language/culture, at least in my own experiences with Japanese colleagues.
It's just like my country (Indonesia), a lot of people don't use sarcasm here, one time I use one of my sarcastic remarks on my parents, they percieves it as an insult, but if you use sarcasm to younger people like Gen Z people, 90% of the time they will understand your sarcasm. What I can conclude is that younger people will tend to get sarcasm than the older ones.
This is something I've wondered about for a while because of hearing a number of anecdotes from people who went to Japan and said sarcasm wasn't really used there. Thanks for clearing that up.
I also noticed the intonation when Japanese speaking people use sarcasm is different than that of English speakers. Japanese speaking people use a more flat tone where as English speaking people have a specific lilt to their words.
Thank you for making this video. It has always confused me how I know I've witnessed sarcasm in Japanese media yet still often seen people online say that Japan doesn't have sarcasm.
I think people are confusing Japanese people not understanding sarcasm, with Japanese people not expecting sarcasm. I do believe that Japanese people understand and know what sarcasm is as evidenced by the clips that Yuta has shown, but in Japanese society which encourages for people to give their answers in a respectful manner, especially when talking face to face, many Japanese people aren't expecting sarcasm since they're so used to people answering a certain way and the suddenness of it throws them for a loop. It could also seem rude and disrespectful as well so maybe they're not used to using it much, Yuta himself said that he doesn't usually use sarcasm when speaking Japanese. Sarcasm online and in anime is different since people can avoid the hierarchy and say whatever they want.
It really does come down to the fact that in English sarcasm is used a lot more often than in Japanese, even though they both work by the same principle, i feel that Japanese people tend to avoid saying stuff that might be misunderstood or be taken as rude, otherwise you'd probably only be openly sarcastic to people you know very well that can easily catch it.
I think another difference is inflection of the voice. In Japanese, I notice there's way more up and down than in American English. But for sarcasm it's the opposite. Americans use more inflection, but Japanese use less. The stark difference in inflection is the indicator for sarcasm in a lot of languages.
When learning Japanese I came across a Japanese gaming forum post that said something like "I can't wait till this game releases in America so I can play on easy foreigner mode." Laughed about that for weeks. Japanese people definitely use sarcasm.
You start from the assumption that sarcasm is something that _should_ be understood. However, you could also think it that way: the Japanese don't use sarcasm because they don't think it's particularly funny. Unlike in the West, the best comedians in Japan don't use sarcasm - they use manzai. Manzai is such a contrasting style compared to sarcasm. Sarcasm is very indirect but in manzai, things are said in a very direct way (by the tsukkomi) - and that's what people like. I totally get it why many Japanese people don't care about sarcasm, when they think manzai is so much more fun. You could make another video: Why Westerners don't understand manzai.
just a hypothesis, but maybe japanese people are used to be less honest about how they feel so this humor is more funny to them, while many western people are often very impulsive and direct when they have a problem, so sublte humor is more their thing.. maybe
@@ThreadBomb Anime and real life are two different things. I've lived in Japan, and ordinary people there do not use sarcasm as much as Westerners. I didn't say Japanese comedians don't use sarcasm at all, it's just that manzai-style humour is a lot more popular and common, also in anime.
maybe they are just 120 millions and hardly every single one will find the same things funny, just think in your own family you hardly have the same sense of humor of your cousins, when people in Internet talk about Japan no matter if they live in the country they always talk of them like if they were this clones with all the same emotions and believes, also if someone use too much sarcasm regardless the country the guy will be perceive like a a**h*le.
So, I have a Japanese friend and we're reading Friends script together (which he translates himself from English to Japanese episode by episode, so his English is very good). The other day I really had hard times explaining to him one of Chandler's remarks that was pure sarcasm. He just doesn't understand why it's supposed to be funny. And I don't know how to explain the very phenomenon of sarcasm in western countries. I guess in Japan sarcasm is inherently considered rude, that's why it's not that common.
I'm glad you made this video. I believed the lie for a long time because when I heard it, I thought back to all the times my Japanese teacher in high school (who was native Japanese) didn't seem to get the sarcastic remarks me or my classmates would make. Thanks for debunking this!
I didn't even understand what sarcasm was until I was late into middle school. It can work verbally, but in text I really just don't like sarcasm. It's so hard to tell when there's no indication, especially when you're a Japanese artist getting comments on Twitter like "Delete this", "I hate this", posting meme pictures, and don't understand they don't mean what they mean. People on the internet are forgetting there's a time and place for things, because they're now used to just constantly saying dumb stuff.
Oh, this was quite interesting. I have to say, from my limited exposure to Japanese, the difference between use of sarcasm in anime vs. normal movies (well, the ones that I've seen) is quite big, so thanks for the explanation.
I remember trying to explain air quotes to some Japanese eikaiwa students once, and I failed miserably. Granted air quotes and sarcasm aren't exactly the same thing, and my Japanese and their English weren't exactly great.
I remember having a conversation online with a french artist when he replied to a sacastic troll as if he was actually being polite. To this day I'm not sure if he just didn't know the english word for sacasm at the time or if he was being sarcastic and I just didn't get it.
Double layered sarcasm can be fun. 'wow thanks for the awful picture' /s 'you're welcome there's more on my Instagram' /s Very hard to tell on the Internet sometimes. 😉
@@stormveil Sarcasm on the internet is hard to interpret, since text lacks a tone of voice. I can understand when an internet personality uses sarcasm, because I'm familiar with the way they speak, but many times, sarcasm is misinterpreted unless you add the "/s" at the end.
Indeed, sarcasm and irony doesn't always get across that well, in text. Some have suggested the use of a punctuation mark made to indicate sarcasm and/or irony or some other way to indicate it, to compensate for the lack of an indication from the tone of voice, but none have really caught on. (though you do see occasional use of "", which I have used myself, on occasion)
I could be a bit "biased" due to language barriers, but I honestly appreciate the Japanese for not overusing sarcasm. A little is fine, but some people in the West base their entire personality on being sarcastic. And in my opinion, I think that's a little too much.
I think it's more that Japanese people don't understand English sarcasm/joke phrases. most of these 'experts' probably use google translate to make a sarcastic joke which instead translates directly, coming off as rude or unexpected.
A lot of sarcasm in English involves raising your voice and speaking in an exaggerated manner as a way to make fun of the situation/person you're being sarcastic to. That kind of shows that you must be joking, not serious. Meanwhile in Japanese you tone it right down and speak in monotone with comments that usually warrant a more bombastic expression, to show that clash. It kinda shows your disinterest in the situation.
I watched a lot of your vids these past days and now i feel alive again 👍 I always wanted to visit Japan and learn a lot from the people there but i never felt more ambitious 😊 Looking forward to your free lessons. I hope we'll meet someday
I find it really easy to understand sarcasm from other Americans, but have a lot of difficulty with British sarcasm, simply because the cues we use to mark sarcasm are subtly different.
I mean I think when people say that Japanese people don't use sarcasm, it's not a total thing. It's just that it's a matter of degree. While it pops up a lot online or the anime, I've encountered it a lot less in person in Japan. Also, as a really sarcastic person, I've found myself having to back track and clarify my comments (which are in Japanese not english) as sarcastic--because i've accidentally upset people. And I've found when I'm speaking Japanese, a time where I would have been very sarcastic in English I find it's too uncomfortable to be sarcastic in Japanese--not that I couldn't be. So yeah, it's a matter of degree.
I have made great attempts at figuring out what irony and sarcasm (which should not be confused. They are two distinctly separate things) are called in Japanese. They are certainly *_used_* in Japanese, but… I have great difficulty finding Japanese words for it, if there even are any. I tend to get the translation "hiniku" (皮肉), but that seems to be more about harsh criticism, which is completely different.
I think Japanese people may consider sarcasm to be impolite. So they wouldn't use sarcasm on people who are not close enough. At the same time they wouldn't think friendly strangers would use sarcasm on them. I think a sense of distance(距離感) is playing a part here.
This brought me a lot of clarity in terms of how sarcasm differed between languages. It would make sense as English and Japanese technically have a lot of different tonalities to them, so it would make sense that English sarcasm would be more over-exhausted type of speech while Japanese sarcasm is more monotonal.
It makes sense that they aren’t as sarcastic as Americans. The Japanese language stresses politeness so much so it makes sense they aren’t as snarky and as mean as us.
@That Japanese Man Yuta at 04:21 what you meant to say is that it’s easy for English speakers but tricky for Japanese speakers. Other than that, nice vid as usual!
It always surprises me how different Japanese is in anime compared to real life. I don't see that big of a difference in English or German, though characters may speak in a cartoonish voice, or use catch phrases.
Sarcasm requires a tell. If your tells are culturally different, that would prevent someone from understanding sarcastic comments from another culture. In English, sarcasm is sometimes used to chastise someone but is most often used as a joke, maybe not a nice joke, but a joke. It sounds like sarcasm in Japan maybe be used as a less confrontational form of rebuke: everyone knows what you meant, but the words were nice.
I remember when QI (A British comedy/quiz show) did a segment on a Japanese guy who got bombed in Hiroshima and then went on to Nagasaki afterwards which got bombed again, and he survived both devastations. Panel members were discussing whether he was supremely lucky for surviving both devastations or extremely unlucky. The Japanese embassy kicked a major fuss and the survivor's daughter claimed Britain was mocking or looking down on her father. Stephen Fry also had a show cancelled which was meant to be broadcast in Japan. I don't think a Japanese who was a fluent English speaker like Yuta would reach the same conclusion.
Even in English, I have trouble telling what is sarcasm depending on where I am. In the south eastern part of the United States (South Carolina specifically), when people make sarcastic comments, it's easy to tell, because they're tone of voice changes and is different than when they are talking normally. The sarcastic comment sounds very exaggerated, so that it's obvious to people that they are being sarcastic. When I moved across the country; however, to the North East (Washington state) it was different. I don't know whether people's voice changed as much when making a sarcastic comment. If it did, it was different than I was use to, and I couldn't tell. It sounded like they were just speaking normally. So I very frequently didn't know people were being sarcastic, and felt like they were just lying.
Based on my own experience, I've found that the Japanese brand of sarcasm tend to be lighter in tone - and tend to focus on flipping a negative into a sarcastic positive. Again, this might be because of my limited Japanese skills as well, but in comparison to British sarcasm, which tends to add a negative into a negative, so much so that it sounds positive (e.g. in response to news about a soldier getting killed in NK during the pandemic, "well Covid can't kill him if we get to him first" - and that is still pretty basic sarcasm), Japanese sarcasm is relatively non-offensive across the board. I have also never encountered it used over serious/official matters and might be perceived as rude/insensitive when it pops out within those boundaries. Whereas for British 'humour', there are no rules and guidelines. Sarcasm may come out within the same sentence as something completely earnest (for example, at a funeral, a sarcastic joke followed by the most earnest condolences) and this is where the confusion starts for many cultures. If anyone is interested, I think comedians like David Mitchell is an excellent gateway into the psyche of British sarcasm and a good source of comparison. (By no means am I saying that's the only acceptable form of sarcasm - but I do find that that's what I generally compare to when someone says x or y doesn't get sarcasm.) & Now I shall wonder if I use words like 'genuinely' and 'sincerely' as a an unconscious marker for when I'm not being sarcastic. Thanks for giving me an existential crisis in the year of our lord 2020. (& Just in case, yes, that last sentence, is sarcasm in two-folds.)
FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT. For years ive had to listen to people say that they don't have sarcasm. And yet I see it in comments and anime. "research purposes" it's okay we got you
thx mr yuta for explaining this with context.I just discovered your channel and I cant stop watching your vids.so interesting all these little different things in japan/german(Ima german guy)/european cultures.I really love that you talk slow in english for everybody to understand better.what I would like to know is : how come that in some anime german names/words are used so "often"? maybe you can do a video about that if you haven't, yet.
Many of these examples aren't really sarcasm, but are more just mockery. "Oh that's amazing" "you're so cool", it's just going along with someone, not exactly sarcasm. I think sarcasm is best defined as when you say something incorrect to make a point. To let the incongruence stand for itself, rather than explicitly saying something.
Then wouldn't that example from the anime be a textbook demonstration of it? The girl saying to her bro "Oh you're so cool" when she actually thinks, and means, he's totally lame.
I'm sorry Yuta, but as a japanese language expert (N42069) and researcher in japanese culture I have to informe you that this is fake and that japanese don't understand or use sarcasm because of how respectful and pure is the language is.
I watch a lot of anime and read a lot of manga and light novels, especially dialogue driven stories as they tend to be my favourites. One thing I’ve noticed is that sarcasms isn’t used as often in these mediums as it is in English western fiction. I think the Japan doesn’t have sarcasm stereotypes come from the fact that sarcasm often doesn’t translate well especially if the translator isn’t truly fluent.
Sarcasm in Japanese is more straight forward while sarcasm in other languages connect two different kinds of logic. Like when Uncle Roger asking if Jamie will add peanut butter, it’s not the opposite of what he’s saying but it’s taking the common use of jam to ridicule the way Jamie is using it (see the Jamie Oliver video if you don’t get it). You can say 次にどうする？ピーナッツバターかけるのか but people in Japan don’t really speak this way, so it will naturally go over their heads.
The problem is that some people do sarcasm wrong because they don't think about the listener's perception of what they are saying. If you say something in a reasonable voice, and it seems like something you might normally say, how would anyone guess that you are being "sarcastic"?
@@ThreadBomb You usually use sarcasm with people that know you or on topic that your opinion might seem absurd. r/whoosh is a thing because it is so easy to tell...
also one thing to point out about TV sarcasm and real life sarcasm, on TV they exaggerate and act in an obvious way so you know it is sarcasm. in real life, people tend to say it as believable as possible to make sure they fool you for a few seconds until you realize they got you and feel like a fool. imagine a scene where you got accepted in University and your friend is all happy, replace the part where you got accepted in university with spilling your cereals on the floor but your friend acts "exactly" the same way. that is sarcasm. and i think that kind of sarcasm in Japan being rare is what they mean.
