部長「この間君が作った新製品のパンフレットだがね、取引先の会社から、間違いがあると言われたよ。」
部下「どうも大変申し訳ございません」
部長「おかげで恥をかいたよ」
Haji wo Kaku
Bucho: Kono aida kimi ga tsukutta shin-seihin no panfuretto da ga ne, torihiki-saki no kaisha feara machigai ga aru to iwareta yo.
Buka: Doo mo taihen moshi wake gozaimasen.
Bucho: Okage de haji wo kaitayo.
Manager: About that "new product" pamphlet you made the other day, the client called in to say there are mistakes in it.
Staffer: I'm terribly, terribly sorry.
Manager: Thanks to you, you know, I've been quite humiliated.
* * *
In her book, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, Ruth Benedict writes that a sense of shame is a driving force for the Japanese. The point is quite perceptive. Consider the place of seppuku (ritual self-disembowelment) in Japanese history; more often than not the act was "performed" by samurai warriors who had done something they thought their master would consider inexcusable. Choosing death over life when to live means to continue bringing shame upon oneself and others-isn't this part of the Japanese unique aesthetic sense?
Though the concept of "shame" is universal, the expression "haji wo kaita" (to be disgraced/humiliated ; put/ brought to shame) seems to be particularly common in Japanese conversation. In fact, as far as I know, no other language displays such an expression with the same frequency. Both prolonged and irritating feelings of "shame" which hurt us deep inside and brief feelings of embarrassment quickly forgotten can be considered haji. Of course, it is only natural that factors such as age and environment will determine just when any particular person will experience feelings of "shame. "
In this week's conversation, the manager "felt humiliated" by the client's report that there had been a mistake. This is a good illustration of the Japanese sense of "ours and theirs." Some other examples: ie no haji-outsiders hear about one's domestic problems and thus shame is brought upon one's family; gakkoo no haji-outsiders hear about a school problem (i.e., a teacher gets arrested for driving under the influence) and so the school's name is felt to be disgraced; kaisha no haji-as in the conversation above. In talk about Japan's relations with foreign countries this way of thinking is also frequently and strongly expressed i.e., all Japanese are considered uchi (insiders) and so a problem is seen as disgracing Japan or the Japanese (Nihon no haji/Nihonjin no haji).
You can often hear these phrases in everyday conversations.
The governments of China and Korea say that "Japan does not take responsibility for what it did during World War II and so does not make appropriate apologies." As far as I'm concerned, the Japanese government must recognize the facts of history - what's done is done-and apologize. For the many Japanese politicians in their 60s and 70s, however, to apologize amounts to bringing shame (haji) upon Japan.
One more example: imagine Kimura's son is caught shoplifting. When his school is notified, "Kimura-kun no shita koto wa gakko no haji" ("What Kimura did has disgraced the school"). For his parents, "Musuko no okage de haji wo kakasareta" ("Thanks to our son we have been shamed").
Perhaps even when the news spreads throughout the neighborhood, "Anna ko ga iru nan'te gokinjo no haji desu" ("Just having that kid around brings shame upon our neighborhood"). In the second example above we find the expression haji wo kakasareta. This is the passive usage. "Kono aida minna no mae de haji wo kakasaremashita" ("I was put to shame in front of everyone the other day"). The causative is used in sentences like, "Kimura-kun wa okaasan ni haji wo kakaseta" ("Kimura brought disgrace upon his mother" ).