*Corresponding Author P-ISSN: 1978-8118 E-ISSN: 2460-710X 145 Lingua Cultura, 15(2), December 2021, 145-153 DOI: 10.21512/lc.v15i2.6925 JAPANESE NETIZENS’ EXPRESSIVE SPEECH ACTS’ EXPRESSION REALM TOWARDS PRIME MINISTER SHINZO ABE’S RESIGNATION Timur Astami* Japanese Department, Faculty of Humanities, Bina Nusantara University Jl. Kemanggisan Ilir III No. 45, Kemanggisan, Palmerah, Jakarta Barat 11480, Indonesia timursriastami@binus.ac.id Received: 13th January 2021/Revised: 10th August 2021/Accepted: 11th August 2021 How to Cite: Astami, T. (2021). Japanese netizens’ expressive speech acts’ expression realm towards Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s resignation. Lingua Cultura, 15(2), 145-153. https://doi.org/10.21512/lc.v15i2.6925 ABSTRACT The aim of the research was to find out the respondent’s form, approach, and purpose in expressing speech acts in online media. As a public space, the media is a place where its readers are allowed to freely express their expression, and the comment section is one of the public spaces of the media. The research applied a library research method of collecting data from several online media sources. There were 10 data collected to know the netizen’s opinion about Prime Minister Abe’s resignation. With the SBLC technique, where the research observed without engaging in the conversations, the data would be collected, categorized, and chosen based on the purpose of the expressive speech. The data result in the respondents’ negative and positive expressive speeches on Prime Minister Abe’s resignation. Meanwhile, the respondents take direct approaches to express thanks, satire, suspicion, criticism, insult, disappointment, and censure. Keywords: speech act, Japanese netizen, netizen expression INTRODUCTION A language is a communication tool between one person to another. Communication tool in the form of language used by people and their connections to their neighborhood is a form of speech. Expressive speech can be in the form of oral or written. Oral can happen when there is a speech partner, be it directly or indirectly. However, written expression can come in the form of a short message on a device such as WhatsApp or platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Line or print media, and online media. In this modern era, humans and media have a close relationship. Media has a massive role in every aspect of life, starting from the social, economic, and political aspects. Now, the media aims for the interactive aspect, which lets individuals speak out their opinions on trending topics of a certain time (LittleJohn & Foss, 2011). Media is a tool to express oneself as a public space such as the comment section and readers. A public space within a media is connected to utilization methods, social interaction, and the expression of the citizen in it, be it verbal or visual. This research is going to observe how Japanese citizens responded to the resignation of Prime Minister (PM) Shinzo Abe in terms of expressive speech act on opinion poll in the form of written comments of the netizen (citizen of the net) about the resignation. How would the netizen’s expressive speech form and function on the opinion poll? In relation to the research, preliminary research related to expressive speech acts is carried out. Firstly, Guiraud et al. (2011) have researched merge speech act theory, emotion theory, and logic. The result is the speech acts that are aimed at expressing a given emotion (e.g., to apologize, to thank, to reproach, etc.). Also, Yoon (2018) colors such as ‘black’ express expressive systematicity as part of grammar. Secondly, expressive speech in pragmatics uses an educational environment (Borer, 2018; Derakhshan, 2018; Febriyani, Mulyono, & Waluyo, 2017). Besides that, the use of expressive speech acts by second learners appears in the context of cross-culture communication using indirect strategy by Lenchuk and Ahmed (2019) and pragmatics awareness in the apology letter written by Pourmousavi and Zenouzagh (2020). The next expressive speech acts that are often used during online tasks by three groups of English students are thanks, apologies, and greetings and compliments (Maíz-Arévalo, 2017) to explore the language politeness between students and lecturers 146 LINGUA CULTURA, Vol. 15 No. 2, December 2021, 145-153 mediated the Javanese cultural background. The communication is considered polite where the amount of politeness maxims application is much higher when compared to the violation of the maxims (Susanti et al., 2020). Then expressive speech act research related to human behavior such as angry expression (Astuti, 2018; Ekawati, 2017), machine expression (Kim, Bailly, & Davis, 2018), and place (Kusmanto, 2019), including in terms of politeness factors in Japanese Language (Kartika, 2018). The research result is as such (1) domo arigatogozaimashita; (2) Arigato; (3) Otsukaresama; (4) Arigatogozaimasu; and (5) Doitashimashite. In addition, expressive speech acts can be used as learning media (Sina & Bram, 2020), such as listening (Xoshimova, 2019), or translation methods (Wahana & Santosa, 2019). Thirdly, expressive speech acts are spoken by the speaker to express something. Speakers who convey messages through social media on certain topics such as floods (Rahmatika & Wahyudi, 2020) have researched the form of expressive speech act on the flood incident in Jakarta with the result of a variety of expressive speeches of the netizen. Furthermore, tragic events claimed lives, such as in New Zealand (Tamam, Setiawan, & Anam, 2020), have compared Anies Rasyid Baswedan and Resep Tayyip Erdogan in their speech act as a reaction towards the attack on Christchurch, New Zealand. The result of the research shows that the speaker uses three types of expressive speech act: deepest condolences, sorry, and mourning. Next, the Covid 19 outbreak (Supriyono, Zulaeha, & Yuniawan, 2020) makes a variety of expressive speech by male (Tauchid & Rukmini, 2016) and female speakers (Ambarwati, Nurkamto, & Santosa, 2018). Expressive speech acts in various events such as the Covid 19 pandemic (Sarif & Darmayanti, 2020), religion (Anshori, 2018), consumer sharing (Ordenes et al., 2019), memes (Grundlingh, 2018), and Facebook are used as political communication (Yu & Oh, 2018). Fourthly, expressive speech acts are used by speakers in the film with various genres, and various kinds of expressive speech acts are found (Achsani, 2019; Astawa, Antartika, & Sadyana, 2017; Murti, Muslihah, & Sari, 2018). The research findings show the expression of apology, thanks, sympathy, attitudes, greeting, wishes, joy, pain, likes, and dislikes (Mustofa, Nababan, & Djatmika, 2019; Pambudi, 2021; Saputri, 2017; Sirwan & Yulia, 2017). Also, in literary works, there are various kinds of expressive speech acts (Anggraeni, Tajuddin, & Nuruddin, 2018). Furthermore, Andriyani (2018) has shown that when providing services to Japanese tourists in formal and non-formal situations, the tourism actors use expressive functions in psychological expressions such as apologizing, sympathizing, and greeting. Media as an organization serves as a messenger that can affect and reflect a society’s social culture and provide information simultaneously to a large audience, minority audience, and even individuals. That is why media is regarded as a part of the power of social institutions (LittleJohn & Foss, 2011). In other words, a media’s role covers the entire society that has social, economic, and political effects. The current media development focuses on the network, in other words emphasizing interactive aspects. The first era comes in the form of product centralization, unidirectional communication, control of most situations, reproduction of social stratification, division of media segments, and the formation of social awareness. The second era is marked by decentralization, two-way communication, out-of-hand social situations, democratization, the focus of self-awareness, and individual media orientation. Therefore, the second era is more open, flexible, and dynamic (LittleJohn & Foss, 2011). In other words, the revolution in communication covers information gathering, information storage, information processing, information dissemination, and return information (Hamid & Budianto, 2011). The dynamic and democratic community life has made media develop well. Now the function of media in the democratic community is to create creative visions from dynamic community culture and provide independent information to the community (Croteau & Hoynes, 1995). Everyone in this world has a different style of communication. So, it is for the Japanese. The Japanese communication style viewed from the interpersonal aspect of communication (Midooka, 1990) emphasizes more on harmonization (wa) and avoids the feeling of uncomforted (amae). Meanwhile, in public areas, the Japanese (Yoneyama, 1997; Midooka, 1990) have mentioned to become public (Oo yake) or to become personal, informal, and non-ceremonial (Watakushi). The difference between public obligation and personal needs has to be clear. It is an important assumption on the Japanese social relation, just like Honne (true feelings or intention) and Tatemae (standard principle), Nemawashi (work is put quietly in front of or behind the scenes of negotiations with the aim of reaching consensus), and Nijikai (continuing a meeting elsewhere). Aside from those communicating styles, situations can affect the changes of communicating styles, such as in intimate situations, ritual situations, and unorganized situations (Lebra, 1986). The speech act is a result of a sentence in certain conditions and is the smallest unit of language communication. According to Searle (Wijana, 2009), pragmatically, speech acts can be classified into three types: locutionary acts, illocutionary acts, and perlocutionary acts. Locutionary act is a speech act to state something. This is referred to as the act of saying something (Wijana, 2009). Locutionary act is a speech act that consists of a word, phrase, or even sentence in accordance with the meaning contained in the word, phrase, or even the sentence itself. The illocutionary speech act is a speech act that can also be used to do something besides having the function to say something. This is also referred to as the act of doing something (Wijana, 2009). This speech act is a speech act which intent of delivery depends on who, when, and where the speech act happened, which is why this 147Japanese Netizens’ Expressive .... (Timur Astami) speech is not as easy to identify as the locutionary speech act. According to Searle (Rahardi, 2003), this locutionary speech act can be classified on the speech activity into five types of speech, each with its own communicative functions. The five types are assertive, directive, declaration, commissive, and expressive. Expressive speech is a part of the illocutionary speech act. Expressive speech is a speech act where the speaker means for his/her speech to be interpreted as an evaluation of what is mentioned within the speech itself and its several functions. The several functions within the expressive speech consist of criticize/insinuate, complain, blame, congratulate, thank, flatter, and apologize. According to Searle (Rahardi, 2003), expressive speech is intended to state or indicate the speaker’s psychological attitude to a situation. In relation to the previous research, here, the researcher wishes to understand the expressive speech of the Japanese on the online media regarding the resignation of PM Abe. Following the understanding of the form, approach, and purpose of the expressive speech, the researcher wishes that in the near future, while communicating with the Japanese written or orally, people are able to place and use good and polite speech in accordance with the applicable general conventions. METHODS The research applies a library research method of collecting and analyzing data from the library sources taken from several online media sources. Using the SBLC technique, where the research observes without engaging in the conversation, the data were collected, categorized, and chosen based on the purpose of the expressive speech. Data are then analyzed one by one according to its purpose and approach used by the respondents when using expressive speech. Before getting to the discussion, the research start with the result of the Japanese citizen online opinion poll concerning the resignation of PM Abe Shinzo. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Figure 1 shows the polling results concerning PM Shinzo Abe’s resignation. Based on the data collected, almost 81,7% of Japanese consider the resignation of PM Shinzo Abe as reasonable, 9,9% consider it as unreasonable, and 8,5% do not give their reason. Concerning it, almost 81,7% of the reasonable, the researcher will observe the netizen’s comments reaction specifically concerning the expressive speech act. For the confidentiality of the netizen, the researcher will disguise their names by using initials. Data 1 IT’s comment: 安倍さんの引き際は妥当だと思 う。早めの辞任は良かった。体調を戻して早く 回復されることをお願ってやすみません。 Abe-san no hikigiwa wa datōda to omou. Hayame no jinin wa yokatta. Taichō o modoshite hayaku kaifuku sa reru koto o negatte yasumimasen. Translation: I think that it is reasonable for Mr. Abe to resign. Early resignation is good. I hope he can become fit and recover quickly. The speech ‘hayame no jinin wa yokatta’ has a meaning of ‘early resignment is good’. Due to health reasons, Abe resigns before his term of office is over. The speech hayame no jinin wa yokatta shows the expression of the netizen and belongs to the expressive speech act of compliment. Compliment speech acts consist of the efforts to show admiration and appreciation to certain things one considers good, lovely, and brave (Wijana, 2009; Rahardi, 2003). Netizens are admired by Abe for being truthful about his condition being unwell, that he needs to resign from the seat of prime minister. Netizen hopes that with the early resignation, Abe will be able to focus on getting better. Aside from the form of the speech, to understand what the speaker means, the understanding of what approach the speaker used is also needed. The first respondent’s speech approach is the direct approach, with the first evidence being his comment stating a direct compliment. Secondly, after complimenting Abe, the respondent continues his written speech with the sentence “Taichō o modoshite hayaku kaifuku sa reru koto o negatte yasumimasen” hoping that Abe will recover after resigning. It is valid to say the form and purpose of ‘hayame no jinin wa yokatta’ is to give a compliment and falls under the expressive speech act of compliment category. The expressive speech act of compliment is a form of self-expression, which conveys the speaker’s feeling on the particular top news at that time, which PM Abe’s resignation delivered in media. The form of the expression used here falls under the category of honne, a form of communication that expresses a person’s true feelings and desires. Figure 1 Polling Results Concerning PM Shinzo Abe’s Resignation (Source: Yahoo!Japan, 2020) Data 2 YI’s comment: 今までご苦労さまでした。今後は お体を療養しながら無理しない様頑張ってくだ さい。 Ima made gokurōsamadeshita kongo wa o karada o ryōyō shinagara muri wa shinai yō ganbattekudasai. 148 LINGUA CULTURA, Vol. 15 No. 2, December 2021, 145-153 Translation: Thank you for the hard work you’ve done until now. Please do your best not to overdo it while recuperating your body in the future. The speech ‘ima made gokurosama deshita’ means ‘thank you for the hard work you have done until now’. Due to health reasons, Abe resigns before his term of office is over. This shows that the speech’ ima made gokurosama deshita’ used by the netizen belongs to the expressive speech act of gratitudes. The word kuro in the Japanese Language first means having done the best physically or mentally at a difficult time. Second, it means having taken care of others to the point of getting into trouble or suffering (Trans.Biz, 2021). The netizen hopes that with the resignation, Abe will focus on fighting for the recovery of his health. Aside from the form of the speech, to understand what the speaker means, the understanding of what approach the speaker used is also needed. The second respondent utters his thanks directly through the sentence ‘ima gokuro sama deshita’. After thanking Abe, the respondent continues with ‘kongo wa o karada o ryouyou shinagara muri wa shinai yo ganbattekudasai’, hoping that Abe will focus on recuperating himself. The expressive speech act of thanks is a form of self-expression, which conveys the speaker’s feeling on the particular top news at that time, which PM Abe’s resignation delivered in media. The form of the expression used here falls under the category of honne, a form of communication that expresses a person’s true feelings and desires. Data 3 HN’s comment:こ本人の判断で辞任ですから妥当 としますが、首相辞任が悲しかったことは初め てです。今までお疲れ様でした。そしてありが とうございました。療養、治療されからの今後 のご活躍に期待しております。しかし一部の溺 れる犬を叩く様な方々、だからいつまでも支持 が得られないですよ。情けない… Go hon’nin no handan de no jinindesukara datō to shimasuga, shushō jinin ga kanashikatta koto wa hajimetedesu. Ima made otsukaresama deshita. Soshite arigatōgozaimashita. Ryōyō, chiryō sarete kara no, kongo no go katsuyaku ni kitai shite orimasu. Shikashi ichibu no oboreru inu o tataku yōna katagata. Dakara itsu made mo shiji ga e rarenaidesu yo. Nasakenai… Translation: This makes sense because this is a resignation upon the person’s policy, but this is the first time that a prime minister’s resignation is so sad. Thank you for the hard work. Thank you. We look forward to your successful future after getting treated. However, people who hit some drowning dogs can’t get support forever. Pitiful… The speech ‘ima made otsukaresama deshita’ means ‘thank you for your hard work’ and ‘arigatou gozaimashita’ ‘thank you’. Due to health reasons, Abe resigns before his term of office is over. This shows the netizens’ expression on the speech otsukaresama deshita and arigatou gozaimashita belong to the expressive speech act of thank you. The word otsukaresama deshita is a word that puts the efforts of other first. Generally, it is also used when colleagues leave their office ahead of others, and they will say “thank you for your hard work” every day. The word otsukaresama deshita and gokuro sama deshita has the same meaning of ‘thank you for your hard work’ that comes from the feeling of working hard, and is often used as a daily greeting. The word otsukaresama deshita is often also used as an opening on internal emails and internal phone calls (Trans.Biz, 2021). The netizen hopes that with the resignation, Abe will focus on the recovery of his health. Aside from the form of the speech, to understand what the speaker means, the understanding of what approach the speaker used is also needed. First, the third respondent utters ‘ima made otsukare sama deshita’ which means ‘thank you for the hard work’. Second, the respondent continued with soshite arigatou gozaimashita, which is ‘thanks’. It is valid to say that the form and purpose of ‘ima made otsukaresama deshita’ and ‘soshite arigatou gozaimashita’ is to express thanks and fall under the expressive speech acts of thanks category. The expressive speech act of thanks is a form of self- expression, which conveys the speaker’s feeling on the particular top news at that time, which is the resignation of PM Abe delivered in media. The form of the expression used here falls under the category of honne, a form of communication that expresses a person’s true feelings and desires. Data 4 MY’s comment: 安倍ちゃんは「病気で辞めた」 んじゃなく、「病気を理由にして辞めた」んだ よね。似ているけど、意味の違いは大きいヨ。 Abe-chan wa `byōki de yameta’ n janaku,`byōki o riyū ni shite yameta’ nda yo ne. Nite irukeredo, imi no chigai wa ōkī yo. Translation: Abe-chan didn’t “resign due to illness”, but “resign using the excuse of being ill”. It is similar but the difference in meaning is big. The speech ‘byoki de yameta’ means ‘resign due to illness’, and ‘byoki wo riyuu ni shite yameta’ means ‘resign with the excuse of being ill’. These two speeches belong to the expressive speech act of satire. The netizens write the two sentences to emphasize the second sentence, which resigns with the excuse of being ill. The sentence’ byoki wo riyuu ni shite yameta’ indirectly states something like a critic, reproach, and mockery (KBBI, 2016). The netizens give an indirect satire by pairing the word byoki de yameta with byoki wo riyuu ni shite yameta. The two sentences have a big difference, especially the word byoki wo riyuu ni shite yameta, which points that there is an urge that caused Abe to back off. Aside from the form of the speech, to understand what the speaker means, the understanding of what approach the speaker used is also needed. First, 149Japanese Netizens’ Expressive .... (Timur Astami) the fourth respondent directly emphasizes the speech ‘byoki de yameta’ in his comment with parenthesis, which means resigning due to illness. Second, the respondent continues with another emphasized speech, ‘byoki wo riyuu ni shite yameta’, which means to resign using the excuse of being ill. From this, it is safe to say that the form and purpose of the speech ‘byoki de yameta’, and followed by the emphasized speech ‘byoki wo riyuu ni shite yameta’ are to satirize and fall under the expressive speech act of satire category. The expressive speech act of compliment is a form of self-expression, which conveys the speaker’s feeling on the particular top news at that time, which PM Abe’s resignation delivered in media. The form of the expression used here falls under the category of honne, a form of communication that expresses a person’s true feelings and desires. Data 5 AM’s Comment : もう少し早く辞めるべきだった のでは？あとは治療にに専念しその後に疑惑の 説明を！ Mōsukoshi hayaku yamerubekidatta node wa? Ato wa chiryō ni sen’nen shi sonogo ni giwaku no setsumei o! Translation: Shouldn’t you have quit earlier? Next, concentrate on medication, after that explain our suspicion! The speech ‘mou sukoshi hayaku ya’ means ‘shouldn’t you have quit earlier’. The speech ‘mou sukoshi hayaku yameru beki data nowa?’ belongs to the expressive speech act of suspicion. This is emphasized by the speech ‘sonogo ni giwaku no setsumei o!’, which means ‘next explain our suspicions’. The word suspicious refers to (the feeling of) disbelief or doubt upon someone’s truth or honesty. This is why the netizens demand that Abe, after his recovery, would explain the truth about his condition so that his current reason would not be considered as a far-fetched reason. Aside from the form of the speech, to understand what the speaker means, the understanding of what approach the speaker used is also needed. First, the fifth respondent states in his comment ‘mo sukoshi hayaku yameru beki data node wa?’, which can be interpreted as ‘shouldn’t you have quit earlier’. Followed by the second statement, ‘sonogo ni giwaku no setsumei o!’ without using the word shite kudasai at the end of the statement. Its meaning becomes a demand of explanation to the netizens’ suspicion ended with the exclamation mark. It is valid to say that the form and purpose of ‘sukoshi hayaku yameru beki datta node wa?’ emphasized by ‘sonogo ni giwaku no setsumei o!’ are to satirize and fall under the expressive speech act of satire category. The expressive speech act of satire is a form of self-expression, which conveys the speaker’s feeling on the particular top news at that time, which is the resignation of PM Abe delivered in media. The form of the expression used here falls under the category of honne, a form of communication that expresses a person’s true feelings and desires. Data 6 ST’s Comment: Abe no chaban matohazurena aho seisaku bakari yatte zeikin no muda tsukai kokumin kara shibori ageta zeikin o nanida to omotteru no ka to omoeba, rekidai sōri daijin de ichiban nagaku tsutometa kiroku o tsukutta to dōjini neratte jinin saigomade kusona munō sōri yamerunara motto hayaku yamete hoshikatta ikura zeikin o dobu ni suteta nda yo Abe seiken. Translation: Abe’s farce Wasting the people’s tax doing irrelevant stupid policy. While pondering about my opinion on the tax extorted from the people, I also resign at the same time, I even set a record for the longest serving prime minister. An incompetent Prime Minister until the end. I wish you would have quite earlier. How much tax is wasted in Abe’s government. The speech ‘matohazurena aho seisaku bakari yatte zeikin no muda’ means ‘to waste the tax on the irrelevant stupid policy’. Furthermore, the speech ‘saigo made kuson a munou souri’ means ‘an incompetent prime minister to the end’. Both of these speeches belong to the expressive speech act of criticism. The word criticism or censure tends to be related to responses that are sometimes accompanied by descriptions of good and bad considerations of work, opinion, and others (KBBI, 2016). The first critic of the netizen is related to the incorrect policy, and the second is him being a leader who is unable to manage his country. Aside from the form of the speech, to understand what the speaker means, the understanding of what approach the speaker used is also needed. The sixth respondent has stated first, ‘matohazurena aho seisaku bakari yatte zeikin no muda’, emphasizing the word aho, which means stupid that leads to direct criticism. Second, the respondent gives another emphasis on the statement ‘saigo made kuson muno souri’, which is translated to ‘an incompetent prime minister until the end’. From this, it is valid to say that the form and purpose of these two speeches are to criticize and fall under the expressive speech act of criticism category. The expressive speech act of criticism is a form of self-expression, which conveys the speaker’s feeling on the particular top news at that time, which is the resignation of PM Abe delivered in media. The form of the expression used here falls under the category of honne, a form of communication that expresses a person’s true feelings and desires. Data 7 AI’s comment: Are dake teika shita shiji-ritsu ga, jinin hyōmei-go, jōshō. An’na jinin hyōmei ni kokumin wa damasarerunda nā. Translation: The approval rating that had fallen so 150 LINGUA CULTURA, Vol. 15 No. 2, December 2021, 145-153 much rose after the announcement of his resignation. People understood such resignation statements. The speech ‘an’na jinin hyōmei ni kokumin wa damasarerunda nā’, which means that people are deceived by such resignation statements, belongs to the expressive speech act of insult. The word derogatory is related to bad deeds or behavior. Netizens feel that the resignation of Abe is a deception. Aside from the form of the speech, to understand what the speaker means, the understanding of what approach the speaker used is also needed. The seventh respondent has stated first, ‘an’na jinin hyomei ni kokumin wa damasarerunda na’, emphasizing the word an’na’, which means that people understand Abe’s resignation topic. Second, between the first and second statement of the comment contradicts each other, which is why it is safe to say that the form and purpose of these sentences are to satirize and fall under the expressive speech act of satire category. The expressive speech act of satire is a form of self-expression, which conveys the speaker’s feeling on the particular top news at that time, which is the resignation of PM Abe delivered in media. The form of the expression used here falls under the category of honne, a form of communication that expresses a person’s true feelings and desires. Data 8 TY’s Comment: 辞任は、当たり前やけど、色々 な問題の案件は、どうなるのか？地検は何をし ているのか、体調不良で、逃げ回る。 Jinin wa, atarimaeyakedo, iroirona mondai no anken wa, dō naru no ka? Chiken wa nani o shite iru no ka, taichō furyō de, nigemawaru. Translation: It’s natural to resign, but what happens to various problems? What is the district public prosecutor’s office doing? He’s able to run away because he’s unwell. The speech’ iroirona mondai no anken wa, dō naru no ka’, which means ‘but what happens to various problems?’ belongs to the expressive speech act of disappointment. The netizen has been disappointed in Abe’s policy up to this time. The sentence’ taichō furyō de, nigemawaru’ means that he is able to run away because he is unwell, even though as a leader, even in sickness, one should not just quit without solving the problems that are supposed to solve. Aside from the form of the speech, to understand what the speaker means, the understanding of what approach the speaker used is also needed. The eighth respondent has stated first, started with an inquiry ’iroirona mondai no anken wa, dou naru no ka’. Followed by the second, ‘taichō furyō de, nigemawaru’, between the first and the second sentence is inquiry, followed by another inquiry, emphasized through the word ‘nigemawaru’, which can be translated to ‘running away from something’. It is safe to say that the form and purpose of the speech is to express disappointment and falls under the expressive speech act of disappointment category. The expressive speech act of disappointment is a form of self-expression, which conveys the speaker’s feeling on the particular top news at that time, which is the resignation of PM Abe delivered in media. The form of the expression used here falls under the category of honne, a form of communication that expresses a person’s true feelings and desires. Data 9 MY’s Comment :コロナでその無能が広く国民の 知るところとなった。どうやら来年の五輪も 危うい。となると、失地回復の機会もない。そ もそも世のため、人のために政治やる人じゃな い。子供じみた売名欲だけで父親の跡を襲い、 総理になった人。「この先、総理大臣やってて も面白くなさそう」と考えて、投げ出しただけ の話。子供が興味の無くなったおもちゃを捨て るのと同じ。それにしても、ここ数か月の病院 通いを含めての大芝居は、ペテン師の腕の見せ 所だったね。 Korona de sono munō ga hiroku kokumin no shiru tokoro to natta. Dōyara rainen no gorin mo ayaui. To naru to, shitchi kaifuku no kikai mo nai. Somosomo yo no tame, hito no tame ni seiji yaru hito janai. Kodomojimita baimei yoku dake de chichioya no ato o osoi, sōri ni natta hito. `Konosaki, sōri daijin yattete mo omoshirokuna-sa-sō’ to kangaete, nagedashita dake no hanashi. Kodomo ga kyōmi no nakunatta omocha o suteru no to onaji. Sorenishitemo, koko sū- kagetsu no byōin-gayoi o fukumete no dai shibai wa, petenshi no udenomisedokorodatta ne. Translation: His incapability to overcome the corona problem is known widely. It seems that the next Olympic is also threatened. In such case, there is no recovering the lost land. Firstly, he’s not someone who does politics for the sake of someone else. He’s just following his dad’s footstep in becoming the prime minister, a childish desire to show himself equal to his dad. Thinking “from now on it’s no longer going to be fun to be the prime minister”, the story was thrown out as is. Like a kid throwing his toy away when he’s no longer interested. Even so, the big play is the visitation to the hospital for the past few months; such is the skill of a scammer. The speech ‘korona de sono munō ga hiroku kokumin’ means that Abe does not overcome the corona problem, and ‘dōyara rainen no gorin mo ayaui’ means that the next year Olympic is threatened. The criticism ‘hito no tame ni seiji yaru hito janai’ means being a politician not to serve the people, and ‘chichioya no ato o osoi, sōri ni natta hito’ means that him becoming the Prime Minister is only to follow his father’s footsteps, a former prime minister. All of these speeches belong to the expressive speech act of criticism or censure. The netizen has concluded thoroughly all kinds of information he collected regarding Abe. His critics start with Abe’s incapability in overcoming corona and next about the Olympic’s postponement. He then continues with personal critics 151Japanese Netizens’ Expressive .... (Timur Astami) saying that he, as a politician, does not devote himself to the citizen and that he rises as the prime minister due to his dad being the former prime minister. The word criticism or censure tends to be related to responses that are sometimes accompanied by descriptions of good and bad considerations of work, opinion, and so on (KBBI, 2016). Aside from the form of the speech, to understand what the speaker means, the understanding of what approach the speaker used is also needed. The ninth respondent has stated first the opening statement of the corona pandemic through ‘korona de sono muno ga hiroku kokumin’. Followed by the second statement, ’doyara rainen no gorin mo ayaui’, a topic about the Olympics in Japan. The topic these two sentences mentioned is of heavy subjects of the world’s ongoing pandemic and Japan as the host of the 2020 Olympic. He/she is continued by the statement ‘hito no tame ni seiji yaru hito janai’, which translates to ‘not a politician who does politics for the sake of others’. It is safe to say that the form and purpose of the speech is to attack or criticize and falls under the expressive speech act of censure or criticism category. The expressive speech act of censure or criticism is a form of self-expression, which conveys the feeling on the particular top news at that time, which is the resignation of PM Abe delivered in media. The form of the expression used here falls under the category of honne, a form of communication that expresses a person’s true feelings and desires. Data 10 KK’s comment: 病気は単なる言い訳だ。数々の疑 惑を闇に葬る為に、投げ出した。完全な逃げに 走っただけ。 byōki wa tan’naru iiwakeda. Kazukazu no giwaku o yaminihōmuru tame ni, nagedashita. Kanzen’na nigeni hashitta dake. Translation: Illness is only an excuse. He discards and buries allegations in the dark. And run for a complete escape. The speech ‘byouki de tannaru ii wake da’ means ‘illness is only an excuse’ and ‘kazukazuno giwaku yaminihomaru’ means ‘to discard and bury all allegations’. The two speech acts belong to the speech act of suspicion. The word suspicion means (the feeling of) disbelief or doubts against someone’s truth and honesty. The netizen mentioned that his being ill is only an excuse to divert from all the other problems. Aside from the form of the speech, to understand what the speaker means, the understanding of what approach the speaker used is also needed. The tenth respondent has stated; first, the sentence ‘byouki wa tannaru ii wake da’, followed by the second, ‘giwaku o yaminihomuru tame ni’. The second sentence is an emphasis on the word iiwake of the first sentence, which translates to all talk and no action. It is safe to say that the form and purpose of the speech is to express suspicions and falls under the expressive speech act of suspicions. The expressive speech act of suspicion is a form of self-expression, which conveys the feeling on the particular top news at that time, which is the resignation of PM Abe delivered in media. The form of the expression used here falls under the category of honne, a form of communication that expresses a person’s true feelings and desires. CONCLUSIONS Based on the data analysis result of the randomly chosen comments of the netizen, on the comment section of the opinion poll on Abe’s resignation from his prime minister position, the netizen’s expressive speech act comes in various speech forms from thank you, criticizes, insinuates, censures even suspicious. The respondents take a direct approach so that the form and purpose of several of the speeches tend to have positive meanings while the rest are negative. The form of the expression used here falls under the category of honne, a form of communication that expresses a person’s true feelings on the particular top news at that time. 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