Reexamining the notion of negative face in the Japanese Socio linguistic politeness of request

This paper reconsiders Brown and Levinson’s universal theory of linguistic politeness and subsequent cross-cultural critiques, and highlights the challenges and insights of its pragmatic application in the Japanese discourse context. Through quantitative and qualitative analyses among native Japanese-speakers and native English-speakers, this paper utilizes Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory as a “heuristic device” to analyze localized conceptions, actualizations, and interpretations of requesting. By closely reexamining the notion of negative face, I explore intersubjective processes and local ideologies embedded in face-work, including “trouble” (meiwaku) and “social maturity” (shakaijin), that reveal the cultural ideation of politeness, namely the socio linguistic politeness of the Japanese context.