Lost in childhood

My dear solid friend of the secrets gardens of Porto. Thank you very much for your message and for your support. Although I am learning Japanese, married to Japanese lady and living between Asia and Europe, I am not so much fluent in Japanese.

Strangely, communication and mastering the Japanese language are two separate issues.

In the last missions we organized for Western Companies to Japan we adopt a new methodology: A translator who provides the translation from Japanese to English (or other language) and an observer, a retired Japanese Executive from major Japanese Corporation.

We often notice that the perception of sounds and true meanings are two different realities.

One of my friends in Japan is a British Citizen living in Japan for over ten years married to Japanese Lady. He is locally in charge one of the world main media companies. Being quite fluent in Japanese, he never uses the Japanese language in business meetings, but always a translator. With a record of so many misunderstandings in the past, he does not want to endlessly repeat the same errors.

The Japanese language is highly ambiguous and plenty of multiple meanings. Awareness of these complex matters requires a Japanese education, from the cradle.

Speaking some Japanese is essential to evidence respect to Japanese people and society but one must understand that one will never go inside the mindset of Japanese souls. It is a process lost in childhood.

Going a little deeper on this matter:

River in the Japanese language is represented by the kanji 川

When a Japanese thinks about a river, he sees an image, he has an emotion that activates the right hemisphere of the brain – emotions.

On the other hand, when a western thinks about a river he is getting a concept, activating the left part of the brain - rationality.

Hashi, a Japanese sound with several meanings, is the title of this blog.

In the dictionary we find 3 Kanjis for the sound hashi - (橋　箸　端 )


橋– Bridge
箸– Chopsticks
端 – End, tip, edge, margin corner

Japanese is also a language with a limited amount of sounds,

Aware of the limitations of language in the communication process, my efforts have been focused on the understanding of Japanese, Chinese and other Asians.

Anyhow, I am taking my best efforts to speak their language.

Thank you very much for your attention

My Best Regards

Paulo Vieira