permissive causative

The Japanese causative ~せる/~させる shading toward the permissive sense ('let / allow / fail to prevent / have / commission') rather than the coercive sense ('make / force'). Context — including the relative status of subject and agent and whether the agent is named — decides which reading applies; tilts permissive when the causee benefits from or willingly participates in the action. Both senses share the same morphology.