The number of people teaching Japanese to
foreigners living in Japan has climbed steadily,
reaching an all-time high of 16,000 as of November 1994
according to a survey by the Agency for Cultural
Affairs. Community housewives and other volunteers
account for about 40% of this total, and there are a
growing number of cases in which Japanese families that
have returned from living overseas get involved as a
family in teaching Japanese to foreigners, indicating a
rapid growth of volunteerism among ordinary citizens.
The survey covered people teaching Japanese in
universities, Japanese language schools, and community
language classes; those teaching it in elementary and
secondary schools were omitted, as were television and
radio programs. The survey shows that the largest
number, 7,200, are educators of various sorts who teach
Japanese on the side; 6,400 are community volunteers;
2,500 are professional, full-time Japanese teachers in
universities and other institutions. The 16,000 total
represents an increase of nearly 5,000, or about 45%,
over the previous survey.
The number of full-time teachers has remained on
about the same level for the past five years; the
growing number of volunteers has led to a rise in the
total number of Japanese language teachers. In fact, of
the 1,500 institutions undertaking Japanese language
education (a 32% increase from the year before), the
number of general educational facilities, such as
private Japanese language schools and community classes
in which volunteers teach foreign adults, has leaped
from 192 to 430.
At the same time, the number of foreigners learning
Japanese in Japan has reached a record high of 83,220
(up 8%). The largest numbers are from China (22,019),
South Korea (12,739), the United States (11,151), and
Taiwan (5,009). In the past decade the number of
institutions teaching Japanese has increased 5.5 times,
the number of teachers 5.9 times, and the number of
students 2.9 times.
According to a Japan Foundation study of the
situation overseas in fiscal 1993, about 1.6 million
people are studying Japanese in 99 countries, where a
total of 6,800 institutions and 21,000 teachers are
involved in teaching the language. The number of
learners has increased 2.8 times in ten years, the
number of institutions 2.6 times, and the number of
teachers 2.9 times. No longer is the Japanese language
the exclusive property of the Japanese people.
(The above article, edited by Japan Echo Inc., is based on domestic Japanese news sources. It is offered for reference purposes and does not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government.)