Why We Created a Gentle Japanese Music Video

The rap music video (MV) "Gentle World," released in September 2021 and themed around easy Japanese, has surpassed 30,000 views as of January 2022. It has been watched by many people.

Easy Japanese refers to Japanese that has been adjusted in vocabulary and grammar for people who have some difficulty communicating in Japanese, such as foreigners for whom Japanese is not their native language.

This MV was created in collaboration with Professor Keizo Yamawaki of Meiji University's School of Global Japanese Studies, who is involved in the 'Easy Japanese Tourism Research Group' project of Dentsu Inc. Diversity Lab. It was produced together with students from Professor Yamawaki's seminar, who are studying multicultural coexistence. The rap expresses the difficulties of learning Japanese and the challenges of communicating with Japanese people, conveying a message about overcoming language barriers with easy Japanese and a gentle heart.

In our previous article, we spoke with members involved in writing the lyrics for this MV. This time, we report on an online seminar hosted by Professor Yamawaki in November 2021. Participants, including students and others involved in the MV production, shared their thoughts.

We want you to know the feelings of those involved and the "Scissors Principle"

The first speaker was Mr. Akira Yoshikai from Dentsu Inc. Diversity Lab, the project's initiator and the MV's producer. He also serves as the representative of the Gentle Japanese Tourism Research Group, working to promote gentle Japanese. During the webinar, he discussed the background and objectives that led to the MV's creation.

"We've undertaken various initiatives to raise awareness of easy Japanese. While considering our next project, the pandemic led me to work from home, where I began listening to diverse music during work hours. That's when I thought: what if we expressed easy Japanese through rap? Hip-hop is music that conveys feelings to listeners by setting lyrics to a steady rhythm. I thought this was perfect. I wanted to incorporate the feelings of various people struggling with Japanese communication, so I consulted Professor Yamawaki, who works toward realizing a multicultural society. That's how the project started."

The goal for this music video was to candidly express the "feelings about Japanese" held by non-native speakers. "Students from Professor Yamawaki's seminar conducted interviews to understand the specific struggles foreigners living in Japan face with Japanese. We also received cooperation from international students at the East West Japanese Language School in Tokyo for the interviews."

Mr. Yoshikai stated that another goal of the MV was to convey the "Scissors Rule," a method for simplified Japanese. "The 'Scissors Rule' consists of three principles: speak clearly, finish what you say, and keep it short. These are guidelines for speaking Japanese to foreigners, and we named it 'Scissors' using the initial letters of each principle (see the article introducing the Scissors Rule here ). The Scissors Rule is incorporated into the first verse lyrics. In the second verse lyrics, we included the message that things that cannot be solved with words should be overcome with a gentle heart."

Reflections from the students involved in the MV production

Next, two male students from the Yamawaki Seminar and one female student from Syria, who were involved in creating the lyrics and appeared in the MV, shared their memorable experiences.

The lyrics were created by interviewing students at East West Japanese Language School and reflecting on their regular seminar classes. Regarding the challenges of writing lyrics, they mentioned, "Considering the communication struggles foreigners face with Japanese and then brainstorming about 100 rap phrases from various angles was the most difficult part." Still, it seems this was undoubtedly a valuable experience for the students.

The students cited the following lyrics as particularly memorable: "If you spoke slowly, I could understand, but you always rush ahead when you talk," and "I want a close relationship, I just want us to get along." Through these lyrics, they said they were reminded of things to be mindful of when speaking with foreigners and the difficulties of communication. One female student also shared, "The line 'How can you tell transitive from intransitive verbs?' really stuck with me." She said it resonated with her own struggles learning Japanese and made her appreciate the importance of simplified Japanese.

Regarding the recording, some shared, "It was my first time, so I was nervous," while others expressed, "I was anxious about whether I could truly convey the feelings of those directly involved through song." They explained that they approached the task consciously, focusing not just on singing, but on the technique of singing with genuine emotion.

Finally, the students shared passionate messages: "Since it's on YouTube for anyone to see, we want to spread it to as many people as possible," and "We hope this music video sparks interest in easy Japanese and a multicultural society."

"Yasashii Sekai" from a Japanese Language Education Expert's Perspective

Students from East West Japanese Language School also participated in the MV production. Mr. Yoshikai sought the cooperation of Ms. Kazuko Shimada, Representative Director of the General Incorporated Association A-Class Japanese Language Education Research Institute. Ms. Shimada, a leading authority in Japanese language education, previously served as Vice Principal at East West Japanese Language School. This connection facilitated the collaboration with the students. In this session, she spoke about the thoughts embedded in the MV under the theme "Yasashii Sekai from the Perspective of Japanese Language Education."

"For us native Japanese speakers, Japanese is like the air we breathe. Precisely because of this, I believe there are many aspects that become invisible—such as the Japanese language and communication barriers that foreigners find difficult. 'Yasashii Sekai' incorporates many voices and examples from those directly affected. It's crucial for the majority, native Japanese speakers, to recognize this perspective. In other words, this MV holds significant meaning even from the viewpoint of Japanese language education. Furthermore, 'easy Japanese' carries not only the meaning of 'simple' but also 'consideration for others'. With 'Yasashii Sekai', we also wanted to convey that sentiment to many people."

The lyrics actually depict a hospital scene where a child explains their medical condition for their parent who doesn't speak Japanese. Shimada states, "I want people to know such realities exist and understand that various efforts are needed to realize a multicultural society."

"I believe a world overflowing with kindness stems from each person sincerely engaging with others. I hope this MV encourages everyone to reflect on themselves as Japanese speakers while also considering non-native Japanese speakers."

The Reason for the Japan Foundation's Support and the Globally Engaging "Parody Song" Project

The final speaker is Mr. Hideki Hara, Planning and Coordination Team Leader of the Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange Department at the Japan Foundation, which sponsored this MV production. He explains why they decided to sponsor it and discusses a new ongoing project.

The Japan Foundation views the cultural diversity brought by immigrants and minorities as an opportunity. It continues various activities to expand the European-originated "Intercultural City" framework, which aims to realize a multicultural society. Professor Yamawaki has been involved in these activities for over ten years.

"Until last year, I was working in Los Angeles, USA. After returning to Japan, I was thinking about what I could do with Professor Yamawaki's seminar when I heard about the rap project. Since we also focus on Japanese language education, I really wanted to collaborate.

Another reason I decided to sponsor this project was that I was deeply drawn to the phrase 'Let's create a world overflowing with kindness' in the lyrics. When I lived in Los Angeles, it was also the time when the 'Black Lives Matter' movement was being strongly voiced, and 2021 saw significant changes in the situation in Afghanistan. Seeing these circumstances, I felt this was by no means just a Japanese language issue."

Driven by these sentiments, the Japan Foundation has planned a video production project involving Japanese language learners overseas and is currently accepting submissions.

"It's said there are currently about 4 million Japanese language learners worldwide. We're running a project involving people from all over the world to create original 'parody song videos'. This initiative invites learners to rap freely about their experiences communicating in Japanese or their reasons for loving the language, then post it on YouTube or TikTok. Ultimately, we plan to select 10 entries to create a global mix video."

At the end of the session, Professor Yamawaki shared a message about future prospects.

"Thanks to the cooperation of many people, 'Yasashii Sekai' became a very high-quality music video. However, this is not the goal. What's important is how much we can spread the message of easy Japanese and the message for realizing a multicultural society, utilizing this MV, starting with the 'Parody Song Project'. While the view count has exceeded 20,000 (as of November 2021), we still want many more people to hear it. I look forward to continuing to deliver messages of multicultural coexistence around the world together with everyone."