Earticle

This paper investigates the polysemy of the Japanese adverb “sugu” by analyzing it not merely as an isolated lexical item but within its modifier–head relations (hereafter, the sugu-construction). Previous accounts typically treat sugu as primarily meaning “in a short time” and derive the “easy” interpretation directly from a short time. However, this study questions that mechanical linkage and further argues for a possible repetitive reading, such as “repeatedly” or “frequent occurrence.” This paper defines the core meaning of sugu as proximity, namely a state in which temporal, physical, or speaker’s cognitive distance between entities are virtually absent. This paper proposes that this notion of proximity can be projected onto different dimensions of an event―closeness in time (duration), minimal triggering conditions (difficulty), and high event density between occurrences (frequency). To examine which reading is preferentially selected, a questionnaire survey was conducted among 130 university students (mid-December 2025) using identical affirmative sentences. The results indicate that the duration reading is favored with non-volitional verbs of change of state, the difficulty reading with intentional action verbs, and the frequency reading in contexts that encourage habitual interpretation, such as topic-marked sentences. An additional survey with 103 participants (mid-January 2026) examined negative sugu-constructions. The findings show that negation does not simply invert meaning. Rather, it consistently strengthens the time-delay interpretation (“not immediately”) and often increases the frequency reading through habitual negation, while the difficulty reading varies according to verb type. These results demonstrate that sugu is not a fixed temporal adverb but a polysemous modifier whose interpretation is dynamically shaped by the interaction between its core meaning of proximity and constructional factors such as lexical aspect, intentionality, sentence structure, and polarity.

本稿は、副詞｢すぐ｣の多義性を、語の意味だけでなく修飾関係(｢すぐ｣構文)の中で捉え直し、各読みがどのように選好されるか(読みの偏り)を明らかにすることを目的とする。従来、｢すぐ｣は｢短い時間で｣を中心義として、｢簡単に｣などへ拡張すると説明されることが多い。しかし本稿は、｢短時間｣から機械的に｢容易｣を導く見方に疑問を呈し、さらに｢何度も｣という反復的読みが成立する可能性も指摘する。 そこで本稿では、｢すぐ｣の本義を｢対象間の時間的･物理的･認知的間隔がほぼなく近接していること｣と定義し、この｢近接｣性が、成立時点の近さ(時間)、きっかけの小ささ(難易度)、蓄積する出来事間の間隔の小ささ(高頻度／回数)といった複数の側面に投影されることで、多様な読みが生じると仮定する。 大学生130名を対象とする質問紙調査(2025年12月中旬)の結果、肯定の｢すぐ｣構文では、非意志的な状態変化動詞において時間読みが優勢となり、意志的行為動詞において難易度読みが優勢となることが示された。また、主題提示などにより習慣的解釈が促される文脈では、回数読みが高まることも確認された。 さらに、同一グループの協力者103名による追加の質問用紙調査(2026年1月中旬)において否定の｢すぐ｣構文を検討した結果、否定は意味を単純に反転させるのではなく、｢すぐには起こらない｣という時間的遅延の読みを一貫して強めることが明らかになった。また、習慣否定として回数読みも上昇する一方、難易度読みは動詞タイプによって増減が分かれることが確認された。 以上より、副詞｢すぐ｣は固定的な時間副詞ではなく、中心義としての｢近接｣性を基盤に、動詞の語彙的アスペクトや意志性、文型、肯否といった構文環境との相互作用のもとで解釈が動的に定まる多義的修飾要素であることを示した。

This paper examines the use of sa that co-occurs with conjunctive particles and reportative forms, as in examples such as Saki ni kaeru kara sa “I’ll head home first, you know,” and Raishū tesuto ga arun da tte sa “I heard there’s a test next week.” At the discourse level, these instances of sa follow complete and sufficient utterances and function as markers of the speaker’s stance toward the addressee; in this respect, they can be regarded as sentence-final–particle–like. By using this sentence-final sa, the speaker displays an orientation toward sharing the propositional content with the addressee while refraining from imposing it, thereby leaving acceptance to the listener. This sentence-final sa differs from the traditional sentence-final particle sa, which attaches to predicates in their terminal form, in terms of constraints on the speaker’s gender, optionality of use, and the presence or absence of the sense of obviousness conventionally associated with sa.

This paper clarifies the criteria for differentiating between the verbs shiraseru and tsutaeru by analyzing the nouns marked by the object particle o that co-occur with these verbs in the Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese (BCCWJ) and subsequently comparing their respective usage patterns. The findings are summarized as follows: Shiraseru: This verb is employed when an actor prompts a recipient to recognize the occurrence or existence of a specific event or phenomenon through verbal or non-verbal means, such as sounds, light, or vibrations. Tsutaeru: This verb is used when an actor provides information to a recipient by explaining, depicting, or expressing certain content via verbal discourse or creative works.

This study analyzes the pragmatic functions of second-person pronouns in Japanese print advertisements (2000–2023), focusing on the correlation between referents and sentence-final expressions. Referents are categorized into: (1) Unspecified Masses, (2) Specific Groups, and (3) Imaginary Recipients. The results show that lexical choice varies significantly by category. While anata serves as the standard for universal appeal, pronouns like kimi and omae are used strategically to modulate interpersonal distance. Notably, within the “Imaginary Recipients” category, although the number of cases is limited, omae was found to be a relatively prominent choice. This suggests that fictional contexts may relax social norms, enabling a more dramatic and emotional mode of address that functions as a narrative device. Regarding sentence-final forms, interrogatives are frequently used to heighten “self-relevance.” Furthermore, the complete absence of hortatory or imperative forms (0 cases) among imaginary recipients suggests a strategy of fostering indirect empathy through narrative rather than direct solicitation. This research demonstrates that second-person pronouns in advertising function as sophisticated “pragmatic strategies” tailored to specific communicative goals.

In Japanese conversation, questions can appear in two forms: a complete sentence (完全文) in which the predicate is fully expressed, such as ｢お名前は何ですか｣, and an incomplete form (中途終了型) in which the predicate is omitted, such as ｢お名前は?｣. The choice between these forms is assumed to vary depending on the content of the question and the conversational context. Based on this perspective, this study analyzes first-encounter Japanese conversation data to clarify the characteristics of incomplete-form questions. Section 4.1 examines what types of questions tend to appear in the incomplete form. The analysis shows that such questions frequently occur when asking about personal attributes, as well as when inquiring about the interlocutor’s intentions. These findings suggest that the incomplete form functions to avoid overly direct questioning and to show consideration when approaching the interlocutor’s private domain. In addition, utterances requesting more specific information related to a preceding question are often produced in the incomplete form, indicating that it serves as an interactional resource for gradually specifying information within a question–answer sequence. Section 4.2 analyzes conversational cases in which speakers first present an utterance in the incomplete form and then complete the question after receiving the interlocutor’s response. This suggests that incomplete-form questions may appear as one stage in the interactive construction of questions in conversation. Section 4.3 examines cases in which highly intrusive questions are expressed in the complete-sentence form. Even in these cases, the sensitivity of the question is conveyed through other means, such as the process of utterance construction and prosodic features, which display consideration toward the interlocutor.

This study examines pronunciation instruction in the “Speaking” component of the 2022 Revised Curriculum for Japanese language education. As the 2022 Revised Curriculum will be implemented in schools from 2025, issues related to Japanese-language teaching materials have not yet been fully reported. Therefore, this paper analyzes seven types of high-school Japanese textbooks that apply the 2022 Revised Curriculum, focusing specifically on pronunciation instruction. The analysis reveals two categories of textbooks: those that include explanations of pronunciation principles and those that do not. The latter was found to align more closely with the instructional guidelines of the 2022 Revised Curriculum. Furthermore, it became evident that intonation instruction—explicitly stated in the achievement standards of the curriculum—is absent in all seven textbooks, indicating a major area requiring improvement. Among the analyzed materials, three textbooks (“Neungyule,” “Gilbut,” and “Siwon”) were identified as most appropriate for promoting student self-reflection and inductive learning, both of which are emphasized in the 2022 Revised Curriculum.

This study investigates Korean and Japanese positive response particles, analyzing both propositional functions (responses to calls, questions, and acceptance of proposals or suggestions) and discourse functions (conversation facilitation, topic transition, emotional response, recognition, etc.). The results indicate that Japanese hai and ee are not merely honorific variants but have functional constraints: hai is used in formal or imperative contexts, whereas ee appears only in contexts allowing the listener’s autonomous judgment. In contrast, Korean ne, ye, and gure are more freely used across various contexts, with gure showing non-honorific functional similarity. In situations such as expressing gratitude, apology, or praise, Japanese uses negative response forms to convey humility and mitigate responsibility, while Korean uses positive responses to indicate acknowledgment and acceptance. This study classifies positive responses into receptive, connective, and progressive functions and highlights the shared universal functions and language-specific distinctions of positive response particles, confirming their crucial role in speaker interaction and discourse organization.

本研究は、韓国語と日本語における肯定応答形式を対象とし、命題機能(呼びかけ･質問への応答、提案･勧誘の受諾など)と談話機能(会話の促進、話題転換、情動的応答、認知表示など)の両面から分析を行った。 その結果、日本語の｢はい｣と｢ええ｣は単なる敬語的な異形ではなく、機能的制約を有することが明らかとなった。｢はい｣はフォーマルな場面や命令･指示的文脈で用いられるのに対し、｢ええ｣は聞き手の自律的判断が許容される文脈に限定して現れる。 一方、韓国語の｢ne｣｢ye｣｢gure｣は多様な文脈においてより自由に使用され、｢gure｣は非敬語的な機能的類似性を示すことが確認された。 さらに、感謝･謝罪･称賛などの場面においては、日本語では否定応答形式を用いることで謙遜や責任回避を表すのに対し、韓国語では肯定応答を用いて認知や受容を示す傾向が見られる。本研究は肯定応答を受容的機能、連結的機能、進行的機能に分類し、その結果、肯定応答形式が持つ普遍的機能と個別言語的差異を明らかにするとともに、これらが話者間相互作用および談話構造の形成において重要な役割を果たしていることを示した。

This study compares advertisements of Korean food brands in Korea and Japan in the context of the fourth Korean Wave (Hallyu), focusing on storytelling, advertising techniques, and expressive elements. The findings are as follows. First, six major patterns were identified in advertisements targeting the Japanese market: links to K-culture, the use of Japanese wordplay, integration of food cultures, the use of characters and mascots, emphasis on Korean authenticity, and a dual strategy combining functional information with emotional appeal. Second, Japanese advertisements for Korean food brands were characterized by active wordplay, frequent use of onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions, repetition for mnemonic effect, humor, the adoption of K-cultural codes, and the use of local actors and influencers. Third, Korean advertisements were characterized by manifesto-style brand philosophy, the creation and use of neologisms and slang, narrative-driven formats, the strategic use of idols and celebrities, global orientation with code-switching, and emotionally resonant expressions rooted in everyday life. By systematically comparing advertisements for the same brands in Korea and Japan, this study shows how Korean food brands employ localization strategies in the Japanese market at the levels of language, discourse, and expressive technique. The findings offer practical implications for global marketing strategies and provide a basis for understanding differences in popular culture and communication practices between Korea and Japan.

本研究は、第4次韓流ブームという時代的文脈の中で、韓国食飲料ブランドの韓国･日本両国向け広告を、ストーリーテリング(談話戦略･談話構造)、広告表現技法、広告表現要素の三つの視点から比較･分析したものである。分析･考察の結果を要約すると以下のとおりである。 第一に、日本市場に進出した韓国食飲料広告においては、①Kカルチャー連携戦略、②日本語言葉遊びの内在化戦略、③食文化統合戦略、④キャラクター･マスコット活用戦略、⑤韓国の正統性強調戦略、⑥機能的情報と感性的共有の二重戦略という6つのパターンが確認された。 第二に、日本向け広告の特徴としては、言葉遊び(同音異義語･同音類似語)の積極的な活用、擬音語･擬態語の豊富な使用、反復による記憶への刷り込み、ユーモア表現、Kカルチャーコードの受容、現地の俳優･インフルエンサーの起用などが導出された。 第三に、韓国向け広告の特徴としては、ブランド哲学の宣言(マニフェスト型広告)、新語･スラングの創出と活用、叙事的広告の発達、アイドル･セレブリティの戦略的活用、グローバル志向とコード･スイッチング、感性的共感と日常密着などが見られた。 本研究を通じて、同一ブランドの日韓両国向け広告を体系的に比較･分析することにより、韓国食飲料ブランドが日本市場においていかにローカライゼーション戦略を展開しているかを、言語･談話･表現技法の次元から具体的に明らかにした。また、第4次韓流ブームが単なるエンターテインメント消費を超え、食飲料ブランドの日本市場参入のための文化的足がかりとなっていることを実証的に示した点においても意義があると言えよう。

This article examines the representation of Korea in the special war supplements of Fūzoku Gahō, Japan’s earliest illustrated magazine, during the Sino-Japanese War (1894~1895). It argues that the transition from Nisshin Sensō Zue to Seishin Zue marked a structural shift from sequential battle reportage to a retrospective narrative framing that positioned the war as historically grounded and inevitable. Through the concept of “unfinished dream” (Zanmu), earlier political crises—particularly the 1884 Gapsin Coup—were reinterpreted not as concluded events but as unresolved conditions extending into the present, allowing the war to be cast as the completion of an unfinished past. At the same time, visual strategies derived from the Japanese tradition of Meisho-e (illustrations of famous places) were extended to Seoul, reorganizing it from a site of military action into a legible and ordered urban landscape through changes in scale, framing, and editorial juxtaposition. By foregrounding these spatio-temporal reconfigurations, this study suggests that illustrated magazines in modern Japan did not simply report wartime events but actively shaped narrative continuity and spatial intelligibility, integrating foreign space and historical memory into an emerging imperial visual order.

In this paper, based on the results of my previous articles, I have attempted to derive the style of Ichiba Tsusho by taking up Tsusho’s three works ①“Hideriame- kitsuneno-yomeiri”, ③“Chinno Yomeiri”, and ④“Saruokosama-onnozominichuki- nekonoyomeiri” in the genealogy of intermarriage of different kinds of marriage stories and two works ⑮“Hideriame-kitsuneno-yomeiri” and ⑯“Oborozuki- nekonoyomeiri” by Nansensho Somahito and discussing their interrelationships. I first focused on ③ and then took up ④ for comparison. As a result, I concluded that the former was unique and the latter was universal as a marriage stories. It is because of this individuality that Ota Nanpo appreciated ③, and no other author, including Tsusho himself, has been able to carry on the style of ③ since then. The special ideaｓ attempted in ③ is all but eliminated in ④, and the universal ideaｓ of ④ is carried over as the authority for the Somahito’s ⑯. In addition, in Tsusho’s maiden work ①, there are many creative scenes that have nothing to do with traditional wedding ceremonies, and this tendency deepens further in ③, Tsusyo’s second novel about the different kind of marriage stories. However, in ④, it was transformed into a work with universality and became a form of marriage stories from then on, and its significance in the literary history of Tsusyo’s marriage stories can be read. And Somahito, who was influenced by Tsusho’s work, had a typical image of traditional rituals, so similarities can be found in ⑮ and ⑯. However, since there is no common point in the sentence expression, it was not recognized that ⑮ and ⑯ had a rehash relationship. In the first place, wedding customs do not change so much, and it seems that the pattern is fixed, so the universal “Kusazoshi of marriage stories” continued for a long time until the early Meiji period. The beginning of that was probably provided by Tsusho’s ④.

This study posits Matsumoto Seichō’s A Woman Who Subscribes to a Local Newspaper as a seminal text of social detective fiction that perceives crime as a byproduct of social structures, analyzing the multi-layered power dynamics of the media system embedded in the work. Moving beyond conventional biographical or genre-based approaches, it aims to elucidate the mechanisms through which the media functions as an “institutional subject,” rendering the voices of the socially marginalized invisible and arbitrarily constructing reality.The analysis demonstrates the “surveillance of subscription acts,” where contractual practices like applying for a newspaper subscription paradoxically expose the user, and examines the “institutional failure of alternative utterance,” wherein the self-narratives of the marginalized—erased by official media and judicial systems—vanish without ever entering the public sphere. Furthermore, by identifying the “paradox of the circuit,” in which a critique of local newspapers is delivered through national media, the study argues how the information power of media producers is diverted into private surveillance. Ultimately, this work exposes the paradoxical situation in which the media system replaces the judiciary and explores the tragic resistance of “self- judiciary” chosen by the marginalized within institutional voids. By redefining the protagonist Yoshiko’s death not as personal moral ruin but as a “structural homicide” resulting from the sequential failures of the state, judiciary, and media, this study clarifies that the text serves as a sharp literary indictment of the contradictions in postwar Japanese society.

The concept of ‘robot’ in Korea originated with Lee Gwang-su, who introduced the content of Cha Baek’s play ‘R.U.R.’ in Japan. The term ‘robot’ was first introduced in 1923 as ‘Android Man.’ After this, Korean robots were influenced by Yoshitaro Suzuki’s translation of ‘robot’ as ‘artificial worker,’ leading to the concept of ‘robot = exploited worker.’ However, as the image of robots changes from flesh-and-blood bodies that resemble humans to mechanical bodies, the image of robots will change to what it is today: beings that free humans from labor. In the mid-1930s, as the world entered a period of war, interest in robots waned. However, Japan’s interest in robots was transformed into manga, where they became an image of justice, represented by “Astro Boy” who protects humans.

Published in 1987, Natsukashii toshi e no tegami is a literary masterpiece by Kenzaburo Oe and was one of the works cited as a reason for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The narrator engages in self-criticism regarding the act of writing political essays or related novels while unprepared as a novelist. This descriptive method was also the author’s strategy to reconstruct the consistent thematic consciousness seen in his early works. In Oé’s novels, the ‘trickster’ has functioned as an important entity for expressing grotesque realism as a ‘method of the novel.’ Just as the ‘trickster’ is an entity that dismantles the fixed order of the community and opens up new possibilities, the attempt to blur the distinction between the novel and reality and destroy boundaries can be said to be symbolically revealed in the novel through the model of the ‘destroyer,’ whose substance is unclear.　Oe is creating new peripheral characters and a worldview to counter the mythical nature of the Japanese imperial system.

1987年に刊行された大江健三郎の『懐かしい年への手紙』は、｢大江文学の集大成｣として認められ、ノーベル文学賞受賞理由の一つとして挙げられた作品である。この作品の語り手は、小説家としての準備ができていないにもかかわらず、政治的な評論やそれに類する小説を執筆する行為について、自己批判的な眼差しを示している。このような自作引用を用いた描写方法は、大江文学において初期作品に見られる一貫したテーマを再構築するための作者の戦略でもあった。つまり、｢戦後民主主義｣という主題を書き直す試みであったと考えられる。 大江健三郎の小説において、｢小説の方法｣として用いられた｢トリックスター｣的な人物は、グロテスクなリアリズムを表現する上で重要な役割を果たしている。｢トリックスター｣が社会の固定秩序を解体し、新たな想像力への可能性を切り開く存在であるのと同様に、小説と現実の境界を曖昧にし、境界を破壊しようとする試みといえる。このような人物描写は、不明瞭な｢破壊者｣というモデルを通して、小説の中で象徴的に表されていると言えるだろう。大江健三郎は、天皇制の神話性に対抗するために、新たなキャラクターと世界観を創造している。

This study analyzes the trajectory of spatial movement in Mishima Yukio’s literary world from the perspective of tourism theory. For Mishima, travel was not merely a physical displacement but an existential project to escape the ideological confinement of post-war Japan and to construct a new physicality and a metaphysical self. First, in Natsuko’s Adventure, this paper examines how Hokkaido is consumed as an exotic stage for a ‘staged adventure’ while its local historical context is erased. Second, A Complicated Man explores the emergence of a global subject occupying ‘non-places’ through modern air travel, capturing the narrative shift from a hedonistic tourist to a political activist through the revelation of a tattoo — MacCannell’s ‘back region’ — concealed beneath the uniform as ‘front region’. Third, in The Temple of the Dawn, it confirms that Mishima’s tourism deepens into the construction of an ‘imaginative geography’ and a ‘dark tourism’ gaze that visualizes the narrative of death and reincarnation in India and Southeast Asia. Ultimately, this research demonstrates that tourism in Mishima’s literature evolved from playful adventure to political action and metaphysical perception. This suggests his pursuit of spiritual and physical unity was embodied through mobility transcending borders, redefining the literary text as a dynamic site of cultural value.

本研究は、三島由紀夫の文学世界における空間移動の軌跡をツーリズム理論の観点から分析したものである。三島にとって旅とは、単なる物理的な移動を超え、戦後日本の観念的な閉塞性を脱却し、新たな身体性と政治的･形而上学的な自己を構築しようとする実存的な企てであった。 第一に、󰡔夏子の冒険󰡕では、北海道という異国的な空間を背景に、現地の歴史的文脈が消去されたまま｢演出された冒険｣が消費される様相を究明した。第二に、󰡔複雑な彼󰡕では、航空移動という現代的なツーリズムを通じて｢非場所(non-place)｣を占有するグローバルな主体を考察するとともに、制服(前面)の下に隠された刺青(背面)の暴露を通じて、遊戯的な観光客が政治的な行動家へと変貌する物語構造上の転換を捉えた。第三に、󰡔暁の寺󰡕に至り、三島のツーリズムはインドと東南アジアを舞台に死と輪廻の物語を視覚化する｢心象地理｣の構築と｢ダーク･ツーリズム｣的な視線へと深化していったことを確認した。 結論として、三島文学におけるツーリズムの層位は、遊戯的な冒険から政治的行動、そして形而上学的な認識へと変容していった。これは三島が追求した｢精神と肉体の合一｣が、国境を越える移動の感覚を通じて具体化されたことを示唆しており、三島文学が持つ文化的･観光的価値を再発見する理論的･方法論的土台を提示した。