‘Sorry for your kindness’: Japanese interactional ritual in public discourse

Abstract

Sumimasen, the object of analysis in this study, is a conventional expression of apology in Japanese that is also used to express the feeling of thanks. While many of the previous studies on the use of sumimasen attempted to explain the dual functions of the expression from a speech act point of view, this study aims to elucidate the social and metapragmatic functions of sumimasen within the larger framework of public discourse in Japan. The paper first describes seven pragmatic functions of sumimasen distinguished through ethnographic observations of discourse in public, using Goffman's notion of ‘remedial’ and ‘supportive’ interchanges (1971) as a conceptual framework. Then, the paper demonstrates that the exchange of sumimasen forms a metapragmatic ritual activity that is an anticipated, habitual behavior in public discourse in Japanese society. This argument is developed by reframing the multiple functions of sumimasen in accordance with the folk notion of aisatsu, which constitutes the ground rules of appropriate Japanese public interaction. The paper ultimately discusses how sumimasen functions not only as the expression of gratitude and apology, but also as one of the ritualized formulae used in Japanese society to facilitate public face-to-face interaction.