THE USE OF KARE/KANOJO IN JAPANESE SOCIETY TODAY

This paper aims to discuss the use of kare/kanojo / (he/she) in Japanese society today, in order to elucidate the socio-psychological significance of these terms. Based on questionnaires and interviews recently surveyed in Japan, the paper will question what categories of people (e.g. family members, friends, celebrities, and other different social backgrounds) are more likely to be referred to as kare/kanojo, and whether or not other social factors such as the relationship between speaker and listener affect the use of kare/kanojo. Kare/kanojo have been much discussed in theoretical linguistics (Okamura 1972; Kinsui 1987, 1989; Hasegawa 1995, 1995; Kashiwadani 1984; Takubo & Kimura 1992). However, these works are more concerned with categorising the terms in the parts-of-speech system, and/or with pragmatic constraints on their occurrence. They do not pertain to the sociological categorisation of referents referred to as kare/kanojo. To the best of my knowledge, Hinds (1975) is the only one to have undertaken this type of study. The twenty-five years since Hinds’ research was done may have seen changes in the use of kare/kanojo; we empirically know that these terms are used more frequently than before in our daily life. This paper will examine a wider range of age groups (15 to 75 years old) than Hinds (teenagers to 29 years old), to see generation differences as well as historical changes in the use of kare/kanojo. Also, this paper will discuss whether or not the relationship between speaker and listener, and the referent’s social environments affect the use of kare/kanojo, and what psychological effects occur when using these