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A zillion years ago, before I came to Japan, I took a short introductory
course on Japanese. In it, they showed a video of a business meeting where an
American businessman is speaking to a Japanese businessman.

The Japanese businessman kept saying `「はい、はい」` throughout the business
meeting. The result being that the American assumed that the Japanese guy had
agreed to the proposal they discussed. However, the Japanese person was only
saying `はい` as a way of expressing agreement that he heard and understood what
the American was saying.

From there, it was explained that in Japanese, agreement is often about the
person making the statement, not the topic. `はい` can be used to mean "I agree
to the degree that it allows this conversation to continue." A little like
saying "sure, okay" in English.

In English, I can differentiate between agreeing with a premise and agreement
with a person. If I say "yes", I am definitely agreeing with the premise. If I
say "sure", I'm going along with the person, leaving room to be ambivalent
about the premise.

I'd like to get better control of the same thing in Japanese. Without
resorting having to express myself with lengthy sentences or explanations, how
can I be sure I'm conveying that I agree with a premise or with the person?

Are these appropriate for stating definite agreement with a premise:

> 確かに
>
> そうだ

Are these more ambivalent?

> はい
>
> うん
>
> ええ

Are there other phrases and words I can use to be clear in differentiating
whether I'm agreeing with a person or a premise?

**_Please note_** I'm specifically looking verbal ways of handling this, not
other contextual clues like gestures or facial expressions. I would like to be
able to express myself clearly in writing and on the phone as well as in
person.
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2011-12-16T06:27:32.673
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word-choice
How can I differentiate agreement with the person and agreement with the idea?
My professor used to say this is not only a question of spoken, but also of
body language - this being the reason you will see a Japanese person bowing as
acknowledgement/affirmation of the other person even when on the phone, and
that even if as a foreigner you would master the verbal part, you would still
convey confusing messages by not affirming what you say by what you gesture.

As a student, I thought this statement was mostly based on
[日本人論](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihonjinron), but then I spent some time
in Japanese Zen monasteries (where verbal communication is not an option in
many situations), and I gained a deep appreciation for the subtleties and
precision in movement and gestures the Japanese use to convey the unspoken -
and the realization that this is much harder to learn than vocabulary and
grammar.

I'm not suggesting you should spend a couple of months among the monks
meditating - but perhaps simply mute the sound when you're watching a modern
Japanese movie or a TV show, and just watch the gestures - you'll be amazed
how much you will see conveyed.
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2011-12-22T21:09:42.560
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The はい you are talking about are the ones said _while the other person is
speaking_. They are not really answering anything. This is as you said : "I'm
paying attention and understand what you're saying.". You can _never_ assume
they are agreements.

You want to convey that you agree with what the person is saying ? Use
そうです（ね）、確か（に/です）、、私もそう思います etc.

But, if you ask a question, and then the person says はい; it is a "yes". If
they want to start with a "Alright, I listened to you, understood, let me see
now" will be a ま or そうですね (the ね is important here, without it, it is a "yes")
or both and they will then, answer.
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2012-02-02T04:42:25.877
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I would take all the words used for acknowledgement to mean nothing more than
just [相槌]{あいづち} - back-channel response that indicates that that one is still
paying attention and/or still can comprehend.

The agreement on the idea should always take a "not agreed on" default value
unless either party initiates an explicit question to call for an agreement or
the listener declares explicitly and unambiguously that they have agreed on
the idea.

In short, you would have to form a whole sentence. (Can't rely on はい alone
unless it's a response to a "do you agree?" question)
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2012-02-02T05:32:58.340
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You could use 分かります although in a business setting it may sound a bit "snobby"
(as if you were forced to listen and had to agree with the idea) but generally
it's OK.

I would use そうですね over 分かります if I felt comfortable speaking casually with whom
I'm speaking to since it sort of gives me the the ability to converse in a
less formal manner as opposed to if I used 分かります.

Another one is 成程. It shows you understand what the person is saying - gives
the feeling of "Ah, I see..."
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2012-02-02T06:56:20.407
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I would say that ええ (not え) is even more vague than はい, and that even to a
direct question, ええ _could_ mean that you understand the question but are
still thinking about it.

うん is a colloquial version of はい, and I wouldn't use it at business meeting.
On the back-channel-scale, I'd put it approximately in the same place as はい.

確かに _does_ mean surely or certainly, but it carries the nuance that there
might be a "but" coming, so I wouldn't use/read this as an absolute
affirmation.

そうだ/そうです are in the affirmative end, while そうだね/そうですね can be quite back-
channel.

Even if you don't want gestures or facial expressions, in verbal communication
a lot can be told from prosody and intonation. For example はいっ with a glottal
stop after the い sounds more affirmative and less back-channel than just はい.

If you want there to be no doubt, you should really give/expect a full
sentence, like

  * おっしゃる通りです
  * その通りです
  * そう致します
  * 全く同感です

etc.
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2012-02-02T08:03:20.877
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I think there is a process involved here. First, you use はい or other forms
like ええ、そうですね、はいはい, as you hear the other person out. There is no need to
commit to anything, merely politely listen to what the other person is saying
while indicating that you are actually listening.

After the other person has stated their case, it is time to put your own ideas
and reactions. This might start out with something like そうですね。それは、ですね... or
xxxさんのおっしゃる通りですが、... or xxxさんの説明がよく分かりました。こちらとしては..., or ちょっと質問ですが... or many
other ways of launching into a full or partial agreement with, modification
of, development of, or rebuttal of what the other person has said.

I guess this is not a direct answer to the question, but it seems to me that
it's important to follow this protocol. Rather than trying to express
agreement or disagreement with the content of what the other person is saying
before that person is finished, it's better to hear them out and then come
back with your response.

(I've just realised that oldergod is saying something similar. Take this post
as supporting what he/she says.)
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