From Ladies and Gentlemen to Everyone

“No more 'ladies and gentlemen' on Japan Airlines flights” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54336194


日本航空は、10月1日から英語のアナウンスにおける”ladies and gentlemen”という呼びかけを止めて、”everyone”にすることになった。日本語では元々「皆様」というジェンダー中立的な表現が使われていた*1


JAL's decision however, has not made any major waves in Japan.

"It is a small deal that most people do not really care about because this change in announcement in English cannot be understood nor noticed by almost all the Japanese-speaking passengers,", Professor Kazuya Kawaguchi*2, a sociologist at Hiroshima Shudo University told the BBC.

"However, as one of the leading LGBT-friendly enterprises [in Japan]... [their] efforts should be appreciated and therefore will be and must be a significant step forward to the improvement... of other LGBT+ issues. I think that it is important for big companies to start good practice[s like this]... because other medium or small-sized companies tend to follow."


JAL follows airlines like Air Canada and EasyJet*3 which adopted gender-neutral greetings last year.

In a statement to Reuters, JAL said it wanted to "create a positive atmosphere and treat everyone... with respect".

"We have committed to not discriminate based on gender... sexual orientation, gender identity or other personal attributes," spokesman Mark Morimoto told the news agency.

*1:”ladies and gentlemen”を和訳する際も、「紳士・淑女の皆様」というより、シンプルに「皆様」と訳すことが多いのでは?

*2:河口和也。See https://shu-lab.shudo-u.ac.jp/shuhp/KgApp?kyoinId=ymisgoyyggy

*3:https://www.easyjet.com/