“Giving up” in Japanese
by Tetsuya Hayashi
Do you know what the gesture of raising both your hands means? It means to give up. The expression of “Giving up” is often used by Japanese people.
I will introduce five situations when people use the gesture of “Giving up”. The first situation is the time when we talk with our friends. When we can’t get our own opinion across to our friends though we explain repeatedly, we use the gesture. Then we make a facial expression of dissatisfaction - eyes wide open, mouth wide open
The second situation is the time when we don’t agree with our boss about the work. Many people must have experienced this situation. In this situation, we don’t exhibit a facial expression that shows dissatisfaction broadly because there is traditional vertical relation in Japan. So many people give a bitter smile and don’t change their facial expression.
The third situation is the time when a student talks with their teacher. In this situation, as in the second situation, some students don’t exhibit a facial expression that shows dissatisfaction broadly although they don’t agree with the teacher’s opinion.
The fourth situation is when our computer is broken. In this situation, many of us express our own feelings frankly. So the gesture is very big, we close our eyes, and we collapse in powerlessness. Some people may click their tongues.
The fifth situation is the time when we can’t cope with our competitor in a sports game. We look up at the heavens, our voices sink and get small and we heave an audible sigh. After the game, we are shocked and our motivation is lost for a while.
The gesture of giving up is used in various scenes. I think the expression of giving up is one of the expressions which Japanese use most. I think Japanese tend not to tell their own opinions to others, but they express their feelings by trivial gestures. So it is very important to understand what the trivial gesture means in order to establish close relationships with Japanese people.
 
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