Languages evolve constantly. I’ve discussed this evolution in past articles – e.g., the drift from “nippon” to “nihon” for the name of Japan. Many times, this influence is just a natural, internal progression. But sometimes, it happens through outside influence or even force.
In Japan, one story about a supposed forced change in the way that people spell a simple Japanese word recently made the rounds on Twitter. However, in this case, the “change” appears to be nothing more than a post-World War II conspiracy theory.
There’s No 和 in “I”
The word in question is 私 (watashi), or “I”. There are several ways to say “I” in Japanese. But Watashi is probably the most universal expression, as it crosses genders and satisfies a minimal level of politeness.
But, some people say, it wasn’t always spelled with this one simple kanji. They maintain that, before World War II, it was spelled 和多志 – a fearful amalgam of three separate kanji. That’s a lot of ideographs for a simple concept!
Twitter user @yoppymodel kicked off a long discussion thread with this observation about how he’d discovered that some people wanted to “revert” to the three-kanji spelling. They argue that the General Headquarters of the Allied Occupation post-World War II made Japan change the spelling:
“‘私 used to be spelled 和多志 before GHQ made us change it. Let’s revert to the previous spelling!”
…I don’t get this campaign at all. If you search Twitter for 和多志, you’ll find a lot of these people and will get a taste of what it feels like to open Pandora’s Box.
A Made-Up Theory In Defense of the Three-Kanji Compound
Other users replied and noted that it’s not just on Twitter. Search Google and you’ll find a series of posts from people defending this reversion.
Naturally, since I don’t know any better, I did just that. The first search result is from a “self-development” blogger who’s converted to this new religion. They argue that 私 is rooted in individualism, whereas 和多志 means “the harmonizing of many wills” (Japanese: 多くの志を和す).
The writer in question also quotes another blog (since deleted) with a long-winded explanation in defense of reverting several kanji to their pre-GHQ state. The explanation is mostly gobbledygook about how words can “change” the body at the cellular level – and how the image the words conjure is a part of that.
“An Easily-Dispelled Lie”
"Why spread a lie that's easily dispelled by going to the library and looking at books published before the War?" Click To TweetThis story definitely has all the hallmarks of a nationalist conspiracy theory – innocent Japanese losing the “true meaning” of a critical word due to the nefarious interference of foreign occupiers.
And like all conspiracy theories, it appears to be based in nothing but someone’s vivid imagination.
Commenters on @yoppymodel’s thread note that this kanji compound doesn’t actually occur in any pre-World War II books or newspapers. As one Twitter user put it, “Why spread a lie that’s easily dispelled by going to the library and looking at books published before the War?” Others pointed out that a simple search of Aozora Bunko, an online archive of Japanese books that are now in the public domain and thus contain many pre-World War II works, easily shows that this claim is total bunk.
Others remark how this lie is just linguistically not plausible either. The kanji 私 was originally pronounced watakushi (and is still pronounced that way in more formal/humble speech). Watashi is a contraction of that.
Finally, yet another user notes that there’s another recent trend that debunks this theory. The Edo-era mythical beast Amabie has become popular this year as drawing her is said to ward off plague and disease. And as one eagle-eyed user notes, the original document depicting Amabie has her introducing herself as 私.
However, Japanese users note, there is a form of “I” that has actually gone extinct. The word 吾輩 (wagahai) figures into the title of a book by one of Japan’s most famous authors, Natsume Soseki (吾輩は猫である; I Am a Cat). The pronoun is hardly used anymore except as a play on the title of Natsume’s book.
Mysterious Origins
So where did this theory come from? And why is it so popular?
I was unable to dig too deeply into the history behind it. All I can tell is that it appears to be a popular theory with people who believe…other conspiracy theories. As one user noted, many of the people using this monstrous kanji compound unironically also appear to be anti-vaccination, Trump supporters, COVID-19 deniers, or a combination thereof.
As someone who’s been online for 28 years, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that some people will believe anything that’s published on the Internet.
