Wonder how Japanese police conduct themselves? In my experience, they are polite and helpful, and although they do some targeted ID checks once in a while, the population is generally not afraid of them. Despite their reputation for being calm, this video shows them in action with a Yakuza group, yelling and talking like…Yakuza!
But what does “talk like yakuza” mean? Generally, it means using short forms instead of polite forms, and especially rolling the “r” which emphasizes aggressiveness, in order to intimidate.
Let’s have a look at one of their phrases in the video, at 0:20:
(*Please note that the men with hats are the policemen.)
お前らいつも行儀が悪いのう 極道なら極道らしくせんか コラ！
Omaera itsumo gyougi ga warui nou gokudou nara gokudou rashiku senka kora!
This means “You guys are always bad mannered, aren’t you. If you are gokudou (=yakuza), why don’t you act like gokudou, huh!”
In English, it doesn’t sound that harsh, but in Japanese the language choice makes it much harsher.
Quiz time: Can you guess all the language/grammar parts that are intimidating, and change them into a polite phrase?
Let’s see what’s especially intimidating in Japanese:
1) Using “omae” (=you) to address to a person is extremely rude, unless it’s from a superior/senpai to their subordinate/kohai, or between close friends/family and who are ok with it, and often when joking. For example, I personally never use it.
2) Using the short form “waruinou” (=bad) is also intimidating. The polite or honorific forms should be used with strangers.
3) “senka” is also a short form of the form suru (=to do), and moreover a dialect which makes it sound more aggressive and direct as well — at least for Tokyo people.
4) “kora” means “hey” when you want to scold or blame a person. It can be cute between close friends as a joke, but using it with a stranger is definitely not ok. And particularly rolling the “r” of kora has a “delinquent” vibe.
So, considering all these points, the polite/honorific version of this phrase would be for example:
（あなたたち）いつもお行儀が悪いですね。 極道なら極道らしくしてはいかがですか？ ねえ！
(Anata tachi) isumo ogyougi ga warui desune. Gokudou nara gokudou rashiku shitewa ikagadesuka? Nee!
Which would sound very funny because it’s super polite in Japanese and unusual for a situation like this. However, as pointed in one of the video comments, the funniest thing in this video is that the Yakuza speak more politely than the police, at 0:57:
もうちょっと警察らしい仕事したらどうかな
Mou chotto keisatsu rashii shigoto shitara doukana?
= Would you mind doing a job that is a little bit more police-like?
You can see that the Yakuza is not using any intimidating expressions, and adding “chotto” makes it softer too. If he had said “motto” (=more) it would have sounded more aggressive. But the sweetest part is the “kana” at the end, which is a way to soften a question. I use it myself for example when I send a message to a friend “Genki kana?” (How are you?)
Even though he is using the short form “dou” instead of “doudesuka”/”doudeshouka”, the “kana” makes it sound “cute.” That’s why it feels funny in Japanese, especially when reading it.
One “yakuza-like” version of this phrase could be:
オラ、もっと警察らしい仕事せんか！
Ora, motto keisatsu rashii shigoto senka!