Language planning and policy in Japan

Abstract

Language planning and policy formulation in japan have been relatively uncomplicated in one sense in that they have taken place within a context in which the national language is already a given. The japanese language holds uncontested status as the national language, since except for certain ethnic minorities the overwhelming majority of those living in the japanese archipelago are japanese, and the country has never been colonized. japan is therefore what Fishman (1968:491-98) describes as a Cluster B nation, or old developing nation: one in which the attributes of both nation and sociocultural identity have long coincided. japan began its modern period with both a venerable literary tradition and a relatively high literacy rate already in place. This means that language planning has focused not on selecting a national language from competing contenders but on modifying and promoting an existing and well-entrenched asset.

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