GACKT Official X Update. Translation below
[GACKT’s thoughts the day after a live performance]
Yesterday, I finished my live performance in Tokyo.
I slept well, or rather, I dozed off in my chair.
Then, when I woke up, I was thinking about this:
“The Japanese even incorporate a sense of time into their language!”
Recently, I was talking with some foreign friends who are fluent in Japanese about the most difficult aspects of the Japanese language.
They all said the same thing:
“What I still can’t grasp is this drawn-out sound, [~]. I seriously don’t understand it!”
For people who grew up in Japan, this is more like, [I don’t know what they don’t understand], right?
For example, [Yuki] and [Yuuki].
To Japanese people, these are completely different names.
But, among people whose native languages are English, Chinese, Korean, or European languages, some have difficulty distinguishing this [sound length].
“ユーキ is pronounced [Yuuki],”
and they pronounce it clearly, “Yu-u-ki.”
“No, not that, Yuuki,”
and they respond, “Ah, I get it. Yuki.”
But they’ve gone back to the original pronunciation…
This difficulty is something Japanese people can’t understand.
Upon investigation, it seems that research has confirmed that native English, Chinese, and Korean speakers actually have difficulty distinguishing between long and short vowels in Japanese.
Native Indonesian speakers show a similar tendency.
However, this isn’t simply a matter of it being difficult because they’re foreigners.
It’s not a matter of nationality.
It’s about the fact that the information picked up by the ear differs depending on one’s native language.
This is fascinating!!
In Japanese, not only the sound itself, but also the duration of the sound is used as linguistic information.
[Yuki] and [Yuuki]. For Japanese people,
it’s probably harder to hear these two as the same, right?
Furthermore, Japanese has another sound that uses this [time].
It’s [ッ].
For example,
[やっぱり] and [やっぱり].
[さっぱり] and [さっぱり].
To Japanese people,
they sound completely different.
But many people have probably heard foreigners studying Japanese say,
“Ah, yappari!”
“Sappari, wakaramanai”
Among them, quite a few find it difficult to perceive this single beat of [ッ] as a word.
It’s strange when you think about it.
[〜] represents the [time] of extending a sound.
[ッ] represents the [time] of stopping a sound.
Japanese people hear not only the [time when there is sound], but also the [time when there is no sound] as part of the word.
Interestingly, the opposite happens when Japanese people speak English.
For example, if you ask a Japanese person to say “book” in English, most will say, “That’s easy! It’s ‘book,’ right?!”
However, the rhythm of the Japanese word “book” and the English word “book” are completely different.
Unconsciously, Japanese people divide it into three beats: “bu-k-ku,” and fit it into the rhythm of Japanese.
In English, there’s no need to pause for a beat like in Japanese’s “tsu,” and the final “ku” isn’t pronounced with a vowel like in Japanese.
And there’s something even more interesting about Japanese.
Yokai (supernatural creature).
It’s written as “Yōkai,” but in everyday conversation it’s pronounced “Yōkai.”
Industry is also pronounced “Gyōkai,” not “Gyōkai.”
Beef tongue is pronounced “Gyūtan,” not “Gyū-u-tan.”
We don’t just read each letter individually.
We stretch out sounds, stop them, connect them,
using even that [time] to create words.
Japanese people do this naturally, without being taught.
That’s why, when you try to explain it to someone who can’t do it, you only realize what you’re doing.
Words are so interesting!
What’s [obvious] to me is completely inaudible to someone else.
The reverse is also true.
When I start thinking about things like this, I can’t stop feeling excited.
So, I think…
“Is it really… strange?”
The end…
【ライブの翌日にこんなことを考えるGACKT】
昨日、
東京でのライブを終えた。よく寝た、
というよりは椅子で落ちてた。で、
目が覚めてこんなことを考えてた。『日本人は【時間の感覚】さえ言語に取り入れてる！』
最近、
日本語が上手な外国の仲間達と、… pic.twitter.com/3sSKDjGsbq— GACKT (@GACKT) August 12, 2026
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA