Our catch phrase is on its way.

Dear Fellow Earthlings, The insidious creep of English can be felt even when you watch sumo wrestling on TV. True, sumo must internationalize to survive. The old ways of only Japanese men being sumo wrestlers are long behind us. In fact, it seems that it is Mongolia and NOT Japan that has the best sumo wrestlers. But that is a different story… I was shocked to hear a Japanese sumo commentator mention a sumo wrestler as having “come back” to the juryo division of sumo, down a notch from the makunouchi (or top) division. That commentator’s use of an English term for describing a traditional sport of Japan was distressing to me for two reasons: For one thing, it showed the ignorance of the commentator – actually, the STUPIDITY of the guy. When one is demoted, one does not “come” back – but rather has to “GO back” to a lower ranking. Two, it showed that the commentator felt he could start inserting English expressions at will into the Japanese language. A dying plant or animal cannot defend itself against even the mildest threat. Similarly, a dying language cannot do much when indignity is heaped upon it in the form of the use of foreign terms over native terms. So, while it is true that sumo must adapt in order to survive in this modern world, it does NOT follow that Japanese has to adopt English words to make that happen! The English word “power” should not be used during Japanese language telecasting of sumo, but rather the Japanese term “chikara” should be used. And, woe to us all, “healthy” should not take the place of “genki”. Please, Japanese people! Please speak out against these indignities being heaped onto your language! Steve Walker, Earthsaver and Jingles Creator Kaori Akasaki, Jingles Instructor

© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.