Abstract
Japanese language presents a wide range of first-person pronouns, all glossed into “I” in the English translation. This study focuses on the first-person pronouns watakushi, watashi, atashi, atai, washi, jibun, boku, ore, and uchi. Traditional explanations categorize the usage of the first-person pronouns based mainly on biological sex, formality, and age. This study analyzes how Japanese first-person pronouns acquired their current meaning and how Japanese speakers select their first-person pronoun both in normative and in non-normative gender and sexuality groups. To answer these questions, this study analyzes previous literature in the field and my own results from a questionnaire conducted in Japan and an online survey. The results of the questionnaire and the online survey prove that there can be other factors not considered by traditional explanations which can be important for the choice of first-person pronouns. The factors that can play a role in the choice made by Japanese speakers, in addition to biological sex, age and formality, can be the followings: relationship with the interlocutor, occupation, dialect, peer pressure, topic of conversation, how the speaker wants to appear, one’s feeling of being masculine or feminine, and stereotypes attached to first-person pronouns. This study also emphasizes the need of including gender minority groups in further researches in this field.