The Justice Ministry in Tokyo (Jiji Press)
TOKYO – A Japanese Justice Ministry project team proposed Friday offering foreigners opportunities to learn the Japanese language before their arrival, using information and communications technology.
The team included the proposal in a report on a government program to ensure that foreign residents smoothly adapt to Japanese society.
Specifically, the team urged the government to give foreigners seeking residency in Japan opportunities to study the language, prepare an environment allowing such people to continue studying after their arrival, and use information about their studies in examining whether they qualify for residency.
The government’s basic policy on foreign people released in January included the establishment of the adaptation program.
Based on this, the project team, led by Mamoru Fukuyama, parliamentary vice minister of justice, discussed related matters.
The report said that the central government is responsible for offering such a program, expanding learning support provided by host institutions and reducing the burden of local governments.
The report assumes that foreigners will use the program to learn basic Japanese and understand administrative procedures and rules for daily life before and after entering the country.
Local governments should be urged to consider providing face-to-face lessons regarding the characteristics of their regions, the report said.
The program would cover a wide range of medium- to long-term residents, providing learning opportunities for their families and allowing learners to choose content that aligns with their progress at their life stages.
As the ruling Liberal Democratic Party seeks to start testing the program in fiscal 2028, the government plans to accelerate work to set more details, based on the report. (Jiji Press)