忖度

• 読み: そんたく
• ローマ字: sontaku
• 漢字の分解: 忖 (conjecture/surmise) + 度 (measure/degree) → measuring/guessing someone's inner thoughts
• 発音: /son.ta.ku/

意味

Guessing and proactively catering to a superior's unspoken wishes or intentions without being directly asked.

忖度 became a national buzzword in 2017 due to a political scandal involving the Moritomo Gakuen land deal, where bureaucrats were accused of acting on the prime minister's presumed wishes without explicit orders. While the word existed before, it now carries strong connotations of sycophancy and institutional corruption. In everyday use, it can refer to any situation where someone reads between the lines to please authority figures.

例文

1. 上司の顔色見て忖度するのに疲れた。
2. あの人事異動、完全に社長への忖度でしょ。
3. 忖度しないで自分の意見をはっきり言える人って尊敬する。

使い方ガイド

場面: workplace, politics, news media, casual conversation

トーン: critical, often sarcastic

正しい言い方

• 日本の組織って忖度文化がすごいよね。 (Japanese organizations have such a strong culture of reading the boss's wishes.)
• それ忖度じゃない？誰も頼んでないのに。 (Isn't that just sucking up? Nobody asked for that.)

避ける言い方

• 上司に直接「忖度してるんですか？」は角が立つ (Asking your boss 'are you expecting us to read your mind?' is confrontational)

よくある間違い

• Using 忖度 positively — since 2017, it almost always carries a negative or critical connotation
• Confusing it with 気遣い (consideration) — 忖度 implies subordination and power dynamics, 気遣い is genuine kindness

起源と歴史

An old literary Japanese word meaning 'to conjecture others' feelings.' Became the 2017 buzzword of the year (流行語大賞 nominee) after the Moritomo Gakuen political scandal, where officials allegedly acted on Prime Minister Abe's unspoken wishes.

文化的背景

時代: 2017 buzzword, though the word is much older

世代: All ages (became universally known through media coverage)

社会的背景: Used across social classes, especially in political and workplace discussions

地域メモ: Used across all of Japan. Strongly associated with the 2017 Moritomo Gakuen scandal and Japanese hierarchical culture.