Chinese

Abstract

The inseparable relationship between Japan and China spans 1,400 years from the kentoshi (official envoys from Japan to China) and kanbun kyoiku (漢文教育‎)—the study of ancient Chinese literary works, an essential part of the Japanese school curriculum. An increasing population of Chinese residents and visitors signifies a cultural ‘tilt’ towards Chinese in Japanese society. The linguistic landscape includes multilingual signs, public information, Chinese language manuals and restaurant menus, and Chinatowns (Yokohama, Kobe, Nagasaki). There is dialectal and generational language variation in the bilingual Huaqiao 華僑‎(overseas Chinese) community. Heritage language maintenance is a major concern. Newcomer parents mostly abandon teaching Chinese to their children. The boom in Chinese language learning worldwide has led to numerous standardized proficiency tests; half a million students are engaged in Chinese language study in 86% of all Japanese universities.