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Students studying Japanese as a second language in-country hits historic high, majority of teachers are unpaid volunteers.

Global interest in Japan and its culture, both modern and traditional, has never been higher. This is occurring, however, at the same time as another trend in which many are claiming that technology has turned a corner and we can now leave all sorts of previously human-intelligence functions to machines. AI can even communicate for us now, some claim, pushing automated translations as a solution to language barriers.

However, the important thing to remember about artificial intelligence is that it’s different from genuine intelligence. Especially when it comes to translating to or from a language as context-heavy as Japanese. Even when dealing with simple phrases, AI translation can get things wildly, and sometimes even violently, wrong.

So it’s very encouraging to know that more foreigners than ever are studying Japanese in Japan.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology recently released the latest iteration of its annual Survey on the State of Japanese Language Education, compiled from data collected in November of 2024　(which explains why “Speediness” isn’t part of the ministry’s lengthy name). The study found 294,198 foreign nationals enrolled in Japanese-as-a-second-language classes in Japan, the highest number ever and an increase of 31,028 over the previous year.

The number accounts for both foreigners on student visas in Japan as well as other classifications of residents, such as work, spousal, or refugee visas. The previous high, 277,857, came in 2019, followed by a severe dip during the pandemic, dropping down to 123,408 in 2021 through a combination of fewer new learners being able to enter Japan and foreign residents returning to their home countries during the economic instability of the period. Zooming out to a wider view of historic trends, the 294,198 learners of Japanese in Japan are nearly five times the 60,601 people who made up that demographic in 1990.

Number of Japanese language students in Japan
● 1990: 60,601
● 2017: 239,597
● 2018: 259,711
● 2019: 277.857
● 2020: 160,291
● 2021: 123,408
● 2022: 219,808
● 2023: 263,170
● 2024: 294,198

The study also found that there are a total of 2,669 institutions and facilities providing Japanese language instruction to foreigners, consisting of universities, junior colleges, high schools, accredited language schools, local governments and boards of education, international friendship societies, and volunteer organizations. This number is also significantly larger than it was a decade ago, but slightly down from its high in 2022.

Number of institutions and organizations offering Japan language instruction to foreigners in Japan
● 1990: 821
● 2017: 2,109
● 2018: 2,290
● 2019: 2.542
● 2020: 2,516
● 2021: 2,541
● 2022: 2,764
● 2023: 2,727
● 2024: 2,669

Crunching those numbers a little more, the number of university programs has gone down a bit, from 516 in 2017 to 481 in 2024, with rises in the number of language schools (from 466 to 648) and volunteer organizations (from 281 to 695) during the same period.

Foreigners on student visas accounted for roughly two thirds of the Japanese learners, with the others residents of other categories, the largest, 6.6 percent, being those working in Japan or accompanying a family member doing so. In terms of nationality, China was by far the largest source of learners, with 78,821, or 26.8 percent of the total. Nepal and Vietnam came next, with the U.S. being the highest western country on the list at 10th.

Country of origin of Japanese learners in Japan
1. China: 78,821
2. Nepal: 45,821
3. Vietnam: 33,547
4. Myanmar: 18,181
5. Sri Lanka: 10,230
6. Philippines: 9,389
7. Indonesia: 9,280
8. Korea: 7,929
9. Taiwan: 7,786
10. U.S.A.: 6,607

Also hitting a record high in the study is the number of Japanese teachers within the country providing instruction to foreigners, which has grown by roughly the same proportion, about 25 percent, as the number of students since 2017.

Number of Japanese-as-second-language teachers in Japan
● 1990: 8.329
● 2017: 39,588
● 2018: 41,606
● 2019: 46.411
● 2020: 41,755
● 2021: 39.241
● 2022: 44,030
● 2023: 46.257
● 2024: 50,309

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Japan will have enough teachers, should current trends continue. A key issue is that in the most recent survey, more than half of teachers of Japanese as a second language were in the 50s or older, with at least one in six 70 or older.

Age of Japanese-as-second-language teachers in Japan
● Under 20: 0.9 percent
● 20-29: 5.8 percent
● 30-39: 7.1 percent
● 40-49: 13.3 percent
● 50-59: 19.3 percent
● 60-69: 21.7 percent
● 70-79: 14/7 percent
● Unspecified: 17.3 percent

Not to discount the wisdom, experience, and vigor of older instructors, the heavy balance towards teachers over the age of 50 could be a sign that the industry is having trouble attracting younger applicants, which could create a problem in coming years if the talent pool isn’t restocked as older teachers eventually leave the workforce.

▼ “No, Mr. Tanaka, you need to rest!”
“But…my students…if I don’t go, who will save them from the terrors of the ‘so’ and ‘n’ katakana?”

However, that in turn raises the question of just how much of an “industry” teaching Japanese as a second language is in Japan. Out of the 50,309 teachers identified in the most recent study, the majority receive no salary at all, with 51.1 percent saying they teach on a volunteer basis. Only 13.6 percent said that teaching Japanese was their regular job, with the remaining 33.3 percent saying they teach on a supplementary or irregular basis.

That might sound like shameless labor exploitation, but it’s important to remember that the study included local community center and international friendship organization programs, many of which are free for students and take a relaxed approach that focuses more on grass roots cultural exchange and community outreach than serious scholarly pursuit. Less than 3.3 percent of instructors for university, junior college, or high school programs said they teach on a volunteer basis, and out of the 14.424 language school teachers, only 13, far below 0.1 percent, were volunteers. Conversely, it was local government and international friendship societies that had the highest proportions of volunteers, at 87.5 and 90.3 percent, respectively. Whether full and part-time compensated teachers are getting paid enough for their services is a question for another day, but at the very least it’s safe to say most, if not all, volunteer instructors aren’t really looking to make money off teaching in the first place. Volunteers making up a large proportion of the total number of teachers could also explain why so many are in their 50s or older, as many people become more active in local community programs in their post-retirement years.

▼ Mr. Tanaka isn’t in it for the money, he just likes meeting new people and being helpful.

That does still leave the potential problem of making sure enough new teachers are coming into the field, though, and also ensuring that the types of courses offered (relaxed community center lessons, intense university curriculums, and everything in between) are being made available proportionate to the needs of the student base.

Finally, we can’t discount the effect that exchange rates must be having on the situation. Coming to Japan on a student visa becomes much more viable when a weak yen means the savings you’ve built up in your home country will go much farther while you’re out of the full-time workforce, and should the yen rise up again, studying in the country will suddenly become much less viable for many people considering making the move.

For now, though, it’s great to see the international community showing such a strong interest in not only learning Japanese, but in immersing themselves in both the language and the culture by studying it in Japan.

Source: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology via Yahoo! Japan News/Kyodo
Top image: Pakutaso (edited by SoraNews24)
Insert images: Pakutaso (1, 2, 3, 4)
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