Authors: “Laurence,” Madi Collins, Cooper Lee, Nicholas Olenich
https://www.yohjiyamamoto.co.jp/projects/ys-eyewear/
https://www.beams.co.jp/item/demiluxebeams/fashiongoods/64670078683/?color=12
Intro
For this project, we compared two Japanese eyewear brands with a focus on the word choice within their webpages. After brainstorming various ideas, we decided to analyze the websites of the brands Beams and Yohji Yamamoto. Initially looking at the Beams website, it seemed to contain a lot more Sino-Japanese and Native Japanese words, and also seemed to be marketed towards a purely Japanese audience. Yohji Yamamoto, on the other hand, is an international designer, and that website seems to be directed towards a more global audience, with a heavy usage of English and foreign loanwords.
Background
The Native Japanese category (wago) typically includes words common to everyday life. Action verbs related to clothing, accessories, and appearances (for example: 染める, to dye or color) have existed in Japanese since before the arrival of Chinese vocabulary. Additionally, they account for many simple adjectives (大きい, big) and nouns (色, color). A text written largely in Native Japanese paints an image of itself as accessible to all ages and types of people. This category of words makes up a large portion of the verbs in both of the analyzed texts.
Words of the Sino-Japanese category (kango) typically represent more complex or abstract ideas than Native Japanese words. In both texts, Sino-Japanese nouns outnumber Native Japanese ones. Words like 原産国 (goods’ country of origin) exemplify this idea. A text written largely in Sino-Japanese appears specialized, adult-oriented, and even high-status due to the complexity of the ideas it communicates as well as the education necessary to read and understand all of the kanji it uses.
Foreign loanwords (gairaigo) include concepts and manners of reference that were introduced to Japan by other countries–essentially, words originally used in other languages. For example, レンズ (lens), as in fitted lenses for glasses, is not a word native to Japan, but was borrowed from English. Often for stylistic and aesthetic reasons, brands choose to use loanwords even when those loanwords have native Japanese equivalents. The use of シェイプ (shape) instead of 形 (かたち, shape) exemplify this idea. Brands that wish to project a certain image tend to choose loanwords over their Native Japanese counterparts to evoke feelings of coolness, trendiness, and modernity.
Process
Our group started by dividing each of the two texts equally so that we each had one of four equal parts. We began by analyzing both the website’s text and then categorizing each word into Native Japanese, Sino Japanese, foreign loan words and English. Using the data we collected, our group created a table for each text, and then put together corresponding pie charts. We also discussed the nuances we felt were associated with each script near the beginning of the project, basing our projections on our group and in-class discussions, and came to the following conclusions.
Analysis
Using pie charts to display the ratios of these different categories of words, we found it much easier to compare the two texts. Prior to our analysis, we had anticipated that since Yohji Yamamoto was specifically a designer name brand, it would be marketed towards a more global audience, whereas Beams seemed more for a domestic audience due to the amount of Sino-Japanese found on their main page. Looking at the pie charts, it appears that both brands use relatively high proportions of loanwords and relatively low proportions of Native Japanese words. However, the higher amounts of Sino-Japanese words used by Beams emphasize an important distinction: While Yohji Yamamoto fully commits to projecting a unique, modern, and international image, Beams instead chooses to balance trendy katakana loanwords with high-class, familiar kango.
A glance at the vocabulary breakdown shows that both Beams and Yohji Yamamoto use a relatively low amount of native Japanese words in the descriptions of their high-end glasses–37% and 38%, respectively. The main difference between the sites lies in the use of foreign loanwords (25% vs 33%) and Sino-Japanese words (34% vs 25%).
Within the Yohji Yamamoto data, one can see that mostly native Japanese words (54) and foreign loanwords (47) were used, with the amount of Sino-Japanese words (35) falling a bit farther below these two. As we have discussed in class, Native Japanese words cover a lot of daily life vocabulary, and this can be seen in this passage with words such as 「つくられる」(to be made),「着ること」(to wear), and 「できる」(to do (potential)). These words are the kinds of words that would be used in everyday life, and because of this, they haven’t been replaced with any Sino-Japanese words or foreign loanwords, as there is no particular advantage to a brand in doing so. Their presence in this passage does not carry too much hermeneutic meaning, though the usage of native Japanese words suggests that the idea that these glasses may be suited well for a variety of people and of lifestyles.
The presence of a large amount of foreign loanwords, however, offers more hermeneutic meaning to the reader. We have discussed in class and read about how foreign loanwords often create this idea of a product or idea seeming more ‘classy’ or ‘cool.’ Foreign loanwords do not carry the same connotative meaning to the Japanese consumer as they might to native speakers of the languages from which they come. Instead, they translate into vaguely desirable images and aesthetics of foreign cultures and modernity. The Yohji Yamamoto webpage for these glasses uses many foreign loanwords, enticing potential buyers with images of luxury, strength, and fashionability by association. This portrayal of luxury through loanwords can be seen through the usage of words such as 「カッティング」(cutting), and 「アイデンティティ」(identity). Words for these ideas also exist in the Japanese language in other forms, and complex subjects like identity, especially, are overwhelmingly written in Sino-Japanese, so why use loanwords? The use of these foreign words creates a more desirable image for the glasses, making the glasses seem cooler and more interesting. The use of a loanword for a concept usually written in Sino-Japanese gives depth as well as a ring of progressivity to the image, heightening the modern feel. Both Yohji Yamamoto and Beams heavily embellish their product descriptions with foreign loanwords, informing the reader of their product’s high-quality manufacturing and style. Both sites use the loanword チタン, meaning titanium, multiple times, and in combination loanwords such as「ベータチタン」(beta titanium). Another reason these loanwords appear is to communicate that both companies’ glasses are fashionable and modern. Adjectives like ラウンド (round) in Yohji Yamamoto and ピュア (pure) in Beams demonstrate a preference for loanword adjectives over native ones, even when native words have the same meaning (丸い and 純粋). From the heavier usage of loanwords on the Yohji Yamamoto site, then, one could determine that these glasses are geared towards an audience that may consider themselves more ‘high-class,’ or more internationally cultured.
In looking at the breakdown of vocabulary types between the webpages of Beams and Yohji Yamamoto, there is one point which may skew the data: our analysis of the Yohji Yamamoto page stopped at the description of the third model of glasses (G03). However, the rest of the page contains even more loanword-heavy descriptions that would inflate the loanword count. The katakana-filled page practically screams, “This is a high-class and international brand.” The heavy use of loanwords may also increase the possibility of drawing in more foreign buyers, as there may be more recognizable words at first glance and less of the all-intimidating kanji, and the website as a whole also contains a bit more English than BEAMS. Overall, the heavier usage of foreign loanwords in this passage contributes to an idea of classier, modern, high-value glasses.
Something that Beams displays on their page that Yohji Yamamoto does not is information on BLANC, the specific brand of glasses, in addition to a product description of the glasses themselves. BLANC’s description contains many Sino-Japanese words, portraying it as a high-class brand with relatively more focus on tradition and relatively less focus on modernity. Altogether, the Beams page then says, “this is a trendy and fashionable product from a refined and high-status designer.” Also within the Beams passage, the word megane (glasses) was written in katakana メガネ rather than the common hiragana めがね or kanji 眼鏡. The word is close to the bottom of the webpage, under the technical details for the glasses: 「カテゴリ│ファッション雑貨 ＞ メガネ」, or in English: ”category │ fashion miscellaneous goods > glasses.” The word megane does not even appear in the Yohji Yamamoto description, however, giving the idea that Beams is to some extent willing to modernize and romanticize the idea of the mundane megane through foreign loanword typesetting, where Yohji Yamamoto is not. Beams is willing to take the mundane image of “glasses” and beautify it with the magic of foreign association to create a sellable product. Yohji Yamamoto, on the other hand, won’t even touch the mundane, and sticks to foreign loan descriptors to create a sleek and modern image. Yohji Yamamoto has no need for technical categorizations, whether masked with foreign beautification or not–the goal of the Yohji Yamamoto brand is to distinguish its product by going against, and even subverting, the norms for that product. In essence, the use of the word megane in katakana (メガネ) may seem like a small detail, but brings into focus the difference in class between a consumer-level brand like Beams and a truly high-fashion brand like Yohji Yamamoto.
Conclusion
Overall, the usage of language is surprisingly similar between the two websites. The subtle differences, however, do shine through in the careful use of different forms of language. Where Beams markets toward domestic consumers, Yohji Yamamoto seeks international attention. Both Beams and Yohji Yamamoto display a high-class feeling within their websites, but a close look at word choice highlights Yohji Yamamoto’s international interests in contrast with Beams’s domestic orientation.