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Uchi-soto

Uchi-soto is a term in the Japanese language used to refer to the distinction between in-groups (uchi, "inside") and out-groups (soto, "outside"). This distinction between groups is considered a fundamental part of Japanese social custom.

The basic concept revolves around dividing people into in-groups and out-groups. When talking to someone from an out-group, the out-group must be honored, and the in-group should be humbled. This is done with features of the Japanese language, which conjugates verbs based on both tense and politeness. It also may includes social concepts such as gift giving or serving. The uchi-soto relationship can lead to someone making great personal sacrifices to honor a visitor or other person in an out-group.

One of the complexities of the uchi-soto relationship lies in the fact that the groups are not static. A typical example centers around the workplace. If you are a middle manager, then the employees below you are in your in-group, and may be spoken to using casual speech, while your bosses are in an out-group, and must be spoken to politely. However, when speaking to a subordinate about their family, the family, which is a closer group to the person than his company, becomes his in-group, and this he becomes a part of a new group, which you are not a part of. Therefore, even when speaking to a subordinate, you would speak of their family politely to indicate that they are a more tightly bound group than the company you belong to.

Likewise, when dealing with another company, your own company would become its own in-group, and the other company is the out-group. Thus, it is acceptable to talk about your own company, even your bosses, who you would normally refer to politely, in casual speech. This emphasizes that you are all one group, and although that group may have subdivisions inside of itself, it is still a smaller group than a group which both companies might belong to.

In a Japanese home, for instance, the father normally takes a bath first, to take advantage of the hot water, and the rest of the family follows in order of seniority. A visitor of the home, however, would be offered the bath first in order to honor them. Likewise, an overnight guest (assuming a non-casual situation) would be offered the best sleeping arrangements, even if this would greatly inconvenience the rest of the family. While Westerners, who are used to refusing such offerings out of modesty, may be uncomfortable with such generosity, to decline would be potentially insulting to the Japanese family.

Language examples

Japanese nouns can take the honorific prefixes o- and go-. (O- is used for Japanese-derived pronunciations, and go- is used for Chinese-derived pronunciations.)

• Some nouns are almost permanently tied with their honorific prefixes, and sometimes are never used without it.
  • These are sometimes things which date back to ancient China, and were of great importance to the culture. Examples: o-cha (tea); go-han (rice, and by extension a meal)
  • They may also be ideas or words which are not normally used in a casual context. Example: go-chuumon (your order at a restaurant)
• Many, if not most, nouns are not normally used with an honorific prefix, and would sound odd if one was applied.
• Some nouns may take the honorific prefix or not, depending on the usage.
  • Nouns which relate to other people tend to be used with or without their honorific prefixes, depending on whether it is describing an in-group or out-group. Examples: family (kazoku when applied to an in-group, go-kazoku when applied to an out-group); grandmother (baa-san / o-baa-san)
• A few nouns have entirely different forms for plain and polite speech. Examples: father (chichi in casual speech, o-tou-san in polite speech); mother (haha / o-kaa-san)

Verbs, in addition to tense, conjugate on four levels of politeness.

• The rude form has only a few forms, notable a command form. (This form is rarely used.)
• The casual form is generally used when speaking to in-group members.
• The polite form is used when speaking to out-group members.
• The honorific form is used when speaking to social superiors. A store clerk talking to a customer would also fall into this category.

The honorific form, known as