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係りの山田は、すぐに参ります。
Yamada, the person in charge, is coming soon.
I have a question, why is this sentence from my Japanese book stated in a humble way instead of an honorific way? The humble word for come is:まいります/うかがいます
The honorific words for come are:
いらっしゃいます
いつ私の国へいらっしゃいましたか。
おいでになります
いつ私の国においでになりますか。
先ほど見えましたよ。
So why is the sentence stated using humble?
Humble is 話す人がする (謙譲語)
Honorific is 聞く人がする (尊敬語)
This is because 山田 is an in-group person in this situation. As a rule, when conversing with an external person, you need to use humble language to describe the actions of "insiders". Even when you explain what your president does, you have to use the humble language if you are talking with an external guest.
Honorific speech in Japanese
When using polite or respectful forms, the point of view of the speaker is shared by the speaker's in-group (内 uchi), so in-group referents do not take honorifics. For example, members of one's own company are referred to with humble forms when speaking with an external person; similarly, family members of the speaker are referred to humbly when speaking to guests. Similarly, the out-group (外 soto) addressee or referent is always mentioned in the polite style (though not necessarily with honorifics).
