Tatemae

Japanese Gardens
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

There is a Japanese word tatemae that means public face. I can’t think of an English translation. Maybe “professionalism”?  No. “Professionalism” doesn’t convey the masked fury of tatemae. Laura Kriska, author of the memoir The Accidental Office Lady expresses it well when she describes her Japanese co-workers displaying tatemae at work:

“…It was having to eat lunch with her and smile and make small talk for an hour. Tatemae was joyfully calling twenty people to reschedule a meeting because your director had forgotten about the meeting that you had discussed with him that morning. It was keeping quiet when the directors called you kanojo – meaning “Hey you” --  in the executive office because they didn’t know your name even though you had been working there for six years.”

I was stopped in my tracks by this passage. I loved that the Japanese had a word for something that is apparently so universal. I thought about all the times I employ tatemae during my work day. Too many. Too, too many. I wondered whether tatemae is the root word for “tattered”? Does tatemae rhyme with “death of me”?

Until I retire, I am adding tatemae to my dictionary.