Requests in Japanese:A Study through E-mail Messages

Abstract

Although Japanese people have been often said to be indirect, the results of some recent studies (e.g., Fukushima 1996; Fukushima 2000; Rose 1994; Rose 1996) challenge this prevailing belief. This study attempts to investigate Japanese requests in present day Japan to examine this alternative viewpoint. The data used in this study were e-mail messages of requests by Japanese university students. Direct-indirect and informal-formal scales were taken into account in determining the request strategies and eight request strategies were used in the analysis. The results showed that bald-on-record and positive politeness strategies, which were direct and informal, were most frequently used, when there was no power difference between S and H and when S and H were close. The data collection method and a channel of communication may have influenced low occurrence of off-record strategies.