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As Japanese people value fulfilling their responsibilities highly, they tend to feel extremely embarrassed when they forget to do something they were supposed to. So in work context, they feel uncomfortable saying 忘れてました (Wasurete mashita) = “I forgot“ as is. Therefore, they say 失念しておりました (Shitsunen shite orimashita) instead. 失念 is a Buddhist term that refers to “losing sight of what's most important.“ For Buddhist monks, this meant “forgetting the words of the Great Buddha.“ Therefore, it came to be used by ordinary people as an alternative to “I forgot.“ It sounds more formal/serious than the plain “I forgot“ ☺️! Hi, I’m Kyota, the author of Amazon Best Sellers [Folk Tales of Japan] and [Underdogs of Japanese History]. Please check out my books at ☺️:
