I’m turned off by girls who use lots of emojis or whose Japanese seems questionable—I feel like they’re not very intelligent. Are there really no girls who can hold a proper conversation, even over LINE? Do you all point out their excessive emoji use and incorrect Japanese to these idiots?

Maezawa from the CEO’s office here as well. Thank you for your question. > Are there really no girls who can have a proper conversation, even over LINE? What exactly do you mean by “proper writing” on LINE? LINE has its own etiquette. Are you suggesting that people use the conventions of handwritten letters on LINE as well? First, you’d start with: “Dear …” Then: “A seasonal greeting” followed by: “Words expressing wishes for the recipient’s prosperity” and “Words of gratitude” After that, you’d include: “The main message” Then write: “Words asking for their continued guidance or patronage,” or “Words wishing them continued prosperity,” followed by: “A closing remark” and end with: “Sincerely.” Doing all that every time you send a LINE message seems far more unreasonable to me. As the tools change with the times, so does etiquette. If you dislike that, perhaps you should continue communicating through handwritten letters, where that kind of formality still applies. Handwritten letters have their own conventions, so the argument that you “can’t write properly” in a letter would make sense too. First, make an effort to keep up with the times and learn the etiquette that goes with them. Learning forms of etiquette you aren’t familiar with can lead to new discoveries, and I think it can be enjoyable too.

I’m Flagmaker, a column writer. I’m intentionally being a little mean here, but this question is missing quite a few particles. At my workplace, even leaving out particles gets you harshly grilled and labeled incompetent. When preparing internal documents, we trace each sentence with our finger and check every single character. You wouldn’t like being told something like that on a question box, would you? LINE is an even more casual communication tool. It’s not work-related, so I don’t think there’s any need to point things out. Take it as a positive sign: you’ve grown close enough that they feel comfortable enough to let their guard down and message you on LINE.

You probably prefer young, cute women who would send that kind of LINE message. I think it’s fine for a man to point it out—he’s older and can simply explain it to her. The problem is when a woman notices that an older man has made a mistake. You can’t really point it out, and it’s so frustrating. Marika

I’m Taro, a male member. It’s funny that although the question itself sounds like it was written by an old guy, the way it’s put together feels surprisingly young. I wonder how that works. Compared with the Showa era, when people only had landlines and letters, we live in a time when everyone is constantly communicating. So I think young people today are several levels better when it comes to communication skills. Language keeps evolving too. “Young people’s way of speaking these days” has been a standard complaint since ancient times. Emojis and new expressions might even end up in Japanese dictionaries someday. Though Japanese dictionaries are already outdated, so in reality, it’ll probably come down to whether they get included in Google Japanese Input’s predictive suggestions. On the other hand, it would be amazing if a young person today sent me a LINE message in proper Showa-era Japanese. If they said “Gokigenyo” on LINE, it would be almost too wonderful. I might immediately take a screenshot and post it on Twitter.

I’m Kaz, one of the male members. I’ve heard that some women feel a bit queasy when a male dating partner sends them LINE messages overloaded with emojis, so I guess it’s not just women who do that. I don’t specifically point out the excessive emojis, but when she mispronounces a word, I gently correct her. I couldn’t think of the perfect example, but it would be something like this: Woman: “I was thinking of renting a gekkyoku parking spot…” Me: “Oh, you mean you’re thinking of renting a monthly parking spot?”