There are more people learning Japanese in the UK than in any other country in Europe, according to the results of the Japan Foundation’s latest worldwide survey. 

The survey found a total of over 19,600 learners of Japanese, with France in second place with just over 16,000. The number of learners in the UK has also increased by 32% since the last survey, carried out in 2006. 

Globally, the number of learners outside of Japan has now reached 3.65 million (an increase of 22% since 2006), with the biggest rise seen in Indonesia. The country with the highest number of learners is Korea, followed by China. 

“We are delighted to see this rise in learners of Japanese in the UK,” said Takashi Ishida, Director General of the Japan Foundation London. “We would like to thank all teachers and institutions involved for their great success in inspiring and motivating students to learn Japanese. Given this encouraging trend, I am hopeful that even more learners will rise to the challenge of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, which is now available at five levels.”

Thank you very much to everyone who completed the survey. We will be sending you some teaching aids (e.g. picture cards sent by email) in the autumn, together with a summary report of the survey. This summary will also be posted on the Japan Foundation Head Office’s website.