| Abstract: | Curiously, in the word ki, we find that the Japanese have internalized physical energy into a felt-feeling (e.g., a sense of vital potency and aliveness), thereby significantly expanding the substance of the T phase of the self. Of conceptual interest here is that in the word ki—used as a root word to indicate and connect elementary feelings and thought processes—the Japanese have reified ‘energy’ into a subjective entity that moves the individual to become both activator and respondent of interactional processes. The general awareness of ki by the people themselves is evidenced in various facets of their personal consensual life—from socialization practices to formal presentation. In closing, the author attempts to link ki to Mead's ‘impulse’ concludes that (a) ki is more substantive and active than ‘impulse’ in the movement of the social act; and (b) in contrast to that of Mead, the Japanese model provides an explicit conceptual demonstration of the substantive role of the ‘I’ as well as affective elements in social interaction. |
