Sempai

先輩／せんぱい：elder, senior, mentor

An integral part of Japanese society and language is the sempai/kōhai relationship. As a foreigner and someone new to the country, I have little day-to-day experience with this idea. However, earlier this week, I felt that I was beginning to get a bit of a better idea about what it's all about.

This sort of relationship generally exists in schools or companies--for example, if two students are studying in the same faculty at a university, then the older and more experienced student is treated with respect by the kōhai. In companies it is similar.

I'm only beginning to understand the levels of formality in Japanese society and language. I'm already quite aware of differences in how I talk to my Japanese friends Takashi and Shinsuke (Takashi is also my tutor; more on that later--Shinsuke is also in the band with me; more on that later too), and how I talk to my sensei in Japanese class or to a salesperson at a store. Still, there are grammatical forms that I'm aware of but haven't even learned yet that take this idea much further. and add even more levels of formality.

As a foreigner, I am not generally expected to conform to this structure. However, I must be aware of it. The more I become involved in Japanese society, the more I will have to be aware of these relationships.

Earlier this week, I realized that sometimes these relationships exist in American culture too, though much less common. For example, my step-grandfather will always be known to me as Grampa. In another sense, when I did theatre at Buckley, older students would always notice and be extremely annoyed if a younger student might step out of place, disrespecting seniority in the program's hierarchy.

Japanese language has these forms built-in, in a way that English simply does not (and, for that matter, Russian). In addition, here's an interesting article about gendered forms in Japanese, too--another important and related point. It is sometimes the case, as readers who have studied foreign language extensively will understand, that some words simply don't translate so well--or as I have found, you can translate a word, but it takes more than that to explain what its usage means or implies. These subtle shades of meaning take time and experience to learn, but they are essential to understanding cultural differences.

Drawing these cultural comparisons makes for fascinating conversation, and it will lead to the focus of my major, too.

I realized that of the six Tufts students in this program, I'm the only one concentrating on Japanese culture as an academic interest. One amazing thing about about being here is that after all the experience and confidence I have so far gained abroad, I really do feel free to make of this program what I want. I'm amazed and honored by the amount of respect that seems to thrive here even among the international student community, and it's a great feeling and a very positive environment to live in.