Overseas Japanese Language Learners are Increasing!

According to a Japan Foundation survey carried out in 2003, 2,356,745 people are studying the Japanese language in 127 countries and regions. Those learning through Japanese TV and radio language programs or private lessons are not included in this figure. The number of overseas Japanese language education institutes is 12,222, and teachers number 33,124. Compared with the figure of 127,167 surveyed in 1979, Japanese language students have increased 18.5 times, educational institutes 10.7 times and teachers 8.1 times.

Viewed geographically, 61% of learners are centered in East Asia, followed by Oceania at 17.6% and Southeast Asia at 8.7%. The country with the most Japanese language students is Korea, whose 894,000 students make up 37.9 % of the worldwide figure. Second is China at 388,000 (16.5%), followed by Australia, 382,000 (16.2%), USA, 140,000 (5.9%), and Taiwan, 129,000 (5.5%). Indonesia, Thailand, New Zealand, Canada and Brazil are ranked next.

Language study is closely connected with economics. Chinese language fever is now increasing in some countries due to the recent outstanding level of economic growth in China. Students of Japanese are increasing in spite of Japan's economic recession. Behind this is the fact that besides Japan's economy, Japanese culture, especially Japanese pop culture including animation, manga, games, movies and fashion are being accepted worldwide.

Japanese are also not confident in the usage of honorific expressions
While the number of non-Japanese learning Japanese is increasing, the Japanese language boom among Japanese is continuing and books related to the Japanese language have been selling well. On the other hand, it has become clear that Japanese are not using their language correctly. In the "2004 Public Survey Regarding Language" conducted by the Agency of Cultural Affairs, 81.1% of respondents think honorific expressions are used incorrectly and 37.11% are not confident in their own usage of honorific expressions.

For the question "What mistakes do you think you make?" 55.2% answered "usage of honorific words, modest words and polite words"; 51.1% answered "They are not used when necessary"; and 35.6% said "Polite words are used when not necessary." It is said that honorifics are difficult for non-Japanese to use, but now it has become apparent that they are also troublesome for Japanese.

For every survey of this kind, the result "Japanese is corrupt" is reported. It is often pointed out that this is greatly due to the influence of English. Today it is more common for Japanese to use "Kamera" (camera) instead of "Shashinki" and "baggu" (bag) instead of "Kaban." On the other hand, lots of odd or improper terms are used in company names, products and advertisements. For instance, for "apartment," many different names are used such as "mansion," "messon," "heights," "residence," "palace," "co-op" and "casa."

As it is difficult for contemporary people to read old documents, languages (not only Japanese) are changing little by little. Japan not only imported kanji from China, but created hiragana and katakana from them. Even if English words and usages are adopted into the Japanese language, the government and scholars will not be able to control them. As much as prices are determined by supply and demand, words too can only survive as they become accepted by people.

Back to List Page