Language issues for multicultural Japan

Voices and Stories

Many foreign children in Japan enrolled in special-needs classes for 'language' reasons An article about why there is a high number of children with foreign roots in special-needs classes , including the story of Nayara Natsumi Kinjo, a Japanese-Brazilian person whose teacher at elementary school wrongly told her she might have a disability. Mainichi, 12 Apr 2022

Foreign children slipping through the cracks of Japan's education system This article looks at the situation of Maria and other children who are attending a nursery school in Hamamatsu City even though they are 6 years old or over. An NHK survey found that out of 120,000 foreign children between the ages of 6 and 14 living in Japan  about 8,400 are believed to have not attended school. NHK World. 17 Apr 2019.

Nepali girl's hard road getting into Japan junior high in area lacking language support Rabina Dangol was born in Nepal's capital Kathmandu and raised there by her grandparents until, at age 13 and with no Japanese skills, she was brought to the western Tokyo city of Akishima to live with her 41-year-old mother Shanti. Her story is one example of the difficulties faced by foreign children unable to speak Japanese as they try to lay the foundations of their life in a new country. Mainichi, 2019.

Efforts underway to save Ainu language and culture A article from the Japanese government promoting their official approach to language and culture revitalisation, it includes more about Sekine Maya san's story and her work to teach the Ainu language on You Tube, Japan Times, 2022. 

＜平取＞アイヌ文化学習を広めるには　平取町教委の初代担当係長・関根健司さん（５１）　A short interview with Sekine Kenji san, who is not Ainu hmself, but has become a leader in the teaching of the Ainu language and is a curator of the Nibutani Ainu Cultural Museum. He is Sekine Maya's father. 先住民族関連ニュース 2022

Foreign student flourishes in school Japanese scheme, but resources uneven nationally This article tells the story of Ianys Ramirez, who was born in Japan with a Japanese-Peruvian father and a Romanian mother, and his struggles to learn Japanese and succeed in education in Japan. Mainichi, 2019.

Explanation and Analysis

Language Support for Foreign Residents

In Japan’s Okinawa, saving indigenous languages is about more than words This article looks at the current situation and history of Okinawan and other Ryukuan languages, at discussions about their connections with Okinawan identity, and briefly at debates about what it means to save an endangered language. Washington Post, 29 Nov 2014.

Editorial: Japan's education system is failing kids with foreign roots There are many children in Japan with foreign roots who, because they don't speak Japanese well, cannot take regular classes at school. Mainichi, 19 Apr, 2022.

The Making of an Underclass: Japan’s Neglect of Immigrant Education Japan is neglecting the basic welfare of its foreign school-age children as a consequence of policies that fail to provide proper needed support to non-Japanese residents, thus denying their children an appropriate quality education, writes Kojima Yoshimi of the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. nippon.com, 2022. Japanese version here: 日本に暮らす外国籍の子どもたちに就学支援を：平等に教育を受けられる体制づくりが急務

Foreign kids in Japan relying on volunteers for language support Local Japanese language classes are playing an important role for many foreign children in Japan, and it is hoped that that they can help make up for a lack of dedicated language instruction at regular schools. Yet these classes are operated by volunteers, so students' study time is limited, and there remain many outstanding issues, such as the lack of a framework to systematically teach Japanese. Mainichi, 2019.

Shrinking Japan: Lack of Japanese language education hobbling integration of foreign kids This article looks at difficulties foreign children face with being accepted for schools and universities in Japan because of lack of Japanese language support and at the work of the Tabunka Free School, run by nonprofit organization Multicultural Center Tokyo, which helps such students complete their high school education. Mainichi, 2018. Japanese version.

Foreign-born children in Japan struggle to enter universities This article looks at the challenges with taking university entrance exams for foreign students living in Japan who can't use the special entrance exams for foreign students living outside of japan. Nikkei Asia, 2022. You may need to use a VPN to read this article. 

川口のクルド人日本語教室 ボランティア頼み This is the first part of an article about the Japanese language and study support group for Kurdish families in Kawaguchi and Warabi. You have to pay thread the whole article. Mainichi Shimbun, 12 Jun 2017.

新型コロナ＞異国の学び場 待ち焦がれ 川口で日本語教室が再開 An article about the Japanese language support group for Kurdish people in Kawaguchi Shi and how it has responded to the coronavirus pandemic. Tokyo Shimbun, 30 May 2020.

域と生きる ～みんなが共に生きる社会とは？～ The ボランティア活動 section of this page has information about the support group for Kurdish people in Kawaguchi and includes an interview with Komuro san, who runs the group. NHK 高校講座。

Int'l residents, Japanese volunteers in Fukuoka join 'easy English' workshop for disasters Aiming to better convey information to foreigners during times of emergency, a seminar including a workshop on speaking in "easy English" was held in this southwestern Japan city late last month. Mainichi, 2023.

Despite staff shortages, foreign care workers still face barriers to jobs in Japan This article focuses on the story of Reia Zafra who is a Filipino care worker in Japan and argues that the biggest barrier for foreign care workers is Japanese language abilty especially reading and writing. Mainichi, 31 Aug 2018

Foreign Care Workers in Japan: A Policy Without a Vision This articles criticizes changes in the law in 2017 to make it easier for foreign care workers to work in Japan because they do not solve the long-term problems in japan's system of care work. It also looks at reasons why foreign care workers leave their jobs in Japan with the second part focusing on language issues. Nippon.com, 13 Feb 2017.

Easy Japanese / Yasashiii Nihongo

'Easy Japanese' advocate takes to Twitter to spread the (simplified) word It is no secret that Japanese can be a difficult language, and getting a handle on it is one major hurdle that the growing number of foreign workers coming to Japan must overcome. However, one Japanese language instructor here is using Twitter to nudge her compatriots into using "easy Japanese" when speaking with newcomers to smooth communications. Mainichi, 28 April 2019. See also

• Editorial: 'Easy Japanese' spurs communication with foreign residents

• Mainichi holds symposium on using 'easy Japanese' with foreigners

'It's OK not to use English': 'Simple Japanese' pushed as common language with foreigners This is the new catchphrase the municipal government of Yanagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture, created with advertising giant Dentsu Inc. for their "yasashii nihongo (simple Japanese) tourism" project that began last year. The article also looks at use of simple Japanese in other projects in Mie Prefecture and Yokohama City. Mainichi, 5 Nov 2017.

A less polite version of Japanese is helping foreigners stay safe during disasters This article looks at the use of Yasashi Nihongo in Soja City to help foreigners in disasters, and also at the growing use of Yasashi Nihongo in hospitals. Quartz, 21 Jul 2021.

EDITORIAL: Foreigners need to be included in response efforts to disasters "Japanese society urgently needs to incorporate people who have come from abroad into its efforts to prepare for disasters and establish systems to support relief activities and evacuations in emergency responses. The efforts should involve both Japanese and foreign nationals working as partners, not as aid providers and recipients." Asahi Shimbun, 17 Jan, 2019.

Ainu Language

Will the Ainu Language Die? This article goes a very basic overview of the situation of the Ainu language and Ainu history. Talking It Global, 31 May 2004.

Okinawan/Ryukyuan Languages

In Japan’s Okinawa, saving indigenous languages is about more than words This article looks at the current situation and history of Okinawan and other Ryukuan languages, at discussions about their connections with Okinawan identity, and briefly at debates about what it means to save an endangered language. Washington Post, 29 Nov 2014.

Language revitalization and liberation This short article looks at the history of Okinawa, at Ryukyan languages and their decline, and explains that one reason for this decline was the use of the Japanese language as a form of protest during the period of US occupation. Languages on the Move,  2 Jun, 2011.

Okinawan (沖縄口 / ウチナーグチ / Uchinaaguchi) Includes links to online lessons in Uchinaaguchi and dictionaries Omniglot, No date.

Assimilation Practices in Okinawa This piece explains how Japan tried to create a strong sense of Japanese identity in Okinawa from the Meiji Period onwards and how Okinawan languages were suppressed in favour of Japanese. Okinawa Peace Network of Los Angeles, 2005.

The Ryukyus and the New, But Endangered, Languages of Japan A long article by Fija Bairon, Matthias Brenzinger and Patrick Heinrich "UNESCO recognizes six languages of the Luchu Islands [Ryukyu Islands] of which two are severely endangered, Yaeyama and Yonaguni, and four are classified as definitely endangered, Amami, Kunigami, Uchinaa [Okinawa] and Miyako". This article looks at languages in the Ryukyuan islands, their use, and issues and language rights and whether there is still palace for these languages. The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, 9 May 2009.

>>> More on Okinawan language issues and policies >>>

Endangered languages in Japan

Japan: Eight endangered languages in the Japanese archipelago This article reports on UNESCO's dsignation of eight languages in Japan an endangered and shares the views of speakers of these languages in Amamioshima and Hachijojima and of a blogger in Hokkaido on the Ainu language. Global Voices.

Efforts to preserve eight endangered languages discussed at summit in Yoron Experts on the eight languages in Japan considered in danger of becoming extinct by the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported on and discussed efforts being taken to preserve and pass down the languages. Ryukyu Shimpo, 14 Nov 2016.

Japanese Dialects Explained by Each Region Give some examples of language used in different dialects around Japan but doesn't anyalse them or explain their historical situation. Japan Winder Travel Blog.

Preserving and restoring minority languages and cultures facing threat of extinction Looks at the international framework for preserving endangered languages, especially indigenous languages, and some efforts made in Japan to preserve and restore the Ainu and Ryukyuan languages. Waseda Weekly, Jul 2017.

Varieties of Japanese, standard Japanese and Japanese 'dialects'

Linguistic Treasures: The Value of Dialects This article considers changing attitudes to regional varieties of Japanese that were once looked own upon, explains their historical roots and their value today, considers the threat to dialects today from standard Japanese, and looks at the situation in Tohoku where the decline in Tohoku-ben was worsened by the earthquake and tsunami of 2011 but efforts are being taken to revive it. nippon.com, 23 Mar 2020.    

How was a Japanese 'common/standard language' chosen? A short series of Questions and Answers that  looks at how Tokyo dialect came to be considered standard Japanese and then spread/enforced on the rest of the country as part of the creation of a modern Japanese nation in the Meiji period. Japanese language.

Japanese Dialects "Japan has a wide variety of distinctive regional dialects. While the spread of standard Japanese, referred to as hyōjungo, has made it easier for people from different areas to communicate, many feel that local vernaculars convey greater warmth and friendliness". This article explains the range of dialects in Japan, differences between them, and the process of standardisation based on the Japanese spoken in the Yamanote district of Tokyo. nippon.com, 4 Feb 2017.

Japanese dialects This article explains Japanese dialects in terms of four main groups - Eastern, Western, Kyushu and Hachijo - as well as mentioning the emergence of Okinawan Japanese, and looking at specific local varieties. It looks at little at the processes of language standardisdation in Meiji Japan and the connectuion betwen dialects and local identities. Wikipedia.

Organisations

Stand by Me / すたんどばいみー is a 'toujisha' group supporting children with foreign roots (both with mother tongue language education and support for their Japanese education) in Icho Danchi (Yokohama and Yamoto cities). See also this older webpage: Stand By Me  Part of Ed.Venture 教育支援グループ

多文化まちづくり工房 is an organisation based at Icho Danchi in Yokohama/Yamato cities which provides Japanese language classes for children there with foreign roots, taught by volunteers including university students.

Support 21 / さぽうと21 is an volunteer organisation based in Meguro, Tokyo, that provides counselling about living in Japan, scholarships for education, and Japanese lessons for refugees, nikkeijin (descendants of Japanese) and returnees, including those from China, living in Japan. It has developed out of the Association for Aid and Relief which was started in 1979 to help refugees to Japan from Indochina and which has now become an international aid organisation.

Multicultural Center Tokyo (in English) / 多文化共生センター東京（日本語）”Multicultural Center Tokyo organizes and implements programs for people with multicultural backgrounds, mainly designed for children and women”, in three areas: education, child-rearing and multicultural understanding. It runs a 'Multicultural Free School' to "support children from other countries who wish to go to Japanese high school with Japanese language study".

Project on the Elaboration of Educational Materials for Foreign Children from Center for Multilingual Multicultural Education and Research, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.

The Multicultural Community Learning Support Center also at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies contributes to the education of our university's students through encouraging and supporting them to engage in learning-assistance volunteer activities for children from foreign countries, as well as, through promoting human resource development to meet the demands of contemporary multilingual/multicultural society.

TOMO2 Hamamatsu Foreign Children's Educational Support Organisation is an NPO which sends teachers of Japanese to schools in Hamamatsu to help foreign children.

Education Support Information for Foreign Children by Hamamatsu NPO Network Center (N-Pocket) "We made this website for foreign children be able to receive appropriate education and live in harmony in Japan. On these pages, we provide information about the difference of education system between Japan and foreign countries, senior high schools and organization which works to support the immigrants." Includes information on Japanese language classes.

Seeking a Better Society for Children of Multicultural Backgrounds An issue of of Takarabako, that looks "at the ways in which efforts are being made by schools, citizens, and government to resolve the problems facing children of multicultural backgrounds", in Okubo (Shinjuku, Tokyo), Nagata Ward, Osaka, and Ota City, Gunma.