This paper discusses the adoption and development of language rights in Japan and assesses the theoretical and practical achievements of this approach. Language rights have received increasing attention by jurists and researchers of language policy during the last decade. This paper describes how this notion has been utilized in rights claims of autochthonous minorities, immigrants, the Deaf, and non-native-speakers of English, in Japan. It also discusses some problems of this approach which have become evident; among others, the dilemma of essentialism and the difficulty of gaining the support of the majority population. Intensifying cooperation across different academic disciplines, in relaton to concrete cases, and in the dialogue between theoreticians and practicians is suggested as a prerequisite for the further evolution and critical examination of language rights in Japan.

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This paper presents two approaches to the problem of minority education in Japanese schools where L2 children are unable to follow subject classes even though they can handle everyday Japanese: (1) the Japanese-subject interactive development approach (L2-S), in which children are taught subjects in easy Japanese; and (2) the subject-L1-Japanese interactive development approach (S-L1-L2), in which children are first taught content in their first language, and then in Japanese. Applying bilingual education research findings, this study examines these two approaches in terms of 1) what each approach materializes and how; and 2) what each approach implies for the future of these children, the parents the teachers and study supporters, and consequently for Japanese society in this process of accepting people from overseas. The following two results were found: 1) in the S-L1-L2 approach, children attended subject learning by using their freely stored cognitive, cultural and social abilities, integrated with their home country experiences and knowledge; 2) in the L2-S approach, children showed dependency on their teachers and consequently showed difficulty in utilizing their existing abilities in their learning.

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Appropriate communication between patients and physicians is a prerequisite condition for patients and their families to decide on the best medical treatment based on shared medical information. It is also essential for the establishment of a trustful relationship based on rapport and a cooperative relationship for confronting an illness. This research aimed to derive clinical politeness strategies which contribute to appropriate communication between patients and physicians and to offer these strategies for use in clinical fields and clinical education. The data used was from clinicians' job reviews and from analyses of data of both patients and clinicians. Firstly, using the clinical experience of seven clinicians, we evaluated the 15 positive politeness strategies and 10 negative politeness strategies proposed by Brown & Levinson from the point of view of appropriate clinical communication. Next, using the method of discourse analysis from the field of pragmatics, we examined clinicians' job reviews (notes of outpatient consultations) and data from observations of medical interviews. The results of a sociolinguistic survey were then added, and we derived 16 positive politeness strategies and 7 negative politeness strategies as effective for appropriate clinical communication.

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This paper looks at compliance-gaining interaction in a Japanese elderly care facility from a conversation analytical point of view. Focus is on the various ways compliance is sought for by the caring staff with getting the residents out of bed and starting the daily morning care procedures. Two extracts are discussed in detail. The analysis shows how the residents in each case display clear signs of resistance to getting up, but finally have to submit to the planned course of action pursued by the care workers. A closer look at how this is played out in interaction suggests that the residents' compliance to some degree is enforced rather than gained.

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What relationship do political discourses have with social contexts? In this paper, neo-liberalism, which has been said to have recently caused many social problems all over the world, is addressed as social context. Referring to previous researches in Britain, the speech on postal privatization by Junichiro Koizumi, who carried out structural reform in Japan, is analyzed as political discourse. The first section of the critical discourse analysis of Koizumi's speech examines the subjects of Koizumi and the Japanese people and their relationship. The analysis then discusses how the solidarity between these two parties and their lack of dialog with other political forces contributed to Koizumi's populism. The second half of the analysis points out that the neo-liberal discourse of "change" was appropriated by Koizumi and that political discourse in Japan was colonized, meaning that the discourse itself was globalized.

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The purpose of this paper is to propose that Braille is not a writing system only for the visually impaired. We can point out two special qualities of Braille as follows: (1) outstanding creativity that allows many things to be expressed by very few elements-Braille uses different combinations of merely six dot positions to express Japanese kana (the phonetic alphabet of Japanese), numerals, the Roman alphabet and even musical notes; (2) flexible, unconventional inventiveness-Braille is not bound by the linear writing style that is logical for people with sight, and it provides symbols for reading and writing through the sense of touch. What I call 'Braille power' is the integration of the creativity and inventiveness we find in Braille, and the energy to send it out into society. In this paper, I will theorize 'Braille power' as a culture of the visually impaired. In this paper, first I trace the history and role of Braille as letters for the visually impaired so that I can make a clear analysis of 'Braille power'. Second, I reevaluate Braille as a system of tactile symbols for all people. Throughout the paper, I investigate new possibilities of Braille. In conclusion, I discuss the significance of 'Braille power' for Japanese multicultural society in the 21st century.

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According to the results of the 'Japanese for Living Countrywide Survey' conducted by the National Institute for Japanese Language, only 44.0% of Japan's foreign residents can speak English. This ratio is lower than the percentage of people who can speak Japanese (62.6%), and only slightly above the 38.3% of Chinese speakers. Given these findings, it appears unjustified to assign special priority to English in administrative linguistic services. However, taking a close look at linguistic services in Hiroshima, this paper shows that English is indeed the most frequently used foreign language. Taking a critical perspective on this state of affairs, this paper argues that it would be more efficient to use "easy Japanese" rather than English in administrative linguistic services.

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Careless use of unfamiliar and difficult terms such as newly introduced loanwords and clinical vocabulary interferes with accurate communication among people from diverse backgrounds. In present-day society this is a serious language problem for which appropriate countermeasures are required. The objective of this paper is to report the process by which we tackled the language problem caused by these difficult terms. Our results are organized into two proposals: 'Suggestions for paraphrasing loanwords' and 'Suggestions for paraphrasing clinical terminology'. The process of developing these proposals was roughly as follows. (1) We conducted numerous surveys to grasp the actual extent of the problem, utilizing not only public opinions polls but also newly developed language corpora and questionnaires sent to specialists over the Internet. (2) We elaborated several types of appropriate paraphrases and explanations for each difficult term based on careful examination and discussion by a committee of specialists. On the whole, the proposals seem to have been effective in solving the problem in government offices and in hospitals, and the approach we took this time appears to be widely applicable to other similar language problems.

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The following paper examines the honorific imperative forms found in Kuwana Nikki from a sociolinguistic perspective. By applying modern methodology to a source text from the late Edo period and using supplementary sources, such as clan registers, it is possible to systematically establish patterns of usage of the honorific imperative forms according to the speaker's social position and the situation in which the conversation took place. A.) In formal situations, the forms o/go〜nasaremashi, o/go〜nasare, and 〜mashi were commonly used. B.) In casual situations, the forms nasare, nae, yare, and yae were commonly used. While each of these forms is used by speakers who are in a close relationship to each other, the form nasare is slightly more polite than nae, yare, and yae. Furthermore, the form nae is used to address superiors, yae is used to address the speaker's equals, and yare is used to address lower ranking individuals.

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This study examines self-disclosure in first-acquaintance conversations with strangers by comparing the data of eight pairs of Japanese students and eight pairs of Korean students. The results of the study are as follows: 1. Korean students tended to self-disclose more to strangers than Japanese students. 2. Both Japanese and Korean students did more objective self-disclosure (disclosure related to oneself, occupation, etc) than subjective self-disclosure (disclosure of emotions, feelings, evaluations, etc). However, Korean students tended to self-disclose more regarding emotions, feelings, and evaluations than Japanese students. 3. The content and expression of Japanese students' self-disclosure were more limited than Korean students'. On the other hand, Korean students tended to do more concrete self-disclosure and use various expressions. 4. This study indicates that the difference between Japanese and Korean students' self-disclosure is due to the different socio-cultural norms of the two countries, that is, factors like consciousness of first-acquaintance, ideas about privacy, and permissible range of self-disclosure.

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The purposes of this paper are to describe and analyze the usage of "tashikani" in synchronic spoken Tokyo Japanese based on an analysis of everyday conversation among university students, and to consider the linguistic change of "tashikani" by looking at usage from a diachronic perspective. Synchronic analysis revealed that 214 out of a total of 239 "tashikani" uses appeared at turn-beginning, and that 191 out of 239 were uttered in independent ways, such as "tashikani" constructing a turn by itself. It was also found that there were three types of activities implemented by sequences of utterance units including "tashikani": (1) requesting confirmation (of whether one remembers correctly) → confirming, (2) raising a question → sharing the question, and (3) expressing a thought → accepting the thought. Furthermore, two hypotheses of "tashikani" usage change were formed and explained. The results of the study suggest the possibility that they are explainable in terms of concepts like pragmatic strengthening and increasing efficiency in communication.

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