How 'reading the air' keeps Japan running
In "high-context" countries where communication is indirect and messages are inferred - like Japan - situational awareness is king.
By Bryan Lufkin30th January 2020
Yoko Hasegawa, a Japanese language professor at the University of California, Berkeley, says reading the air requires diverse knowledge – cultural and historical, as well as inside knowledge of those in the dialogue. When two people “are praising each other, it might be the case that they are arch-enemies. If you can’t read this ‘air’, you might say something that inflames the hostile relationship,” she explains. “Because my knowledge is frequently inadequate, I can’t read the air in social gatherings [here] in the US.”
In Japan, for example, if you’re the person speaking loudly in an otherwise silent train car or talking to a client who has long since lost interest, you risk being labeled KY – a pejorative Japanese slang term that stands for “kuuki ga yomenai”, or “unable to read the air”.

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