Japanese Citizens’ Awareness of the Overseas Spread of the Japanese Language

Based on the Results of an Online Survey

Abstract

The overseas spread of the Japanese language is regarded as a “priority area” for international cultural exchange activities. To date, however, no large-scale and comprehensive investigation has been undertaken focusing on Japanese citizens’ awareness regarding activities for spreading the Japanese language.

In light of this situation, the author carried out an online survey of awareness regarding activities for spreading the Japanese language among approximately 5,400 participating adult men and women of Japanese nationality. The results indicate that activities for increasing the number of Japanese language learners (i.e., efforts to spread the Japanese language) were not necessarily regarded as a priority area among international cultural exchange activities as a whole, and were moreover not highly evaluated in comparison with the phenomenon of an increase in the number of Japanese language learners, particularly among younger demographics. Furthermore, differences in generational awareness were found in regards to both efforts to spread the Japanese language and the phenomenon of an increase in the number of Japanese language learners. This paper gives an overview of these survey results.