Top Ten Reason to Study Japanese
1. Japanese speakers are the Internet’s third largest language group.
2. Japan is our fourth largest trading partner, and is Japan is one of our very most important political and military allies in the world. Japanese people are still very interested in remaining closely connected to Americans as close friends and allies.
3. Japan is the third largest economy in the world behind the U.S. and China, with a GDP of 5.228 trillion dollars (56% of China’s current GDP).
4. The Japanese are innovators, designers, and creative engineers of cultural exports. Japan is a leader in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and design.
5. Japan has a long and unique cultural heritage that has extended into and enriched the culture of the United States, and especially that of the Pacific Northwest.
6. Japan is an incredibly enjoyable and safe place in which to travel and have adventures. Japan’s landscape is beautiful and varied, and travelers can comfortably explore island and mountain towns with hundreds of people and metropolises of millions of people.
7. Many of our favorite products come from Japan: Sony, Hello Kitty, Nintendo, Hitachi, Toyota, Honda, Maruchan, Namco, Konami, Epson, Mitsubishi, Nikon, Canon, Sega, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki and so many more.
8. Some of the most popular comics, animated movies and TV shows and games in the world come from Japan: Shonenjump, Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, Spirited Away, Ponyo, Totoro, Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Yugio, and Mario Brothers.
9. Sudoku, origami, karate, kendo, judo, Noh, Kabuki, jujitsu, katana smithing, tea ceremony, wooden temple construction, bonsai, sushi, ninjutsu, bushido, Japanese gardening, brush-stroke calligraphy and numerous other arts originated in Japan.
10. It is not as hard as you think. Despite a having a challenging writing system, which recently has been made somewhat easier with technological supports, Japanese has a quite simple tense system and grammar system that lacks some of challenges of European language systems (e.g. irregular verbs, noun-verb agreement, articles and pluralization of nouns and verbs).
2. Japan is our fourth largest trading partner, and is Japan is one of our very most important political and military allies in the world. Japanese people are still very interested in remaining closely connected to Americans as close friends and allies.
3. Japan is the third largest economy in the world behind the U.S. and China, with a GDP of 5.228 trillion dollars (56% of China’s current GDP).
4. The Japanese are innovators, designers, and creative engineers of cultural exports. Japan is a leader in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and design.
5. Japan has a long and unique cultural heritage that has extended into and enriched the culture of the United States, and especially that of the Pacific Northwest.
6. Japan is an incredibly enjoyable and safe place in which to travel and have adventures. Japan’s landscape is beautiful and varied, and travelers can comfortably explore island and mountain towns with hundreds of people and metropolises of millions of people.
7. Many of our favorite products come from Japan: Sony, Hello Kitty, Nintendo, Hitachi, Toyota, Honda, Maruchan, Namco, Konami, Epson, Mitsubishi, Nikon, Canon, Sega, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki and so many more.
8. Some of the most popular comics, animated movies and TV shows and games in the world come from Japan: Shonenjump, Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, Spirited Away, Ponyo, Totoro, Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Yugio, and Mario Brothers.
9. Sudoku, origami, karate, kendo, judo, Noh, Kabuki, jujitsu, katana smithing, tea ceremony, wooden temple construction, bonsai, sushi, ninjutsu, bushido, Japanese gardening, brush-stroke calligraphy and numerous other arts originated in Japan.
10. It is not as hard as you think. Despite a having a challenging writing system, which recently has been made somewhat easier with technological supports, Japanese has a quite simple tense system and grammar system that lacks some of challenges of European language systems (e.g. irregular verbs, noun-verb agreement, articles and pluralization of nouns and verbs).