Departments
Shifting Tenses in Japanese Narratives
When writing a narrative in English, a sudden change in tense would be considered ungrammatical or awkward. In a Japanese texts, however, tense-shifting is common.
As an example, read the following excerpt from the novel 黒字浮上！最終指令：出向社長奮闘の記録 by 猿谷雅治:
九月二十日の給料日、沢井はデスクで自分の今月の給与明細表を見ていた。支給総額から所得税その他の控除額が並んでいる。その控除額の最後に「その他」という欄があって、そこに「１００円」と打ち込まれているのを見て、沢井は苦笑いした。
Source: 字浮上！最終指令 pg. 86
You will notice that the verb in the first sentence is in the past tense: 見ていた = “was looking at”. The verb in the second sentence is in the present tense: 並んでいる = “is lined up. “ The final sentence then shifts back to the past tense: 苦笑いした = “gave a bitter laugh.”
This kind of tense-shifting would get you a paper full of red marks in an English composition class, but Japanese texts frequently contain multiple tenses in the same paragraph. So don’t become alarmed when writers do this.
Notes:
黒字 （くろじ） in the black; a state of profitability
浮上する （ふじょう する） to surface; to recover
給料日 （きゅうりょうび） payday
給与明細表 （きゅうよ めいさいひょう） wages breakdown chart
支給総額 （しきゅうそうがく） gross wages paid
所得税その他の控除額 （しょとくぜい そのた の こうじょがく） income taxes and other deductions
Xの最後に （X の さいご に）at the end of X; after X
欄 （らん） column
自分の（じぶんの） his own
苦笑い（にがわらい） a bitter laugh
打ち込まれている（うちこまれている）is driven into (figurative usage in this case)
沢井 （さわい） surname
猿谷雅治 （さるや まさはる） name of author
If you are learning Japanese for career purposes, you might consider picking up this novel. Although this is a work of fiction, it provides a good introduction to many aspects of so-called “Japanese-style management.” The book was written for adult native-speakers, so it requires fairly good reading skills； but the author’s style is very straightforward, and the book should be within the reach of many second- and third-year students of Japanese.
The Amazon link to 黒字浮上！最終指令 is here.