Hi, this is Katsu at Ecom HR team.
Recently Japan is actively welcoming “Globalization”.
Japan recognizes “Globalization” as a type of Americanization (Englishnization).
The government decided that elementary school students should start learning English from the 3rd-grade.
It is two years in advance compared to the previous requirement.
Some major corporations made their official language English, instead of Japanese, even though they are headquartered in Japan.
These movements cause scare for ordinary Japanese people.
Today I would like to introduce a funny TV commercial.
It shows “Globalization” as an awful incident making Japanese feel embarrassed.
They “battle” with foreigners (English speaking people).
As you can guess, most of the Japanese are not able to use English well, because they have a few or no chances to utilize it.
With the global boom in Japan will the number of opportunities for Japanese people to use English increase in the near future?
p.s:
Japanese company, “Rakuten” made their official language English:
Katsu, thanks for highlighting the trend of “Globalization” occurring in Japan these days. It makes for interesting reading and gives me something to think about! I did try to watch the ad but it wouldn’t come up, let me know if the address has changed. When I lived in Japan TV ads were so fascinating to me, and I actually used to record lots of them. I thought it showed a peek into the mentality of the Japanese culture! And many of them are so funny and cute.
As for globalization, actually trends like this can be perceived as threatening of course, and with parents worrying about the future of their children and trying to help them prepare, it seems to me that in Japan this might lead to fear. But to succeed and make the most of our life–and to me that means enjoying it as we live it!–I believe we must see our fear as a signpost, a hint as to which way to go. “Every crisis is an opportunity.” If students can perceive the challenge as something that will take them into a new realm of study and confidence, and maybe open up new opportunities for their future, they will be equipped to transcend the fear response and rise up to the challenge.