Our group members consisting of Casey, Andrew, Tianqi, Alex, and Ted decided to analyze two different retailers’ websites. First was Mandarake, a large retailer specializing in selling anime and manga related goods. The second, Nishikawa, a store specializing in futon and other bed related merchandise. With two very different products being sold to different markets, we believe the contrast of word usage would prove to be insightful.
To begin with Mandarake, a lot of the loan word usage on their homepage comes from different products from different anime series they are advertising. Aside from that, there is no over-abundance of load words or words being written in katakana. Loan words are really only used when it needs to be; for words such as auction (オークション), credit card (クレットカード), and website (サイト). These words are always written in katakana as opposed to having a kanji variant like 煙草and 硝子(タバコand ガラス respectively) which where presumably brought into Japan before the standardization of using katakana for loan words. The usage of Sino-Japanese versus native Japanese appears to be mostly divided into Sino Japanese for nouns and native Japanese for verbs and adjectives. If the verb has a verbal noun counterpart (a noun plus the verb する) then the more formal verbal noun would be used. This can be seen with the usage of 購入する over 買う.This makes sense as Mandarake is first and foremost a business. They are expected to put on an air of formality when presenting themselves to their customers, hence the more formal Sino-Japanese words in addition to their various use of keigo or more polite speech. The more formal Sino-Japanese used on their homepage over the more familiar and casual native Japanese can be attributed to what was mentioned earlier about the business, and by the fact that in order to purchase something from the website you need a credit card, something that disqualifies a more younger customer base which may not care as much for more formal Japanese.
By comparing the recruitment information in the above picture, we can see that, unlike the furniture sales page, Mandarake’s recruitment page uses more Native Japanese and Sino Japanese. According to analysis, the furniture sales page is generally more widely available, and both adults and children have access to such purchase interfaces. Not only that, but it is also closely related to fashion and popularity. According to textbooks, foreign words usually carry images and perceptions that express the “modern”, “western” and “complex” meaning. Therefore, in order to deepen the public’s impression of the “fashion” and “modern” of the furniture webpage, it uses most foreign words. For example, product and sales, instead of Native Japanese it replaces them with プロダクト and セールス. The Native Japanese word “product”(製品) expresses only a common product and is like a very monotonous word. But if we express it in a foreign language, it will subtly make the reader feel that these products are not so mediocre, thus accelerating people’s desire to buy.
In contrast, Mandarake’s recruitment page uses almost no foreign language, but uses a lot of Native Japanese and Sino-Japanese, such as finishing and adjusting(整理し、调整します). These sino vocabulary makes the overall effect of the page a little more formal and serious, but the original words add some gently feelings to the page. As far as I know, the target people of mandarake are basically aimed at young people, or more meanly, for the “Otaku”. Logically speaking, in order to attract their attention, the webpage should use more foreign words to arouse the youth’s resonance of the “modern” impression. However, the manager has ingeniously used a more formal tone to make the page look professional and dignified. I think this has some connection with the 中二病（ちゅうにびょう）. It is a common saying that is used to describe the special words and deeds that the teenagers in Japan are too self-righteous. The webpage deliberately uses high-end vocabulary and sentences to express information, in order to satisfy the youngsters who are still childish and pretend to mature. Words such as “Mood and Sorrow” and “God’s Grace”(“喜怒哀楽”、“神の恩寵”), we can feel that feeling from it.
Looking at two products on Mandarake, it is very clear that the website prefers to have a formal tone. About half of the words are Sino-Japanese with comparatively few foreign words. Many of the words written in katakana and romaji are not foreign but the title of the anime and producer from which the product came. Furthermore, the website uses 敬譲語（けいじょうご）to further drive the formal mood. Even in the products’ pages, Mandarake wants shows they are a serious business worthy of one’s respect, almost as if in spite of the otaku image of their merchandise.
The Nishikawa homepage has a good variety of Sino-Japanese words (SJ words), native-japanese words (NJ words) and foreign-loanwords (FL words). However even though there is a mix of all types, SJ words are the most common. This is unsurprising because the website predominantly carries products that cater to adults 30-35+ years of age (formal/luxury bedding products etc.). Like any other retailer, this website has to cater to their customers. In this particular case, Nishikawa believed their customers would have better responses if SJ words are used in the descriptions of their products. Perhaps this is because they are selling fine/luxury products, and SJ words are associated with formallness and sophistication. Some examples of SJ words describing products are 素材 ‘material’ and 機能性 ‘functionality’. However, the website does not truly take a formal tone all-together.
NJ words were the second most frequent word type on the homepage. Some products were still described with NJ words, but not with the frequency of the SJ words. Mostly the NJ words were used when the descriptions wanted to be a little more personal with the customer (自信を持ってお届けする ‘deliver with confidence’). In these cases, NJ words are perfect for adding that human touch to sell a product.
Nishikawa’s home page also had a lot of FL words as well. The homepage had a noticeably larger number of FL compared to the listings page for individual products. This was because a lot of the FL words on the homepage did not regard the products, but rather helped organize and navigate the website, such as カスタマーサポート ‘customer support’, ブランド ‘brand’, and セール ‘sale’. When FL words were used in the descriptions of products, the products were typically western products like pillows and sheets from Canada and the United States. This causes the website to have a modern and sleek look, while also trying to be functional. Also, in some cases, FL words are used alongside NJ words to create a personal, energetic sentiment (アイテムなどがお買い得！’items are a bargain!’).
We compared two products in Nishikawa website which are towel and pillow respectively. As can be seen from the statistics, for the towel, the description of this product uses native japanese vocabulary most then comes to sino-japanese vocabulary like(素材感,高品質,柔軟剤), loan foreign loanwords(タオル,タオルブランド) have lowest amount in this product description. The idea of description of product is aim to let people read easily. Also, since this is a website for selling bedclothes. Consumers are more likely over 30 years old. Using the combination of native and sino japanese words let them read more simply, cause some old generations are not familiar with too much foreign loan words. However, depending on the product, the result comes differently. For the pillow, the amount of foreign loan words take most among other kinds of vocabulary. The next is sino-japanese words, native words come to the end. Most foreign loanwords are used in component(組成) such as ナイロン/ポリエチレン, パイプ and size part サイズ. The function was described by using both native and sino vocabulary.
The total data below tells the whole story. Mandarake uses less than half the amount of gairaigo as Nishikawa despite both websites being retailers, 13.5% versus Nishikawa’s 30.6%. Mandarake is designed to sell anime and manga merch, among other things, so one might expect them to have a larger foreign influence. On the other hand, Nishikawa deals in Japanese bedding, so they should be able to sell their product without much assistance from foreign loanwords. Instead, the reverse is true. This complete difference in the usage of gairaigo can only be attributed to a calculated style preference: Mandarake wants to appear formal and Nishikawa wants to appear fashionable and functional.
