Verbal Communication
Calling
by Lana
“Onee-san, What are you doing right now?”
It was around 8:30 p.m. when one of the scouts approached me standing in front of a convenience store called LAWSON near Hanamichi Street in Kabuki-cho.
“Hey Onee-san, can you hear me?”
After a while I left the place without saying a word.
🪄The magical word, “Onee-san (お姉さん)”🪄
In Kabuki-cho, you would often hear urbanites calling female pedestrians “Onee-san.”
What does “Onee-san” mean?
⬆️It typically consists these 4 meanings (RomajiDesu, 2022).
Becuase it is normal to hear this term in Kabuki-cho, we do not realize its significance and connotations behind this term.
Various cultural concepts and societal stereotypes are attached to the term, giving different impressions on the targets.
Although there is a clear main reason for the scouts to use this term in the process of persuasion, the different effects play as an escape route in case the persuasion do not go as intended for them.
Why is it important to observe the different connotative meanings of the term?
Understanding the connotations behind the term will allow us to grasp the intended role/character they are attempting to portray.
“… society becomes a theater in which all are actors engaged in a perpetual play (Goffman, 1956).”
As Goffman states, scouts become an actor in which they play a role of “scout” to fit into the Kabukicho society and to live their lives.
However, it is not as simple.They also have to display different kinds of roles and personalities depending on the targets they face in everyday life. A single term, “Onee-san” embodies and introduces the different kinds of roles the scouts display. We will explore the connotations of the term to observe these different roles they are playing.
Let’s observe the different connotations the term holds and analyze how the scouts utilize them!
1. Neutral
Onee-san is not a term that is only used in Kabuki-cho. There are many scenes where we hear in our daily lives. For example, you might overhear two female friends chatting in a cafe about a beautiful woman sitting across from them.
“Look, that Onee-san is so pretty.”
It is a useful term in a situation where people are complete strangers before an introduction or encounter. In Japanese society, “Onee-san” is used to refer a women who is unknown to the addresser. In the case of Kabuki-cho, the term is also used among strangers.
Why use this term?
Looking at the streets of Kabuki-cho, you see a range of female pedestrians. Some seem to be in their teenage years, some seem to be in their 20s to 30s, and some seems to be much older than the others.
“Onee-san” is a useful term for scouts that does not offend any age range of them.
It avoids creating any type of negative feelings towards the scouts. It has a neutral connotation where it is neither positive or negative in this sense. It allows them to portray themselves as “unproblematic” or even “mannered” in some sense.
2. Compliment
Although I mentioned that a neutral connotation is attached to the term, it has a different connotation that is perceived more positively. It functions as a compliment, especially for the older targets.
What kind of female figure do you imagine?
Some might imagine their older sister, but most people would probably imagine a beautiful woman who is older, possibly in their late 20s to 30s.
(Laurier Press, 2022)
This image probably has to do with the Japanese media representation. When we look up the term on the internet, you notice that it is full of beautiful women or female anime characters.
Why do we have this image of Onee-san?
This media representation of “Onee-san” is not only in the current popular media representation, but it is in fact implemented since our childhood. The national Japanese anime, Sazae-san (サザエさん) have a character called Ukie-san. She is the Onee-san figure who is pretty, smart, and kind (Sazaesan, 2022). Sazae’s younger brother, Katsuo holds admiring feelings towards her, almost fantasizing her.
From an earlier age, Japanese citizens grow up to admire and fantasize the Onee-san figure.
(Ameba, 2011)
3. Respect
While having a positive connotation, it also creates a sense of respect for the targets. This is possible through the honorific of the term, “o (お)” and “san (さん).”
For “san (さん),” it is usually used to indicate respect for someone you are not familiar with. For example, you would frequently hear the honorific in a professional occasions such as work, part-time job, club activities, etc. between the senior-junior relationship. Therefore historically, Japan had a hierarchical system within family members.
Calling someone as “Onee-san” connotates this hierarchical system where the scouts position themselves lower than the targets to show “respect” towards the targets. Here, scouts attempt to portray themselves as a respecting figure.
4. Obligation
Calling someone with this term creates a sense of obligation because of the influence of the older sister-younger brother relationship in Japan.
The younger brother would refer his older sister as either “Onee-san” or “Onee-chan.”
It is an universal tendency that the older siblings are responsible for their younger siblings. Parents would frequently ask older siblings to take care of the younger siblings when they are busy.
Older sister is responsible over their younger siblings.
By using the term, the scouts establishes the adorable younger brother figure to make it more difficult for the targets to ignore them.
5. Platonic Familiarity
Platonic familiarity means that scouts are displaying their familiarity without any sexual intention towards targets.
When you look up the term “Onee-san” in a dictionary, the first thing to come up is that it is a term to describe your elder sister (Weblio, 2022).
The second meaning is to refer to a young lady with familiarity (Weblio, 2022). Even though there are no blood relations between the scouts and the targets, using this term allows them to become strangers from somewhat familiar strangers.
The question is
Why do scouts attempt to display platonic familiarity?
Because they are different types of targets, some are not used to the scouts and their behavior that entails sexual connotation. To prevent this image from conveying to the targets for certain targets, scouts present platonic familiarity for a harmless and gentle figure.
6. Sexual Connotation
This is the most important among all the connotations, it is necessary for the targets to understand the hidden sexual meanings behind the term to receive the message of “recruitment.”
Where does this sexual connotation come from?
The answer is simple…
MEDIA REPRESENTATION
Behind this sexual connotation is the significant influence of anime and manga culture of sexualizing older female figure. A typical example would be from クレヨンしんちゃん. The female character called Nanako Onee-san is portrayed as the maturing sexy female figure.
Aside from the literal meaning of older sister, Japanese people use this term when referring to attractive sexy women in particular. The age does not necessarily have to be older than the addresser, but it sis more of the maturity that these women hold that applies to the connotation of “Onee-san.” This is a very unique connotation attached to the term. For example, the English term “sister” which is equivalent to “Onee-san” do not have any sexual connotation.
This is the true identity of the scouts. Although there are some manuals they have to follow when scouting the targets such as what kind of appearance is acceptable as a sex worker, their personal preference will still influence their decision-making process. Therefore, they are sexually judging the targets.
Conclusion
Although there are multiple connotations that are attached to the term “Onee-san,” the most important would be the sexual connotation which entails the scouts’ purpose of recruiting the female targets.
The scouts dispatch the message that the job they are offering is directly related to intimacy by calling them “Onee-san.”
It is a rather vague message, however, it is sensible for some targets. Those who express Positive feelings towards these job opportunities would immediately sense the connotation, understanding their intentions of attempting to recruit for the industry. If they are interested, it is more likely that they would accept the attitude they are giving towards them.
However, for the targets who develop Negative feelings towards the sexual connotation, the scouts are well-prepared to boost up their image.
YES… there are other connotations that are neutral or even positive for most female population for the term.
You are Complimented, Respected, Familiarized….
The other connotations are basically used as an escape method for the scouts.
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Verbal Communication