I am teaching a class at church on the importance of having an accountability
partner to check on our goals, growth, and see whether or not we are
fulfilling our plans. Originally, I found that 責任パートナー could be a translation
for accountability, but then my students seemed to be very confused. What
would be the easiest way to express the ideas of "accountability partner" and
"accountability meeting" in Japanese? Thanks in advance.
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2018-07-21T08:09:46.350
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2018-07-24T16:33:47.290
2018-07-24T04:43:23.057
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question
word-requests
What is the best way to express the concept of "accountability" in Japanese?
I'm not a big fan of Katakana, but sometimes the best way to express an idea
that originally came from a non-Japanese word is to just use it. 説明責任パートナー and
説明責任ミーティング just don't cut it. アカウンタビリティパートナー is used in dozens of Japanese
websites relating to Bible studies.アカウンタビリティミーティング doesn't appear as many
times though.
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2018-07-24T06:09:11.920
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2018-07-24T06:09:11.920
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answer
**This probably needs to be regarded as a comment since the it is largely the
result of years of thinking about this issue. I posted it in hopes that
someone gets something out of it.**

I've always struggled with expressing the word accountability in Japanese too.
Since it's usually translated as 説明責任, I felt it didn't fit in many of the
situations where I wanted to use the English word accountability.

First, I must explain that in the process of searching for a good way to
express the concept of accountability, I have come to the conclusion that
there are **different kinds** of accountability, so different words should be
used in Japanese for each until the various concepts are encompassed in one
term, which may or may not happen at all.

According to many dictionaries, accountability is 説明責任. There are plenty of
examples where this does fit. When people talk about someone who **has to give
an account (usually some combination of who, what, when, where, why, and how)
of things that have or will happen or a situation where such accountability
arises**. This usage is by far the most common and is often seen in government
sessions （国会会議録 = 3.34 PMW (1位) in the [NINJAL-
LWP](http://nlb.ninjal.ac.jp/search/)）. It can usually be translated as
accountability until a phrase like 説明責任を果たせ！ appears where in English we would
tend to talk about "fulfilling some specific responsibility" or "doing
something because you are accountable." (I am aware some people translate that
as "Fulfill your accountability," but while understandable, that usage is far
too rare to be acceptable.  
[Grounds for this assertion:  
[Ngrams fulfill *
accountability](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=fulfill%20*%20accountability&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=)
(includes his, her, your, their, etc. with 0 results)  
[Google Books "fulfill your
accountability"](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22fulfill%20your%20accountability%22&num=20&newwindow=1&source=lnms&tbm=bks&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0iISDq7fcAhUBNrwKHeEoBaEQ_AUIECgB&biw=1782&bih=999)
(20 hits)  
[Google All "fulfill your
accountability"](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22fulfill%20your%20accountability%22&num=20&newwindow=1&ei=BupWW5jOEYeQ8gWF6L-wBw&start=0&sa=N&filter=0&biw=1782&bih=999)
note that there are only 50 actual results (it said "about 1880 results"
before telling it to show all results and going to the last page])

The question at hand is an excellent example of where 説明責任 doesn't work as a
translation of accountability. In Japanese you are literally saying,  
"[You] have the responsibility to explain (who, what, when, where, why, and/or
how)"  
where in English we say "You _are_ accountable." I think this stems from a
fundamental difference in thinking between the languages (cultures), in this
case the difference between "a person being ～" vs "人に～がある."

Another way I have seen accountability expressed is to use 責任 by itself as a
translation of accountable. These example sentences are from 研究社新英和大辞典第6版

He is accountable to me for what he does.  
彼はその行動について私に対して責任がある。

I hold him accountable for it.  
私はその責任は彼にあると思う。

This is closer to the kind of accountability we want, but still not quite
right because of the force of the word 責任 that creates a vertical relationship
when we want more of a mutual relationship.

> It is my belief that there is no word for such a concept. So, I thought
> about how I would express it in Japanese and I think **報告責任** is as close as
> I can get. This word doesn't exist as far as I know, so use it at your own
> risk, but with a little explanation I think it carries the meaning of
> accountability you want without the requirement of explaining the who, what,
> when, where, why and how of every action, or the vertical relationship.

外人の分際で新語を造るなどはおこがましいと思いますが、必要な言葉は本当に存在しないと思います。どうかお許しを。
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2018-07-24T16:33:47.290
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answer