Popular culture helping growth of Japanese studies in Britain

By William Hollingworth

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Latest 15 of 22 Total Comments Show All

ReaganLegend at 06:24 AM JST - 11th August

Kenchan; Any company can do well with government subsidies and protection from the reality of world economic markets.

Japan is never going to be a major language. The Japanese language is almost irrelevant in the twenty first century.

Check Britsh Universities languages courses and see how many are providing courses in Mandarin compared to Japanese.
Triple888 at 06:27 AM JST - 11th August

A notable proportion of Japanese language studies in the UK actually are Chinese students - local and overseas. I live in the UK and know as many as 4 out of every 5 Chinese chose Japanese as their foreign language as main and complementary courses. Laziness I guess.
kenchan at 06:53 AM JST - 11th August

Any company can do well with government subsidies and protection from the reality of world economic markets. ..theres no need to bash the US, india and china on their failure to sort out doha.

Triple888> spot on! When I studied Japanese in my university, it was the same, even way back in 1996!

....as for the continuing statements of "irrelevant language"...the nation that westerners aspire towards (Mandarin), are actually targeting the Japanese market and studying japanese in their droves....how ironic....I wonder whos right? Its easy to follow the herd but harder to see above it.
dontpanic at 04:26 PM JST - 11th August

"Especially in light of SMBC's recent investment of £500 million in Barclays"

A quarter percent shareholding in Barclays is hardly going to tip the balance at the AGM is it?. The figures may seem large individually, but in reality £8bn doesnt make Japan the UK's most important trading partner. It's the ability to build a joint trading future that will secure Japanese language studies. No amount of arm waving will make Japanese banks more relevent. As they say "recent growth is no guarantee of future performance", with the exception of Nomura how many consolidations have the banks you mentioned gone through in the last 10-12 years?

The reality is, the number of Japanese language courses offered at UK universities is a reflection of the importance both countries place upon trading with each other. There's certainly money to be made, and raised, but I think both countries know where the future lies. Who knows things might change but probably not soon.
Ah_so at 09:48 PM JST - 11th August

Japan[ese] is never going to be a major language. The Japanese language is almost irrelevant in the twenty first century.

No, it is never going to be a "major" language, like English, but it is still the language spoken by 120m people in the world's 2nd largest economy. It may be slightly less relevant than it was, but it is still obviously a highly relevant language and a good one to study for business reasons. It will probably remain the most "profitable" language to study due to its esoteric nature, the size of the economy and the poor foreign language skills of its inhabitants.

To call it "irrelevant" despite the facts suggests more about your view of Japan the country and the people.
Fovonfire at 10:21 PM JST - 11th August

I am chinese There is still a large number of students learn japanese,because sino-japan are good parters in lots of fileds.
zaichik at 06:14 AM JST - 12th August

In 2003, Durham University decided to shut its Japanese department

And, as an alumna of Durham's Japanese programme, I'm still furious about that short-sighted decision. Actually, it wasn't just the Japanese department that went, it was the whole of the Department of East Asian Studies, including the Chinese degree programmes that Durham had provided for more than half a century. The undergraduate programme in Arabic also was eliminated at the same time, leaving only a centre for post-grad Arabic studies
frontandcentre at 02:28 PM JST - 12th August

I think it's pathetic that anyone should choose to study a language so that they can continue to read comic books as an adult. It should be studied as an academic discipline and for its practical applications in business.

All of the weirdo stuff - cosplay, manga, lolicon etc. - about Japan is what should be marginalised, not celebrated or promoted. That's where the crazy knifemen and women, the child abusers, the anti-social NEETs and more commonly the loser otaku, draw their inspiration.
Ah_so at 04:52 PM JST - 12th August

And, as an alumna of Durham's Japanese programme, I'm still furious about that short-sighted decision. That is shocking and also says a lot about the relative "dumbing down" of education in Britain and students' unwillingness to take on trickier degrees.

I think it's pathetic that anyone should choose to study a language so that they can continue to read comic books as an adult. It should be studied as an academic discipline and for its practical applications in business.

While I agree about the manga, one of the reasons to do a language degree is to be able to appreciate the art and literature in its original form, rather than through translation. This naturally requires intellectual discipline. Appreciation of foreign literature has traditionally formed the backbone of language degree courses.

The idea that language learning is purely an economic tool is a new and rather grubby concept.
dontpanic at 05:22 PM JST - 12th August

"The idea that language learning is purely an economic tool is a new and rather grubby concept"

Well that puts the majority of language learners in their place then doesnt it? Academic elitism at its worst! People study languages for whatever advantage they can gain, be it for travel, culture or to gain a business advantage, this is not new. Whats grubby is the idea than one motivation is loftier than another.
cleo at 05:35 PM JST - 12th August

People study languages for whatever advantage they can gain, be it for travel, culture or to gain a business advantage

Or simply because they enjoy it.
dontpanic at 05:46 PM JST - 12th August

Another good point missed in my enthusiasm.
frontandcentre at 10:02 AM JST - 13th August

Ah so - I don't disagree with you. However too many people outside Japan seem to consider manga (and that means ANY manga) to be "art". In my view, it isn't - its primary function is to serve as unhealthy, childish escapism for sexually frustrated salarymen. One of those things that is revered as something special outside Japan when in actual fact for the most part it is a rather grubby genre in its home country.

On the point of real literature and art - I agree with you entirely. Cultural studies are a vital part of studying a language. Business is a practical application and of course not the only one.
moocow49 at 09:25 AM JST - 14th August

WMD, only an idiot believes that a country can die. Japan will most likely be around long after you and I are dead.
koroke at 02:02 AM JST - 19th August

folks gotta stop reading manga or anime and dreams of some Caucasian prince or whatever. Go to the country that interest for very good reasons. Not wanting to see a blonde girl or blonde guy. sigh