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In Japanese, the more indirect a question (or a sentence in general) is, the
more polite it is considered. Is there a reason for this?
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2019-11-09T15:00:55.867
73006
2019-11-10T00:17:35.347
2019-11-10T00:17:35.347
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question
politeness
Why is being indirect more polite than being direct in Japanese?
Asking a question is a very complicated transaction. In theory the questioner
is lowering themself - the reason they are asking the question is because they
don't know the answer. But the questioner is also imposing on the other: they
could be seen to be demanding a response. If the other doesn't know the
answer, then they will have to display their ignorance. If they do know the
answer, they will have to display their superiority over the questioner.

So we want to avoid questions that sound like a command from a superior to an
inferior: "Tell me where the hotel is!" This questions has two possible
replies: a confident "It's 200 m down the road on the left opposite the
hospital." or an abject "I'm sorry I have no idea." We avoid the risk of
creating the possible harm to the other by not asking that question.

Instead we want to ask a question that sounds more like we're thinking aloud
to an equal: "I wonder if there's a hotel in this area? What do you think"
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2019-11-10T00:17:02.490
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2019-11-10T00:17:02.490
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answer