A Romanian Community in Ōsaka: A Case Study of Class Discrimination in Two Languages
A Romanian Community in Ōsaka: A Case Study of Class Discrimination in Two Languages

Summary/Abstract: The idea for this research topic came to me after listening to a Romanian acquaintance speak first in Romanian, then in Japanese. Coming from a poor gypsy community from the south of Romania, A. had barely finished high school and her speech contained clear markers of her social background. Her Japanese, however, learned from her Buddhist priest husband and her mother-in-law, sounded cultured and elegant. Focused on field work conducted at a bar in Osaka, owned by a former Romanian hostess and tended by a Romanian man, as well as on numerous interviews, our paper will analyze the language choices made by other Romanian hostesses who tend to gather there when their regular hours are over. The concept of social class is less defined in Japan compared to other societies, but the lines and borders exist and it is our purpose to try to define them.

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