"Kanjin Shugi" and the Patterns of Japanese Interpersonal and Public Communication

本研究旨在以日本文化独有的新视角来解释日本人的交际特点。以往的传播学研究在西方方法的指导下，试图将西方的本体论和认识论应用到日本的传播中。然而，这种西方方式并不能充分揭示日本交流的特点。本研究以这一问题为切入点，运用滨口的“日本传播学”和“日本传播学”的概念，试图以日本人独有的方法论视角来分析日本的传播学。这些访谈的结果表明，西方方法论不能很好地解释日本人与人之间和公众之间的沟通过程，这些过程被整体地概念化为“看人”。基于这一访谈结果，2003年对居住在日本各地的1500名年龄在23岁到74岁之间的日本人进行了一项邮件调查。从215份返回的调查中获得回复。从他们的回答中，这项研究分析了受访者如何定义“交流”这个词，以及他们如何处理公共交流的情况。结果表明，大约60%的受访者将交流定义为与西方文化相似的“行为”，但40%的受访者将交流概念化为与“看似”有关的概念，如与他人的关系、背景或情景。在公共传播情境方面，日本人的回应既有西方的“说服”意识，也有强调“看似”的意义，如说话人与听众分享语境等。这项研究没有发现日本传播完全与“看人修身”有关，但证明了日本传播并不能完全用西方的传播本体论和方法论来解释。

This research was conducted to explain Japanese communication characteristics by using a new perspective that is unique to the Japanese culture. Past research in communication that is guided by Western approach has tried to apply Western ontology and epistemology to Japanese communication. However, such Western approach cannot adequately unveil characteristics of Japanese communication. Basing this problem as a starting point, this research attempted to analyze Japanese communication through a methodological perspective unique to Japanese eyes using Hamaguchi's concepts of "Kanjin Shugi" and "Kanjin".In 2002, qualitative interviews were conducted with seven Japanese communication researcher-educators. The results of these interviews revealed that Western methodology could not adequately interpret processes in Japanese interpersonal and public communication that were conceptualized holistically as "Kanjin."Based on this interview finding, a mail survey was administered to 1500 Japanese between age of 23 and 74 living throughout Japan in 2003. Responses were obtained from 215 returned surveys. From their responses, the study analyzed how the respondents defined the word "communication" and how they approached a public communication situation. The results suggested that approximately 60% of the responses defined communication as "behaviors" similar to the Western cultures, but 40% of the responses conceptualized communication as concepts related to "Kanjin," such as relationships with others and contexts or situations. In terms of public communication situation, Japanese responses included the Western sense of "persuasion" and also emphasized the sense of "Kanjin," such as sharing the context between the speaker and the audience.The study failed to find that Japanese communication was entirely related to "Kanjin Shugi," but proved that Japanese communication could not be totally explained by Western ontology and methodology for communication.