Form and Function of Keigo in the Family Domain in the Film Tokyo Story (1953): A Sociolinguistic Approach

Authors

  • Hartati

    Linguistics Department, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta 57126, Indonesia
  • Riyadi Santoso

    Linguistics Department, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta 57126, Indonesia
  • Sumarlam

    Linguistics Department, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta 57126, Indonesia
  • Ely Triasih Rahayu

    Japanese Literature Department,Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, Purwokerto 53122, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i10.10189
Received: 25 May 2025 | Revised: 13 June 2025 | Accepted: 1 August 2025 | Published Online: 16 October 2025

Abstract

This study aims to examine the form and function of keigo in the family domain in the film Tokyo Story (1953) through a sociolinguistic approach. Using a descriptive method, this study aims to describe the variety of respectful language (keigo) found in family genre films in the film Tokyo Story which represent the conditions of keigo use associated with social factors in society in the Showa era. This study also classifies keigo expressions according to their types and meanings, and analyzes the use of keigo during that period, to see the shifts and factors that influence the shifts to then be analyzed holistically through a sociolinguistic approach. By comparing the differences and similarities in the use of keigo in two different time periods, namely the post-war era in Japan (1953) and the modern era of Japan (2019), this study constructs an understanding of how keigo reflects social relations, hierarchies, and family values ​​in Japanese society. The results of the study show that the use of keigo in the films Tokyo Story (1953) reflects significant differences in form and function influenced by social changes in Japanese society between the Showa era. In Tokyo Story, the dominant use of sonkeigo (respectful language) and kenjougo (derogatory language) is found, especially in interactions between children and parents. Examples include the use of forms such as gozaimasu, itadakimasu, and irasshaimasu by children to their parents. In the Showa era, the function of keigo was more as a tool to uphold social norms and family hierarchy. In Tokyo Story, keigo becomes a means of expressing strong respect for parental authority, even when emotional relationships seem strained.

Keywords:

Keigo; Film; Sociolinguistic; Japanese Society; Social Relations; Family

References

[1] de, Sachiko. 1992. Japanese Sociolinguistics: Politeness and Honorifics. In: Watts, R.J., Ide, S., Ehlich, K. (eds.), Politeness in Language: Studies in its History, Theory and Practice. Mouton de Gruyter: New York, NY, USA. pp. 281–300.

[2] Wetzel, P.J., 2004. Keigo in Modern Japan: Polite Language from Meiji to the Present. University of Hawaii Press: Honolulu, HI, USA.

[3] Sapir, E., 1929. The Status of Linguistics as a Science. Language. 5(4), 207–214. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/409588

[4] Kabaya, H., 2010. Honorific Communication. Asakura Shoten: Tokyo, Japan. (in Japanese)

[5] Özşen, A., Özbek, T., Kawamoto, K., 2016. Use of keigo and situational factors. In: Özşen, A., Özbek, T., Kawamoto, K. (eds.). New Approaches to Japanese Language and Culture Education Research, JDI Series II. Paradigma Akademi: Çanakkale, Turkey. (in Turkish)

[6] Jansson, S., 2011. Keigo, Japanese polite language: a linguistic historical journey between Meiji and Heisei [Master’s Thesis]. Lund University: Lund, Sweden. (in Swedish)

[7] Pizziconi, B., 2004. Japanese politeness in the work of Fujio Minami. Linguistics. 13, 269–280. Available from: http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/54/ (cited 19 May 2025)

[8] Carroll, T., 2005. Beyond keigo: Smooth communication and the expression of respect in Japanese as a foreign language. International Journal of Social Language. 175–176. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.2005.2005.175-176.233

[9] Takekuro, M., 2006. From Keigo ‘Honorifics’ to Keii-Hyougen ‘Respect Expressions’: Linguistic Ideologies of Japanese Honorifics. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society. 32(1), 401.

[10] Rahayu, E.T., 2013. The system and function of Japanese speech levels in the office domain [Master’s Thesis]. Universitas Sebelas Maret: Surakarta, Indonesia. (in Indonesian)

[11] Fadhillah, Y., 2020. A sociolinguistic analysis of Japanese politeness in Keigo Higashino's 2013 film Galileo. Japanese Research in Linguistics, Literature and Culture. 2(2), 108–125. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33633/jr.v2i2.3993

[12] Andriyani, D.A.D., Djatmika, D., Sumarlam, S., et al., 2019. Cross-Cultural Influence of Keigo Respect Levels through Social Media between Driver Guides and Japanese Tourists in Bali. Mozaik Humaniora. 19(1), 1–7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20473/mozaik.v19i1.11976 (in Indonesian)

[13] Kusumarini, I., 2022. Linguistic Politeness Scores of Japanese Speech by Hotel Staff in Bali. Lacultour Journal of Language, Culture and Tourism. 1(1), 28–29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52352/lacultour.v1i1.737 (in Indonesian)

[14] Moeran, B., 1983. The language of Japanese tourism. Annals of Tourism Research. 10(1), 93–108. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-7383(83)90117-2

[15] Yoshida, M., Sakurai, C., 2005. Japanese honorifics as a marker of sociocultural identity: A view from non-western perspectives. In: Lakof, R.T., Ide, S. (eds.). Broadening the Horizon of Linguistic Politeness. Pragmatics & Beyond New Series. 139, 197–215. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.139.18yos

[16] Kishimoto, H., 2010. Honorific agreement in Japanese. Canadian Journal of Linguistics / La Revue Canadienne de Linguistique. 55(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/cjl.2010.0015

[17] Wetzel, P., 1994. Contemporary Japanese attitudes toward honorifics (Keigo). Language Variation and Change. 6(2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954394500001617

[18] Matsuoka, M., 2020. The impact of United States of America college education on the Japanese students’ keigo towards their senpai [Master’s Thesis]. Minnesota State University: Mankato, MN, USA. Available from: https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds/953/ (cited 19 May 2025)

[19] Arakaki, T., 2023. Promoting the use of Okinawan by new speakers: An analysis of honorific choices in the family domain. Languages. 8(1), 12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8010012

[20] Derible, A., 2024. Gender- and age-related constraints in Japanese politeness marking: A statistical analysis of the Tokyo Story characters’ usage of keigo. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30560/ilr.v7n2p13

[21] Fernandes, C.G., Assunção, 2018. First grammatical encoding of Japanese politeness (17th century). Ciencias Humanas. 13(1), 187–203.

[22] Prahesti, N.Y., 2020. Analysis of the use of keigo in the drama in Autumn Kounodori Season 1. Chi’e Journal of Japanese Learning and Teaching. 8(1), 10–17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15294/chie.v8i1.36924 (in Indonesian)

[23] Izotova, N.N., 2020. The Peculiarities of Japanese Periodisation: A New Era of Reiwa. Concept, Philosophy, Religion and Culture. 4(3), 128–136. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24833/2541-8831-2020-3-15-128-136

[24] Park, J., 2019. What’s in a name? Reiwa reflects today’s politics, Japan’s cultural history, and social philosophy. Journal of Modern Japanese Studies. 45(2), 123–145. Available from: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/04/02/national/politics-diplomacy/whats-name-reiwa-reflects-todays-politics-japans-cultural-history-social-philosophy/ (cited 19 May 2025)

[25] Chang, T., Rasyid, Y., Boeriswati, E., 2018. Similarities and Differences of Honorific Systems Between Indonesian and Korean Languages. Indonesian Language Education and Literature. 3(2), 212. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24235/ileal.v3i2.2470

[26] Kabaya, H., 2006. A Study of Honorific and Plain Forms in Family Discourse: Focusing on the Speech of Parents. Journal of Japanese Linguistics. 25 (13), 56–70. (in Japanese)

[27] Kaneko, H., 2010. Nihongo Keigo Toreeningu, 1st ed. PT Ask: Tokyo, Japan. (in Japanese)

[28] Barešova, I., 2015. On the categorization of the Japanese honorific system Keigo. Topics in Linguistics. 15(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/topling-2015-0001

[29] Sari, T.I., P., C.D., Kastuti, 2023. Keigo learning in building omotenashi no kokoro through a communicative language teaching approach. Japanese Research in Linguistics, Literature and Culture. 5(2), 110–117. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33633/jr.v5i2.8432

[30] Maruki, Y., 2022. Keigo to use and to be used: Reevaluation of keigo learning in Japanese language classes. Journal of Japanese Language Education and Linguistics. 6(2), 142–153. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18196/jjlel.v6i2.14874

[31] Dewi, R., 2022. Prokem Language in Facebook Social Media: a Sosiolinguistic Review. Ethical Linguistics. 9(1). Available from: https://ethicallingua.org/25409190/article/download/377/223/ (cited 19 May 2025)

[32] Rajend, M., Swann, J., Deumert, A., et al., 2009. Introducing Sociolinguistics, 2nd ed. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, UK.

[33] Dittmar, Norbert, Sand, P., et al. (trans)., 1976. Sociolinguistics: A Critical Survey of Theory and Application. Edward Arnold: London, UK.

[34] Rahayu, E.T., 2017. Sonkeigo Expressions in Japanese Translation of the Quran. Madania Journal of Islamic Studies. 21(2), 145–156. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29300/madania.v21i2.605

[35] Hall, S. (ed.)., 1997. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. Sage & Open University: London, UK.

[36] Barthes, R., 1977. Heath, S., (trans. & eds.). Image, Music, Text. Fontana Press: London, UK.

[37] Santosa, R., 2021. Fundamentals of Linguistics Research Method. UNS Press: Surakarta, Indonesia. (in Indonesian)

[38] Wattles, I., Radic-Bojanić, I., 2007. The Analysis of an Online Debate — The Systemic Functional Grammar Approach. Facta Universitatis, Series: Linguistics and Literature. 5(1), 47–58.

[39] Goetz, M.D., LeCompte, J.P., 1984. Ethnography and qualitative design in educational research, 2nd ed. Academic Press: Orlando, FL, USA.

Downloads

How to Cite

Hartati, Santoso, R., Sumarlam, & Rahayu, E. . T. (2025). Form and Function of Keigo in the Family Domain in the Film Tokyo Story (1953): A Sociolinguistic Approach. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(10), 1422–1437. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i10.10189

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 10 (October 2025)

Article Type

Article

License

Copyright © 2025 Hartati, Riyadi Santoso, Sumarlam, Ely Triasih Rahayu

Creative Commons License

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.