There have been many projects in the past aimed at investigating the Japanese language, not simply from a linguistic perspective, but also incorporating the viewpoints of a range of academic disciplines such as sociology, psychology and physiology, as well as considering its role in the teaching of mathematics and science. One of the largest of these projects was the one titled "Language" which began in 1977 and was conducted over a seven-year span. A number of researchers in the natural sciences had expressed the need for basic research in language to improve science teaching, and so researchers in the humanities and sciences teamed together to initiate a comprehensive research program on the topic.
Seventeen years have passed since that project was inaugurated. Now the need for interdisciplinary linguistic research has become even greater. The role of language in our society becomes ever more crucial due to the rise of an information-based global culture. In 1992, the Deliberative Council on National Language, responding to the urgency of the situation, expanded the scope of its deliberations far beyond the questions of orthography that had been its principle focus, and began to tackle issues involving the use of Japanese within a much more comprehensive framework. Our new research program, "Comprehensive Study on the Japanese Language in the International Community", has the mission of analyzing, with a multifaceted approach, the function and role of the Japanese language in the midst of the dramatic changes sweeping through modern society.
Vigorous debate is currently underway on such issues as whether Japanese will attain the status of an international language, or whether changes in the language currently underway can be allowed to procede unhindered. Unfortunately, we do not have the objective information we need to advance this discourse in a productive way.
Teaching of Japanese as a second language is flourishing, and it is said that the number of people using Japanese worldwide continues to increase. It does seem true that Japanese can no longer be said to be the exclusive property of the Japanese people, yet we have almost no concrete information on just how or why Japanese is being adopted by people throughout the world.
In order to get that information in an accurate and timely fashion, we must make a thorough, carefully prepared survey of the current situation, one that will clarify the role and function that Japanese plays in communication, using a methodology that links together many relevant fields of research in addition to linguistics. If research on the Japanese language is to elucidate the role that language plays in social life, in academic research, and in education, the horizons of linguistic research must be expanded far beyond their present limits.
The topics which require urgent attention are almost limitless in scope, but since this project is scheduled to be completed in only five years, it is essential to give it a sharp focus now.
First of all, to provide a foundation for further progress in Japanese language research, we need to gather and systematize as much information as possible, both from within Japan and from abroad, regarding the internationalization of the Japanese language. For this, in turn, we must establish an effective methodology that combines an international census on the status of Japanese internationally with a quantitative behavioral analysis. The resulting body of information will be interwoven with research on cultural friction revolving around language issues, as well as a comprehensive study of the processes of interpretation, translation, transmission of information and language education. Keeping firmly in mind the limitations of a project of this sort, we are laying plans which will lead to the surest results.
The Organizations of this Project are as follows:
Research Group 1:
Implementation of the International Census on the Status of
the Japanese Language and Quantitative Behavioral Research
Chief: Kiyoshi Egawa(The National Language Research Institute)
Research Group 2:
Research on Language-based Cultural Conflicts Facing Japan
Chief: Kenichirou Hirano(The University of Tokyo)
Research Group 3:
Experimental Studies on Japanese Orthography and Phonetic Aspects
Chief: Kan Kasyuu(Kwansei Gakuin University)
Research Group 4:
Research on the Provision of Linguistic Materials for Data Transmission
Chief: Mutsuo Kai(The National Language Research Institute)
Director General of the National Language Research Institute