A Bit Too Self-Conscious: 意識高い系
You know them when you see them. The vivacious profile photo showing them smiling while doing an outdoor sports activity, or thoughtfully lifting their hands in the air giving a talk about some current topic. The Macbook Pro and Starbucks coffee cup. The endless stream of social media posts showing off how on top of all the world’s latest developments they are.
These, are the 意識高い系 (ishiki-takai-kei), loosely translated as “high consciousness type” people. This relatively recent archetype of Japanese society has no direct analog in the west, being neither quite a hipster nor quite a bro. Internet persona comes close, but how they behave offline matters too. The linked Wikipedia article suggests the word “wannabe” as a translation, but this doesn’t quite fit either. The article describes them as follows (rough, awful translation mine):
The ishiki-takai-kei is a common name for a young person who excessively self-produces themselves (in other words, talks big) but has no substance, a young person who is excessively positive but just spins their wheels, or a person who produces their own internet presence, and does not allow their appeal to die out.
意識高い系（いしきたかいけい）とは、自分を過剰に演出する（言い換えれば、大言壮語を吐く）が中身が伴っていない若者[1][2]、前向きすぎて空回りしている若者[3]、インターネットにおいて自分の経歴・人脈を演出し自己アピールを絶やさない人[4]などを意味する俗称である。
The humble brag is another common trait of this type of person. You will often see them post about current events and comment things like, “am I really the first person in Japan to know what this is? Has anybody else done this?”
You will of course see people overseas who exhibit some or many of the traits of this archetype, but I have yet to see a label prescribed to this particular set (if you know a word, do share!).
For a full rundown of common traits, run the Wikipedia article through a translator, or ask a Japanese person if available. It is quite likely that their first response is surprise, followed by uncontrollable laughter.
For the anime-inclined, watch the second season of 俺がいる and watch for the episodes with the student body president who has all of the stereotypical traits listed in this post. This is probably the funniest portrayal of the archetype I have ever seen.
Synergy!
意識高い系 will often use an excessive amount of ビジネス用語 (business speak), which is often just English words written with an approximate Japanese pronunciation used in an attempt to sound cultured, much like Westerners use Latin phrases such as “deus ex machina” and “carpe diem.” Here is a somewhat exaggerated example:
Japanese
意識高い系 A：昨日のミーティングでカンファレンスのライトニングトークのディスカッションをしたんだけど、シナージー効果をアップするノウハウをゲットしたいと思いました。
意識高い系 B：アグリー！
English
The words in bold are phonetic transliterations of the same English words (adjusted in the translation to be grammatically correct).
Ishikitakai-kei A: In discussing the conference lightning talk in yesterday’s meeting, it occurred to me that I want to get the know-how of how to increase synergistic effects.
Ishikitakai-kei B: Agreed!
And just for fun, here’s a list of the transliterations.
- ミーティング — miitingu = meeting
- カンファレンス — kanfarensu = conference
- ライトニングトーク — raitoningu tooku = lightning talk
- ディスカッション — disukasshon = discussion
- シナージー効果 — shinaajii kouka = synergistic effect
- アップ — appu = increase (literally: “up”)
- ノウハウ — nouhau = know-how
- ゲット — getto = get
- アグリー — agurii = agreed (literally: “agree”)
This is roughly analogous to the usual business bullshit in English, but the excessive use of non-Japanese words (especially English) adds to the hilarity, especially if they use a word that others don’t understand, in which case others may just pretend to understand and go with it, often leading to disaster if a decision is involved. There are websites that dedicate themselves to listing out these oft-used and ill-needed phrases.
Handwaving
Perhaps in a vain attempt to seem like they know what they’re talking about, you will often see 意識高い系 perform what’s called: ろくろ回し, which roughly translates to “spinning pottery,” a reference to how they look rolling their hands in the air. They will especially do this while attempting to explain something. If you search for images of this term online, you’re likely to see well-known figures like Apple cofounder Steve Jobs and former U.S. President Obama, as well as many great examples of Japanese 意識高い系 people, so give it a search.
Somewhat Hipster
On top of keeping track of all the latest popular trends, especially overseas, they also have some overlap with the hipster in going out of their way to sport obscure fashion brands, make their own curry from scratch, and to know arbitrary trivia that they can let loose at a moment’s notice.
Somewhat Bro
You will often see them in photos, merrily drinking, perhaps heavily, with their friends at a cool 居酒屋 or bar. A large emphasis is shown on how close they are with their friends, and how they “go way back.”
The Startup 意識高い系
Unsurprisingly, this dire need for attention means that you will sometimes see this archetype appear in the form of people who make big claims about wanting to change the world: startup founders. I can’t say that all of the startup founders I met in Japan fell into this archetype, but I will say that I met more than a few. I also met some engineers who fell into this.
This subtype goes a step further, and will relentlessly push their own company and personal brand in an attempt to drum up support for their company, real or imagined. I suppose this is where personal ego and business needs intersect.
Other Common Traits
Source: Wikipedia
- Quoting famous people all the time
- Using English mainly to show off that, well, they know English
- Excessive amount of 勉強会 (study get-together; another blog post)
- Excessive cross-functional meetings in attempt to show their knowledge and efforts know no bounds
- Reads lots of business books and half-assedly attempts to copy them
- Passing off something they were only lightly involved in as something they were a critical part of
- Tries to look cool all the time
- Looks like they’re always trying to self-improve in everything
- Takes large role in many job fair events
- Starts a company in college and walks around with a business card showing off that they’re a CEO
Google Suggestions
- A pain
- Annoying
- Features
- Summary
- Idiot
- University student
- Adult
- Common occurrences
- Girls
Such self-conscious, so type
The 意識高い系 are a fascinating bunch. I think that many of them are good people, if a bit too self-conscious. I myself, and likely others, have fallen into these traps more than once (we’re only human). Some of the traits, like being actively involved in society (as opposed to just giving off the appearance thereof), are admirable and good. But I think that the character from 俺がいる said it best:
ロジカルシンキングで論理的に考えるべきだよ
※ You should use “rojikaru shinkingu” to logically think about this.
※ “logical thinking” 😜
