Many Japanese language learners feel that Chinese characters are difficult. However, an examination of westerners who came to Japan shortly after its opening shows that some of them took advantage of their knowledge of Chinese characters. This paper introduces this facet of the Japanese language learning environment of this period through the examples of the diplomat Ernest Mason Satow, the Japanese language specialist E. G. Spalvin, and the missionary Nikolai Kasatkin.

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In December 2013, the Center for Japanese Language Eduction, Rikkyo University held an international symposium titled "Expectations of Overseas Universities for Japanese Language Education Facilities in Japan.": This meeting debated the meaning of globalization, and considered the roles that Japanese language education centers could play in global human resource development at universities that have organized "global human resource development" programs. It gathered lectures involved in Japanese language education in North America, France, China, and Australia, thus giving the discussion a "global" atmosphere. The program focused primarily on two issues: How to improve the position of Japanese language education facilities, and the means of evaluating the roles and functions of such facilities. These issues were debated in a plenary discussion that drew the views of the inverted panelists as well as those of other participants. The report focuses on the concrete roles, functions, and problems involved in developing Japanese language centers that can make a meaningful contribution to promoting globalization in universities, as discussing in this symposium.

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This article examines how consciousness of Japanese undergraduate students has been influenced and transformed through university education. University period is a transition time for students to prepare themselves to go out to the real world, and students tend to sensitively react to their experiences in their everyday lives. They are searching for the way to apply their academic learning to practical knowledge in the society, and are searching for their life path, meaning of their life, and what difference they can make to the world. How students spend their university days significantly affects their worldview and how they relate themselves to the world. By using data based upon the semi-structured interview with each student, I will examine the factors which have influenced the consciousness of undergraduate students from academic, social, and personal perspectives. I have attempted to reveal 'students' voices' about their university lives, by using the qualitative research method.

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The purpose of this study is to provide information on how to arrange the reading materials, as well as to inform teachers about how they can provide the support that learners of Japanese may need in the extensive reading classroom. The data gathered from this research will give an insight into the kinds of reading materials students chose to read, the amount that they read, and comments that they made after reading. This paper confirms that, due to the lack of appropriate materials, for the purpose of learners' developing good reading habits continuously, teachers need to present for authentic materials suitable for the learner's Japanese level on the basis of what each learner is interested in, especially for those who are above the intermediate level. As for the teacher's support, teachers need to provide support to record the progress and any distinctive traits that each learner is showing during their learning period.

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