📚 Japan's population is shrinking — yet the number of people learning Japanese worldwide has surged 30-fold in 45 years. Today, over 4 million people across 143 countries and territories study Japanese. For many, the motivation is strikingly simple: "I want to read manga in the original" or "I want to understand anime dialogue with my own ears." When passion meets one of the world's most complex languages, remarkable things happen. Here's the story behind the numbers — and the challenges that lie ahead.
4 Million and Counting: The Global Demand for Japanese
According to the 2024 Survey on Japanese-Language Education Abroad conducted by the Japan Foundation, Japanese language education is now offered in 143 countries and territories worldwide. The total number of learners reached approximately 4,000,750 — exceeding the 4 million mark for the first time in the survey's history. The number of educational institutions (19,344) and teachers (80,898) also hit all-time highs.
To put this growth into perspective: when the survey first began in 1979, there were roughly 127,000 learners overseas. In just over four decades, that figure has multiplied approximately 30 times. Japanese is spoken natively by about 125 million people — roughly equivalent to Japan's population — placing it around 10th in the world by number of native speakers. It's a remarkable paradox: while the country's population declines, its language is spreading faster than ever.
Regionally, about 80% of learners are concentrated in Asia. The top three countries by learner count are Indonesia, China, and South Korea — with Indonesia overtaking China for the first time. A notable trend is the sharp increase in learners from South Asia, particularly Sri Lanka and India, driven largely by those seeking employment or education opportunities in Japan.
Why Japanese? When "Love" Becomes the Ultimate Motivation
Behind the 4 million figure lies a significant shift in what motivates people to study Japanese. According to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, learners increasingly cite interest in anime, manga, and Japanese culture alongside — or even ahead of — practical goals like employment and higher education.
Industry insiders consistently point to Weekly Shōnen Jump as the single most influential catalyst. Series like ONE PIECE, Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, and Haikyu!! have been adapted into anime that achieved worldwide popularity, with their theme songs dominating global music charts.
The most striking example came in 2025, when Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Infinity Castle Arc Part 1 became the first Japanese film ever to surpass ¥100 billion (approximately $730 million) in worldwide box office revenue. With roughly 89.2 million tickets sold globally, its international earnings of ¥68.4 billion ($471 million) were 1.8 times greater than its domestic take of ¥37.9 billion ($261 million). The film cemented Japanese anime not merely as a niche genre but as a global entertainment powerhouse.
Shueisha's official international manga app, MANGA Plus by SHUEISHA, delivers content in nine languages including English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Indonesian. With cumulative downloads exceeding 40 million, its simultaneous-release model — where readers worldwide access new chapters at the same time as Japanese readers — has created a powerful incentive: fans who simply cannot wait for translations want to read the original Japanese themselves.
As one intellectual property industry executive puts it: "These learners are driven by an intense desire to experience the source material firsthand, without relying on translations." In Japanese, there's a proverb: "Suki koso mono no jōzu nare" — roughly meaning "passion is the best teacher." Millions of learners around the world are proving it true.
Taking On "The World's Most Complex Writing System"
Japanese is widely considered one of the most challenging languages for non-native speakers to master. The primary reason is its writing system, which combines three distinct scripts: hiragana (46 phonetic characters), katakana (another 46 phonetic characters used primarily for foreign words), and kanji (Chinese-origin characters). The standard set of kanji includes over 2,136 characters, each with multiple readings — on'yomi (Chinese-derived) and kun'yomi (native Japanese).
The U.S. Foreign Service Institute (FSI) estimates that English speakers need approximately 2,200 hours of study to achieve proficiency in Japanese — placing it in the highest difficulty category alongside Arabic, Mandarin, and Korean.
Yet learners who come to Japanese through manga and anime frequently display remarkable perseverance. The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) saw approximately 1.07 million overseas applicants in 2024, with growing numbers targeting N1 (the highest level) and N2 (business-level proficiency). The desire to understand emotionally charged dialogue, character-specific speech patterns, and cultural nuances found in anime and manga pushes learners far beyond what conventional textbooks can offer.
Light and Shadow: Structural Challenges Facing Japanese Education
Despite the global surge in demand, the infrastructure supporting Japanese language education faces serious structural problems.
Teacher shortages top the list. In Japan, roughly half of all Japanese language instructors work as unpaid volunteers. Most teachers at Japanese language schools are employed part-time. Even the new national qualification system for "Registered Japanese Language Teachers" has done little to improve compensation. The Ministry of Education raised the student-to-teacher ratio requirement from 60:1 to 40:1, but without stable employment and competitive salaries, attracting and retaining young talent remains an uphill battle.
Geographic inequality compounds the problem. Approximately 46% of Japan's 1,896 municipalities have no Japanese language classroom accessible to foreign residents — creating what experts call "blank zones." Educational resources remain heavily concentrated in major urban centers like Tokyo, leaving rural communities underserved.
Overseas disparities mirror the domestic situation. While Asia accounts for 80% of learners, emerging regions in Africa and Latin America often lack even basic educational infrastructure. The spread of online learning offers hope for bridging these gaps, but uneven internet access introduces its own barriers.
Technology Opens New Frontiers
Despite these challenges, technological innovation is creating new possibilities for Japanese language education. AI-powered language learning apps now offer real-time pronunciation feedback through speech recognition and automatically adjust curricula to individual skill levels.
The Japan Foundation has expanded its online education initiatives, building on digital infrastructure that accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its "Japanese-Language Partners" program dispatches Japanese nationals to schools across Southeast Asia to support classroom-based Japanese instruction. By 2023, over 3,158 partners had been deployed, and the program is set for significant expansion over the next decade.
The ultimate vision is a seamless pipeline: learners who enter through the "gateway" of manga and anime eventually work, live, and contribute to Japanese society. Making that vision a reality demands serious investment in educational infrastructure — now, while Japan's soft power continues to draw the world's attention and enthusiasm.
Is interest in learning Japanese growing in your country? Have you met anyone who started studying Japanese because of manga or anime? We'd love to hear about the Japanese language scene where you live!
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Reactions in Japan
Hearing 4 million learners sounds great, but people need to know the reality on the ground. Part-time at ¥1,800/hour (~$12), no bonuses, no benefits. You can't sustain a 'Japanese language boom' without improving teacher conditions. The government shouldn't just boast about content success.
I have a foreign friend who started learning Japanese because of anime, and they passed N1 easily — their vocabulary is honestly better than many Japanese people's. The power of passion is insane.
It's nice that learners increased 30-fold, but most of them are from Asia seeking employment, right? Cultural interest and labor market demand should be discussed separately. It's dangerous to only tell the feel-good story.
Living abroad, conversations often start with 'Do you know Demon Slayer?' or 'Do you like Naruto?' I genuinely feel anime has become a diplomatic tool. The number of young locals who speak Japanese seems to grow every year.
I keep seeing articles about the shortage of Japanese language teachers, and of course there is one. Even after majoring in it at university and getting certified, annual income barely hits ¥3 million (~$20,000). Classic exploitation through 'fulfillment.'
A language that uses three different scripts — hiragana, katakana, and kanji — is honestly insane when you think about it. Props to foreigners for even attempting it. If I were a foreigner, I'd definitely give up.
40 million cumulative downloads for MANGA Plus is a quietly impressive number. It started as an anti-piracy measure but ended up becoming a gateway to Japanese language learning — interesting how that worked out.
I thought the same when Demon Slayer broke ¥100 billion worldwide — the content industry is booming this much, yet the Japanese language education infrastructure tied to it can't keep up at all. Very Japan-like.
The increase in learners is genuinely welcome. But did you know the JLPT has no speaking component? Some people pass N1 but can't hold a conversation in Japanese. Maybe the testing system itself needs an overhaul.
Indonesia being #1 in learner count is fascinating. Probably a synergy of Japanese corporate presence in Southeast Asia and anime popularity. Meanwhile, China's decline seems linked to university reforms.
The quality issue with Japanese language schools needs far more discussion. Predatory schools that mass-admit 'fake students' seeking work visas and milk them for tuition still exist. Without stricter certification, serious learners suffer.
I live in a rural area, and foreign staff at local convenience stores and restaurants are getting much better at Japanese. When I bring up anime, their eyes light up — it's adorable.
I low-key love the note at the end about 'suki koso mono no jōzu nare' being a surviving example of kakari-musubi grammar. It'd be great if Japanese teachers could also explain the historical context behind grammar like this.
Attract people with soft power, then disappoint them with poor infrastructure... I hope it doesn't become the usual pattern. Tourism went the same way.
With population decline, Japan will need foreign workers more than ever. Japanese language education should be positioned as a national strategy, not treated as an afterthought in the cultural budget.
My Vietnamese colleague apparently started learning Japanese because of ONE PIECE, and now writes perfect business emails. Whatever the motivation, I respect anyone who delivers results.
I'm from Bangalore, India. I study Japanese on weekends while working at an IT company. NARUTO got me started. I'm at N3 level now and aiming to work at a Japanese tech company. The statistics about growing South Asian learners match what I see around me.
Brazil has a large Japanese-descended community, so Japanese language education has a long history here. But recently, non-Japanese-descended young people are flooding Japanese classes because of anime. Japanese language schools in São Paulo are all over capacity.
I majored in Japanese at a US university, and honestly, saying 'I got into it through anime' sometimes got looked down upon in academic circles. But if that's what's driving 4 million learners, it's time to drop the stigma.
Many people around me in Vietnam go to Japan through the technical trainee program, but the quality of pre-departure Japanese education varies wildly. Schools run by brokers teach only bare minimum conversation. I've seen many people struggle after arriving in Japan.
In France, Japanese is popular partly thanks to Japan Expo, but so many people drop out because of the kanji barrier. Hiragana and katakana are fun, but I've seen plenty of friends freeze the moment they hear there are over 2,000 common-use kanji.
So many Korean teens and young adults can speak Japanese. The similar grammar structure helps, but more than that, seeing K-pop idols working in Japanese makes them want to learn too.
From Saudi Arabia. In the Middle East, Japanese language education infrastructure is practically nonexistent. YouTube and Duolingo are our only options. I wish the Japan Foundation's online programs would expand more to cover the Middle East.
I'm proud to hear Indonesia is now #1 in learner count. More high school students are choosing Japanese as an elective, and with many Japanese factories here, it directly connects to employment. But teacher quality is still a big challenge.
From Poland. In small European countries, maybe only one or two universities offer Japanese courses, so we rely on self-study. My main learning method is switching between Japanese and English subtitles on Crunchyroll.
In Australia, quite a few schools teach Japanese from elementary level. Pokémon and Dragon Ball from childhood still plant the seeds for Japanese language learning. The challenge is that few students continue past high school.
It's true that Japanese majors are declining at Chinese universities — the government is downsizing foreign language departments. But on social media, young people self-studying because of Japanese anime and music seem to be increasing. There's a large segment not captured by official statistics.
From Kenya. Japanese language education in Africa is still just getting started, but a Japanese classroom recently opened in Nairobi. Almost all students are in their 20s and anime fans. The problem is there's only one teacher.
I'm a German engineer. I started studying Japanese for work, and I agree the JLPT lacking a speaking component is a real issue. A CEFR-aligned test would be far more practical.
I teach Japanese at a high school in Indonesia. Students are highly motivated thanks to anime, but our textbooks are outdated and don't cover modern conversational Japanese. We need updated official materials.
Honestly, I just learned about the MANGA Plus app with 40 million downloads. I've been relying on fansubs, but if there's official simultaneous release, I should use that instead. Especially if it supports the creators.