Script Ideologies in Japan: Public Interpretations of Katakana English in Pandemic Communication

ABSTRACT The Japanese writing system employs three scripts—kanji, hiragana, and katakana—each serving distinct communicative functions. Although katakana is conventionally associated with loanwords, it conveys social meanings that extend beyond lexical borrowing. This study examines how these meanings were publicly contested in user responses to a tweet by a prominent Japanese politician regarding katakana English use in pandemic communication. Drawing on 1,417 user comments, the analysis examines how commenters interpreted the communicative effects and presumed purposes of katakana English use. The findings show that a shared perception of scriptal distancing gave rise to competing ideological interpretations of deliberate obfuscation and affective buffering. The study demonstrates that the same perceived effect can acquire contrasting social and moral meanings and that script choice can become implicated in public trust and communicative authority in contemporary Japanese society.