What is Keigo

Keigo is a set of Japanese that is employed to express a relationship between people involved in communication.

These people can be speakers, the listeners/audience and the people/person who are being discussed between communicators.

This relationship can vary from one based on respect (the narrow definition of Keigo) to being friendly/intimate/derogatory (the broader definition of Keigo.)

For example, you would like to talk to your classmates or business colleagues in a very friendly manner.
Alternatively your relationship with your lovely children/spouse should be reflected in the intimate language.

On the other hand, suppose you are a film director. You would like to shoot a scene where a yakuza boss has become furious because his juniors failed to raise financial resources. Then, you let this boss to talk down to his juniors in a very harsh language by belittling them. This boss can be very arrogant by asserting that he is the undisputed king of the underworld with a strong connection to a corrupted police force.




In Japan, when Japanese businessmen communicate with their boss(es) in their offices, they are supposed to express their respect toward their bosses because of their superior business expertise.
This awareness makes these businessmen select a particular set of vocabulary/phrases that they hardly ever employ on other occasions.


As the examples above demonstrate, language can be used in lots of ways to show our attitudes to others.


In this brief summary, Keigo is discussed in the narrow sense with a particular emphasis on its use in business scenes.