八方美人

• 読み: はっぽうびじん
• ローマ字: happou bijin
• 漢字の分解: 八 (hachi) — eight; 方 (hou) — direction; 美 (bi) — beauty; 人 (jin) — person
• 発音: /hap.poː.bi.dʑiɴ/

意味

A people pleaser; someone who tries to be liked by everyone by being agreeable to all sides.

A four-character compound (yojijukugo) that literally means 'beautiful person in all eight directions.' Despite containing 美人 (beautiful person), the term is almost always negative, criticising someone who changes their attitude to please whoever they are with. Understanding this word requires cultural context about the Japanese value of sincerity (誠実さ).

例文

1. 彼女は八方美人だから誰にでもいい顔をする。
2. 八方美人と思われたくないので自分の意見ははっきり言う。
3. 職場で八方美人を演じるのは疲れる。

使い方ガイド

場面: personality, social criticism, workplace, gossip

トーン: critical

起源と歴史

From 八方 (happou, eight directions / all directions) + 美人 (bijin, beautiful person). Originally described someone who looks beautiful from every angle, but evolved to criticise someone who shows a pleasing face to everyone — implying superficiality and lack of genuine conviction.

文化的背景

時代: Edo period

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal