The economics of Japanese: investigating the demand for Japanese language skills in the Pearl River Delta labor market

Abstract Due to the current status of English as a lingua franca in numerous domains, increasing attention has been directed toward the economic potential of English. However, research on languages other than English from an economic perspective remains limited. This study aims to address this gap by examining the labor market demand for Japanese language skills in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of China. Drawing on data from the job advertisements published on two prominent job websites in mainland China in 2019 and 2022, this study suggests an increasing overall demand for Japanese language skills, as well as a request for higher proficiency in Japanese in the PRD labor market between 2019 and 2022, despite variations observed across different economic sectors. Furthermore, the results also indicate a growing tendency to interweave Japanese and global English in the PRD labor market. The findings provide implications for language instructors, job applicants, and educational institutions.