Why does it say ジャパニーズポテトチップス instead of 日本のポテトチップス?
The English language is written in the Latin alphabet, not katakana. And you would expect words written in a Japanese writing system to be in the Japanese language.
I’ve had this experience before where a resaurant window had a sign saying ジャパニーズフード instead of 日本料理
4 comments
Because it’s a stylistic thing? “Potato chips” is already written in katakana and sure they could have said 日本の, but writing things in katakana/Japanglish is often thought to sound “cooler” than just writing in plain Japanese.
It’s something you encounter all the time and is very common in Japan, choosing to evoke a different nuance/vibe based on whether you write it in kanji vs hiragana vs katakana.
I think its because they want it to sound exotic. If its written in kana, it sounds more foreign and exotic, such as words like スターダスト
Because Japanese have 4 ways to write most words, it’s all about style and impact. Typically Japanese will be written with Kanji first as more formal adult style, katakana for foreign words and impact to grab the reader as “exotic”, and hiragana as more childlike or simple /nostalgia to remind one of youth. Lastly romaji could be used, but because this is hard for many Japanese to read it is often not used or has furigana to explain how to read it. In that case it’s for impact again. In you example, ポテトチップス is going to be in katakana because it’s a foreign loan word (but could be hiragana for impact / style, though unlikely as it looks “off”) then the maker decided to lean into the exoticness by putting ジャパニーズ, but they could have written any way they want, it’s just marketing to catch the reader’s eye. You noticed it, so I guess it’s working.
Same as why its コミック instead of 漫画 in bookstores and フルーツ大福 and not 果物大福.
They just want it to sound cooler and exotic.