Identity as a loanword, loanwords as identity: discourses of sameness and difference in Japanese news media

This article examines the relationship between language and identity through metalinguistic discourses surrounding the loanword ‘identity’ in relation to other recently introduced loanwords in Japan. In Japanese, ‘identity’ is often expressed by the English-derived loanword aidentitī. This term became the subject of intense debates from the late 1990s to the late 2000s. To uncover the underlying ideas behind these controversies, this study analyses newspaper articles addressing the loanword ‘identity’ by examining other loanwords referenced in the same contexts. The analysis reveals two distinct phases of argumentation: from the late 1990s to the early 2000s and from the mid-2000s to the late 2000s. In the first phase, ‘identity’ was frequently discussed alongside terms associated with an emerging international order shaped by globalisation. In the second phrase, it appeared more often in connection with vocabulary related to Japanese policy initiatives. This study argues that these debates reflect broader tensions in Japan’s negotiation of identity along two key dimensions: sameness and difference. Initially, Japan sought to reposition itself within a changing global context in alignment with other nations, while subsequently it turned towards articulating values that distinguish it from them. Conclusively, metalinguistic discourses on the loanword ‘identity’ illuminate the process of identity negotiation.