ENGLISH LANGUAGE INFLUENCES IN JAPAN
English Language Influences in Japan
Nature of Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition
Megan Rowan
Arizona State University
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ENGLISH LANGUAGE INFLUENCES IN JAPAN
Abstract
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The country of Japan endeavors to be bilingual with the use of English as well as their native language of Japanese. Students learn English in their classes from 5th grade through college, and often take classes outside of their regular education in order to continue learning. The impact can be seen nationwide through television, books, stores, and even borrowed words such as “homu runu” for “home run” or “hamubaga” for “hamburger.” This paper will cover the impact that the
English language has had on the people and culture of Japan.
Keywords: bilingual, Japan, Japanese, impact, English

ENGLISH LANGUAGE INFLUENCES IN JAPAN
Introduction
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The writer of this paper, as of the time of writing it, has been living and working in the country of Japan for a year and a half. Before this she studied the Japanese language in college for three years. Through her studies she was able to understand the immense impact that the English language has on the culture, people, and even of the language of Japan. This paper will address different areas on to just how the English language affects the country.
The paper will look into what the English language is doing in Japan and just what this means for the future of the country. Is English beneficial or is it hurting the culture? Is Japan learning English in the best way it can? How do older generations see the sudden interest in the
English language? This paper will address these questions in the sections explained below.
The first section will briefly cover the history of foreign languages in Japan. The second section will discuss how the English language has impacted the people and the culture of Japan.
The third section will focus on how English is taught in the Japanese educational system. Finally, the fourth will go over how English is used in the media.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE INFLUENCES IN JAPAN
The History of Foreign Languages in Japan
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Before the opening of Japan by Matthew C. Perry in 1854 through the Convention of
Kanagawa (Perry 1856), Japan was a very introverted country that chose willingly to keep the gates of its land closed. Interaction with any people who did not come from within the country was considered illegal, to the point of execution at times. The end goal of this was to ensure that Japan stay pure in regards with its culture, people, and especially its language. There was a strong desire from the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled from 1600 until 1868, that Japan stayed closed like this forever.
Due to this, a general idea that outsiders were a negative influence on the country spread throughout the people. The period in which the country was closed was so long, that many generations lived without even knowing about the world outside of their country. Although negative connotations have decreased over the years since Matthew C. Perry arrived and forced open the gates of Japan, there are still small traces of negativity today. This can be seen in the rallies to re-close the gates of Japan or the protests on the increasing number of foreigners, though many of these are widely unsupported.
Prior to the Convention of Kanagawa, however, there were a few parts of the country that would illegally allow foreigners to teach other languages, and one such place was the city of
Nagasaki, on the south-western island of Kyushu in Japan. This city had a major trading port and

ENGLISH LANGUAGE INFLUENCES IN JAPAN 5 was the only such one in Japan that was allowed to cater to foreign countries. From the allowance to interact with outside peoples, a positive relationship was developed with the Dutch, and at one time the people of Nagasaki allowed Dutch peoples to live in their city to teach their native Dutch language. Nagasaki being so far away from the capital city, it was never discovered, or at least ignored. This event, among others, resulted in Dutch being the major Western language studied in
Japan until 1853, when it was replaced with English (Kubota 1998).
Due to the interactions that Nagasaki had with foreign countries, it became one of the most widely diverse and openly accepting of foreign languages, culture, and people in all of the cities of Japan. The author of this paper is currently living in the prefecture of Nagasaki and has noticed how open it is to bilingualism and language education through its large number of assistant language teachers, language programs outside of regular schooling, and language certification tests.
The positive view that the people of Nagasaki take on foreign languages has spread over the entire country of Japan. There are newspapers, TV shows, educational programs, stores, and much more all given in foreign languages, the most common one being English. Japanese citizens are no longer overly surprised to see foreigners walking through their cities, and many times start conversations with them using the English they learned in school. The negative view that spread

ENGLISH LANGUAGE INFLUENCES IN JAPAN 6 from the period when Japan closed its gates has been replaced with a desire to learn more about foreign cultures, peoples, and especially languages.
The Impact of English on the People and Culture of Japan
On the outside, it is easy to see the influences the English language has had on the country of Japan. Many store names are written using the English alphabet, TV shows are presented entirely in English, English is taught in schools from elementary school through college, and the number of loan words written in the foreign word specific Japanese alphabet of katakana is ever increasing. There are even educational programs available on television for younger children with the goal of starting their English education early, as well as language classes catered to the elderly and taught for free. This appears to be positive, showing a desire to use English as well as to learn it, but there is another side that is not as easy to see.
There is a strong fear in Japan that the English language is “dominating the country” and
“watering down” the Japanese language with the number of katakana loan words that are being used. Kutoba (1998) gives an excellent example of this is his paper in a letter written describing the use of katakana words in welfare papers: “…the writer deplores the official use of katakana words for welfare policies for the elderly. They include phonetic transcriptions of English words such as
`home helper, `short stay,' `day service,' and `hospital,' which can be expressed using Japanese

ENGLISH LANGUAGE INFLUENCES IN JAPAN 7 equivalents.” This illustrates the difficulties that the older generations of Japan have with the
“watering down” of the Japanese language.
The media in Japan is starting to lean more towards the use of katakana words, even if these words have Japanese equivalencies. There are even instances where English is utilized, making it nearly impossible for someone who has no knowledge on the language to understand the content. For example, the writer of this paper read a Japanese flyer that was advertising food at a local establishment. (The Japanese language will be presented in italics) The sign read, “ koko de
EAT! Come on!” It could be difficult for someone who cannot understand English to comprehend what the flyer is trying to convey. This is just a very small example of the use of English that can leave much to assumption.
Even though the English language has met with some resistance in Japan, overall there is very little push to have it removed. The media and younger generations have come to accept it and utilize it as much in their daily lives as possible. It is difficult to walk down the street in a Japanese city and not hear an English word thrown into the conversations of most people passing by.
Although it is difficult to say that the English language is “eating away” at the Japanese language, it is definitely becoming a regular part of its society.
English in Education

ENGLISH LANGUAGE INFLUENCES IN JAPAN 8
The writer of this paper is an assistant language teacher at elementary schools and a middle school in Japan. She also has a co-worker who works at two of the local high schools, under the same teaching position. The writer’s job is to assist the Japanese teachers of English by presenting the English language with a native speaking level, as well as teach about the culture of her country. She has been doing this for over a year and a half now and has learned a lot about how
English education is handled from the elementary to high school levels.
First of all, at the elementary school levels, English is not treated as something that should be overly studied or learned. The students are provided a very small base of the language through work that focuses around games and other fun activities, some that require little or no use of
English at all. Teachers are also not allowed to teach students how to write, and since the teachers must follow the curriculum mapped out for them, reading is also heavily ignored. Basically, students memorize a few phrases, but overall learn very little. The point of this is to instill the idea that English is fun and interesting, instead of overly taxing and complicated.
At the middle school level, students begin their difficult and time consuming studies of the English language. The textbook that is used introduces a wide range of grammar points that the teachers have to create lessons for, since the book does not provide a complete guide for teaching the entire course and does not expand on what it introduces. Games are not a part of the textbook either, meaning that the only time a fun activity is introduced is when the teacher or the assistant

ENGLISH LANGUAGE INFLUENCES IN JAPAN 9 language teacher creates one. It is during this time that English becomes one of the main subjects for the students and is studied on a daily basis.
As for high schools, it really depends on where a student decides to go. In Japan, students are not required to continue their education after they graduate from middle school, although more than 90% decide to go on to high school. Due to this, high schools have entrance exams, many of which are as difficult as college entrance exams. The type of high school a student enters will determine their English education. For the local high schools in the writer’s area, students are allowed to take two paths during their senior year, they can choose the path to college, or the path to finding a job after they graduate. If they choose college, they continue their English education as they had in middle school, but if they choose the job finding course, English is usually dropped.
At the college levels, it again depends on what type of college a student decides to attend.
There are colleges that cater specifically to learning foreign languages and others that may not even offer language courses. Many students, however, are going into fields that often require
English, such as the medical field. Blair (1997) describes this in his quote, “Medical researchers who want to get responses to their work find it more effective to publish in English than in
Japanese. Scholars in fields, such as the social sciences and humanities do not utilize foreign languages in publishing their work to the same extent as those in scientific and technological fields and, as a result, find themselves linguistically isolated from their foreign colleagues.”

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For students that choose to look for work after high school, their English education ends, unless they decide to take courses on their own time. These classes are often referred to as ekaiwa , or English conversation classes. The writer is also a teacher at one of these classes and they vary significantly based on what the levels of the students and what they desire to learn. Some classes require a fee, and these often contain a curriculum and scheduling based on the levels of the students, much like at a regular high school.
English has become one of the main subjects in Japanese public education and has even entered into entrance exams for high schools and well as colleges. More and more certification programs and proficiency tests are being implemented throughout the entire country for students of all ages. English has become an important and integrated part of the Japanese educational system and this adds to the impact that the language is having on the culture and people of Japan.
English in the Media
This topic has been brought up a few times already through the course of this paper.
English use in the media of Japan is growing rapidly as more and more interest grows in foreign countries and cultures. Since the English language is presented in Japan as an important international language of the world (Kubota 1998), the interest is both commercial and social.
People feel that they can both learn more about the world as well as gain more influence in it by learning the English language. As Kwan (2002) states, “…most Japanese believe English

ENGLISH LANGUAGE INFLUENCES IN JAPAN 11 proficiency is now more important than ever, if Japan is to stay at the forefront of the information-technology revolution, in a globalized economy.”
Kubota (1998) describes the use of the English language in the media of Japan in the following quote, “Many products, institutions, events, and so on are named in English. English is used for designs for clothes and personal goods, while it is rare to see words written in other scripts such as Arabic, Chinese, and Korean.” It is quite common to see people wearing shirts that boast
English sentences or iconic figures from the Unites States or other English speaking countries.
Even if people are unable to understand what the English actually means, it is still considered to be
“cool” to wear clothing with English words printed on it.
Blair (1997) describes English in the media further with this quote, “Somewhere between junior high and high school a great many Japanese develop a taste for the cosmopolitan sounds and images that foreign music and movies provide. CD and video rental shops carry large stocks of contemporary selections and old standards from outside of Japan, especially from America. Even televisions often have a multiplex sound system that allows viewers to listen to foreign programs in the original language.” English has essentially become a popular trend with younger generations through what they see of it in the media.
Overall, the use of English in the media is becoming a part of the culture of Japan. It adds a flavor that presents foreign and new experiences and expands on the same trends that just a few

ENGLISH LANGUAGE INFLUENCES IN JAPAN 12 years back were presented using only the Japanese language. If a person or a company wants to appear modern, they utilize the English language; however, if they want to appear traditional, they will utilize the Japanese language. With a new language, comes a new perspective.
Conclusion
English has been a major influence in Japan since it was adapted as the major Western language studied in Japan in 1853. Although there are fears that it may be “washing out” the
Japanese language by introducing foreign words into the language and culture, it is overall met with a positive view. English is taught as a main, tested subject in public education from elementary school through high school, and the media uses it heavily due to that fact. Younger generations view it as being trendy or cool, while older generations in college see it as a tool that can help them gain more influence in their potential job interests.
To conclude, the English language has a large influence on the culture, people, and the language of Japan. It is adding new words, and bringing in new cultures from around the world, which depending on your opinion could be a good or a bad thing. However, it is safe to say that with the growth of the English language and foreign cultures, the negative view of the world outside the gates of Japan becomes ever thinner.

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References
Blair, J. R. (1997, March). The role of English and other foreign languages in Japanese society .
The Faculty Journal of Aichi Gakuin Junior College , 5, 74-86. Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Blair-EngJpn.html
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(2009). Japan.
Kubota, R. (1998). Ideologies of English in Japan. World Englishes , 17(3), 295-306. Retrieved from http://nnest-evo2009.pbworks.com/f/kubota.pdf
Kwan, C. H. (2002, June 27). How to fix Japan’s English language deficit [Article]. Retrieved from http://www.atimes.com/japan-econ/DF27Dh01.html
New Crown English Series . (2005). Japan.
Perry, M. C. (1856). Narrative of the expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and
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