Special

Article 2

Japanese Language Boomin India — Part 2
By Mukesh Williams

Author Mukesh Williams

Introduction
The first part of this article titled “Japanese Language Boom in
India” (see Special Article 5 in Japan SPOTLIGHT, July/August 2018)
dealt with the shortage of native and non-native Japanese teachers inIndia and the inadequacy of traditional Japanese teaching
methodologies. Part 2 deals with the setting up of language
departments in colleges in India, student-to-student language
learning, traditional and innovative teaching methods, and expanding
job opportunities. As mentioned in Part 1, Japanese language learning
in India has undergone a resurgence and will soon outpace thelearning of traditional foreign languages like French, German, Spanishand Mandarin. The pictorial aspects of the Japanese language and themysteries of Japanese culture have captured the attention of Indian
students both at school and college. Though Japanese characters —kanji, hiragana and katakana — are very different from Devanagari,
Nastaliq or English, the fascination with Japanese culture helps
students to overcome the difficulties. An interest in Japanese
literature, especially the haiku of Basho and the novels of Natsume
Soseki, has always been the forte of the older generation born in the
1950s; the young generation born in the 1990s or later are more
attracted by Japanese anime, manga, bullet trains, the aesthetics ofthe kawaii (cute) and food.
The opportunities for both native and non-native teachers ofJapanese language are increasing as new colleges and universities
are using their language centers to attract students, generate capitaland remain globally competitive. Popular and branded colleges, like
St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, attract 20 times more students to their

Japanese programs than other lesser-known colleges. Native teachers
are in great demand both at colleges and universities and often takehome a salary of 80,000 to 100,000 Indian rupees, excluding freeboard and lodging. The salaries for non-native teachers are about
40% less. However, being foreign staff, native teachers are subject toa 30% tax levy by the Indian government on their income.
The interest in Japanese language in India has gained from a newinterest in Japanese food, which is considered healthy andnourishing. With a rising expatriate Japanese population in urban
centers seeking Japanese cuisine and a new interest amongst locals
in fish-based light meals, Japanese restaurants are booming. With adesire to provide authentic Japanese cuisine, restaurants like Fuji inConnaught Place, New Delhi, are attracting Japanese chefs to create
Japanese dishes at a reasonable price. Also, the introduction of theDelhi Metro and Shinkansen in India has reinforced the reliable SonySuzuki brand of Japan.
Interactions between Japan and India date back to Buddhist
expansionism during the sixth to eighth centuries. In August 736 theBuddhist monk Bodhisena visited Nara at the behest of Emperor
Shomu and conducted the opening-of-the-eyes ceremony for thebronze statue of Vairocana at Todai-ji temple. Some traditional
Japanese court dances and music are influenced by Indian tradition,and it is believed that the hiragana syllabary shows the influence of
the Sanskrit linguistic system introduced in Japan by Bodhisena. In
1916 Rabindranath Tagore wrote a poem highlighting the journey of
Buddhism from India to Japan and what we can learn from Japan.
Wearing saffron robes, the masters of religion (dharma)

Photo: Author

At St. Stephen’s College Chapel with Japanese students

https://www.jef.or.jp/journal/

Photo: Author

Japanese language class at St. Stephen’s College

Japan SPOTLIGHT • November / December 201853

Went to your country to teach,Today we come to your door as disciples,
To learn the teachings of action (karma).
The historical bonding, religious interaction and sharing of
linguistic traditions between India and Japan make us believe thatJapanese language education will grow in the coming decades to theadvantage of both nations. The following stories by my colleagues
and students will show how the Japanese language is loved by many
Indians and how important education in the Japanese language has
become in India.

Japanese Language Teaching Centre at St.
Stephen’s College
Told by Renish Geevarghese Abraham,
Bursar and Director, Centre for Languages, St.
Stephen’s College

The Centre for Languages is a self-financed
educational body under the St. Stephen’sCollege Delhi Educational Trust. The Centre
offers Japanese language courses at three
Renish Geevarghese
Abrahamlevels — Certificate, Diploma and Advanced
Diploma. These courses are affiliated to the
Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Delhi. The
Centre is committed to promoting Japanese language and culture
among Indian students with a view to strengthening the ties between
Japan and India. In St. Stephen’s College, the teaching and promotionof Japanese language is especially inspired by a 25-year-old
partnership with Soka University in Japan.
Admission to the Japanese course at the Centre is strictly based on
merit. The Centre receives around 400 to 500 applications fromvarious parts of the country every year for admission to the course at
beginner’s level. Based on the academic scores of the applicants, theCentre decides a cut-off point that allows 40 candidates to be
admitted to the Certificate level. For admission to the Diploma andAdvanced Diploma levels, a candidate needs to have a Certificate andDiploma respectively obtained from either the Centre or from the
University of Delhi. In all academic matters, including theappointment of teachers, syllabi and conduct of examinations, theCentre follows the routine directions issued by the Department of East
Asian Studies at the University of Delhi. The Centre has highly
qualified faculty appointed from a panel prepared by the University
based on interviews. There is also a provision to recruit faculty fromJapanese universities, following the norms of the Indian government
in this regard.
The Centre uses Nihongo Shokyu and Nihongo Chukyu publishedby the Tokyo Gaikokugo University for teaching Japanese at the
beginners and advanced level respectively. These texts focus not only
on imparting Japanese language skills but also various aspects ofJapanese culture. The primary concern, of course, is with reading,writing, listening and speaking skills. However, the major componentsof the syllabi include lessons on conversations in various contexts,
learning vocabulary, grammar practice, and learning and practicing
54 Japan SPOTLIGHT • November / December 2018

kanji. Conversations in every lesson are centered around various
aspects of Japanese culture, including an introduction to festivals like
Obon and to minshuku, cities like Kyoto and Tokyo, and encounters at
various places like hospitals and restaurants. At the advanced level
the text also deals with literary pieces to give the students a sense ofJapanese short stories and writing styles.
The language instructors at the Centre are given an orientation by
the University every year before teaching commences. They generally
follow the direct method in teaching Japanese. Lessons are taught inJapanese from the beginner’s level and if the students face difficultyin comprehension, they use the medium of English and Hindi tofacilitate. At the Advanced Diploma level, the medium of instruction is
fully Japanese. Besides classes, the students are also encouraged to
do various performances on the “Language Day” which is celebrated
in February ever year. On this day, the Japanese students introduce to
the College some art forms or poetic forms from Japanese culture.
Learning at the Centre therefore is a fulfilling and wholesome
experience for the students in the sense that they not only get
introduced to a new language but also a new culture, which would
make them good ambassadors for India if they are employed in Japanor Japanese partnership companies.

Teaching Japanese Language at St. Stephen’sCollegeTold by Ui Teramoto, Visiting Lecturer at
Centre for Languages, St. Stephen’s College,
Guest Lecturer at the Department of East
Asian Studies, Delhi University, SeniorResearcher at Keio University-SFC

Japanese language courses provided by St.
Stephen’s Centre for Languages attract
Ui Teramoto
considerable numbers of students with various
Japanese linguistic, cultural, academic and business interests. In theacademic year 2018-2019, St. Stephen’s College offers Certificate andAdvanced Diploma courses to 40 and nine students respectively,taught by both Indian and Japanese instructors. Having been selected
after a highly competitive exam by the College (only one in 12
students could register for the Certificate course this year), students
are keen to acquire linguistic skills as fast as they can. Most students
are in their early twenties and pursue Japanese as an extracurricularclass aside from their main undergraduate studies. While some attend
classes from neighborhood areas, others commute for an hour and ahalf to the North campus for two-hour classes held three times a
week. Riding the wings of Japanese animation and pop culture,
employment opportunities for those with Japanese language skills in
India are expanding.
An interest in Japanese culture and expanding job opportunities are
two reasons why Indian students seek to develop Japanese linguistic
skills. The case of Ms. Himani pursuing an Advanced Diploma inJapanese at St. Stephen’s College is one example. Before she entered
the College, she studied English language at the British Council. Hereshe met an old man whose daughter became proficient in theJapanese language and travelled the world. Inspired by the story,
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Himani started studying Japanese in earnest. In 2017, after
completing two years of study she won the 30th All India Japanese
Language Speech Contest (Junior Category) organized by the
Monbusho Scholars Association in India (MOSAI) and will take part in
the South Asian Federation of Japanese Universities Alumni (SAFJUA)
Speech Contest this year as an Indian contestant. Now she wants tofind gainful employment in a Japanese company and become a
travelogue writer. Also, Ashima Garg, a commerce student who
enrolled in the Japanese Certificate course, wants to read Haruki
Murakami in the original and find a job in a Japanese company.
According to her, trade between South Asian nations and Japan isrising and “the demand for individuals who can speak and write
Japanese fluently is more than the supply.”
Buttressed by cultural products from Japan and professionalism inbusiness, Japanese language education in India has a bright future.
However, most students only see career paths in automobile, IT,
service and translation sectors. Healthcare and artificial intelligence(AI) are new areas that the governments of both countries should also
promote based on the needs of both individual learners andindustries.

My Japanese Study & Indian Students’ Motivation
to Learn JapaneseTold by Marshall Sherrell, Keio University
Exchange student from the University ofWashington

Perhaps the most difficult language for anative English speaker to learn is Japanese.
With a grammatical structure nearly oppositethat of English, two syllabaries and thousands
Marshall Sherrellof kanji, Japanese poses a unique set ofchallenges for aspiring polyglots. I have pursued fluency in Japanese
mostly the “traditional” way through classroom study, but a couple ofless conventional study methods such as immersion learning andlistening to spoken Japanese have yielded better results.
More than any other export, Japanese entertainment media hascaught the attention of the world. After dominating the videogame
industry in the 1990s and early 2000s, Japanese media exploded onto
the world stage with the proliferation of large quantities of Japanese
animation. Formerly a niche market, anime has enjoyed worldwide
fame in recent years through increasing accessibility via Internet
streaming services. One butterfly effect of this phenomenon has beena rise in interest among young people for all things Japanese. Like myexperience, many Indian students are coming to appreciate Japaneseculture and subculture, which is also drumming up interest in theJapanese language.
With business ventures between India and Japan on the rise,
career-minded students are also considering the benefits of Japanese
proficiency. When business activities mandate linguistic proficiency,
the invisible hand of capitalism will always work such magic. Those
prohibitively expensive immersive language courses will be
discounted or funded, visa restrictions will be loosened — as Japanloosened such restrictions for Indians at the beginning of this year;

and long-term enculturation will likely ensue. Whether the current
Japanese language boom represents a passing trend or a culturalshift remains to be seen.

Teaching Japanese to Students at St. Stephen’sCollegeTold by Harumi Yokokawa, AssistantLecturer, Tokyo IT School, System Shared Inc.

My experience of teaching Japanese to
students of St. Stephen’s College reveals that
there is a keen interest in Japanese culture andlanguage amongst students in India. I taught
popular Japanese phrases and structures andHarumi Yokokawa
grammatical structures to Indian students
during my stay at St. Stephen’s College as an exchange student. Most
students already knew some Japanese phrases and customs throughanime and manga. I helped them to speak those phrases correctly.
After teaching basic greetings or aisatsu and basic reactions or
aizuchi I made them practice and converse using SNS chat.
When I was in College residence some students came to my room
to learn about Japanese aesthetics through paper craft and fashion.
Also, when we had the opportunity to perform a Japanese dance
called soran-bushi during morning assembly many students learnt
the steps and used them at other dancing events in College. In spring
2018, I was invited to a Japanese class conducted by a Japanese
professor at St. Stephen’s College where students were quite fluent inJapanese and possessed a strong desire to go to Japan. Most
enjoyed manga, anime and television drama which motivated them tolearn Japanese. Even after returning to Japan I continued to interact
with students from India through SNS chats, sending them pictures
about Japanese life using Japanese phrases. Professor MukeshWilliams, coordinator of Stephaninan Alumni in Japan, told us that St.
Stephen’s College had established a Japanese Society in which
hundreds of students enrolled. Such interest amongst Indian students
is encouraging news for Japanese education in India.

My Journey to Japan
Told by Arpita Victor, St. Stephen’s College
Exchange Student at Soka University

Having lived in the same house, locality, cityand country for all my life, the way I chose tobroaden my horizons was reading whateverbooks I could find and watching what most of
my peers did not. Among other things I began
Arpita Victor
watching anime instead of Cartoon Network. At
the time I would never have imagined that this would grow into a fullfledged academic interest further on in life. Back then, I would watcha lot of anime, like Inuyasha, Saiunkoku Monogatari, K-on!!,Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu and anything else that showed on
Animax. As time passed I grew interested in how anime stories were
made, and I discovered manga. I eventually came to spend more time
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reading manga than watching anime, and soon manga became mymost favored form of entertainment. More than anything else manga
was how I learnt most of what I know about Japanese culture. By thetime I started college, I wanted to take my interest in Japanese culture
to the next level by reading literary works in Japanese and I started
with Haruki Murakami’s Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of
Pilgrimage. Then I moved on to a couple of classical works,
particularly Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s short stories translated in a
volume called Rashomon and Other Short Stories and Natsume
Soseki’s Kokoro. Reading the introductions of these editions I realizedthat the nuances and implications of the original texts are very
different from what I was reading in English.
It was around this time that I came upon the opportunity to join a
two-semester part-time certificate course at my college conducted by
the Department of East Asian Studies of the University of Delhi. It wasa decision that I made very organically, without any form ofcompulsion or need, except for the wish that one day very soon
I would be able to read Japanese books and manga without any
translation. Once I began learning Japanese, I found that myawareness of Japanese culture grew more grounded, in that I had anotherwise obvious realization that acquiring Japanese language is notout of my reach in spite of having been brought up in a very different
culture and country. By the end of the course I had learnt over 300
kanji and could understand basic grammatical forms in the Japanese
language. Taking this course also opened many possible avenues forme not to mention the exchange program with Soka University which
I am a part of currently. Whatever basic Japanese I learnt in thelanguage course has helped me a lot after coming to Japan, enabling
me to understand and use basic instructions and phrases. When once
I traveled in Japan vicariously through television and books, now I am
in Japan solving the mystery of the Japanese language and culture.

Of Manga, Anime, J-pop & Everything JapaneseTold by Wafa Hamid, Assistant Professor,
English, LSR, Delhi University

From teenagers swooning over Atsushi or
Wataru, from the J-pop boyband B2Takes, orheated discussion on the Death Note series,
Indian engagement with Japan and its culture
has grown over the years. Japanese culture
Wafa Hamid
has influenced India more than any other East
Asian culture. This includes Indian intellectuals such as the Nobel
laureate Rabindranath Tagore writing about India learning from Japanand himself maintaining extensive contacts with Japanese
intellectuals. Beyond intellectual discourse, Japanese popular culture
has begun to permeate India, especially its cities. This is reflected in
the launch in 2011 of the first comic convention in Delhi with many
events and stalls dealing with Japanese manga. The comic con has
expanded to other cities in India such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune
and Hyderabad. There are annual comic cons now in all these cities.
In fact, Indians have been one of the largest consumers of anime, somuch so that when the anime Naruto Shippuden came to an end in
2014, thousands were disappointed. This fascination has come of age
56 Japan SPOTLIGHT • November / December 2018

Photo: Author

The iconic Taj Mahal and modern cultural interaction

with many people taking up the study of Japanese culture, literatureand language in their higher studies. Many researchers are now
engaged with Japan on a completely new level. There is an increased
interest in the study of literature, the visual arts and media of Japan.
Students in the premier institutes of India, including Jawaharlal Nehru
University, Delhi University and IIT Mumbai have successfully
defended their dissertations on Japanese literature and graphic
narratives. This has in turn manifested itself in a boom in demand forJapanese language instruction and learning in India. The firmly
established Centre for Japanese Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru
University and the popularity of the Certificate and Diploma courses inJapanese language at the Centre for Languages at St. Stephen’sCollege are some examples of interaction between the two cultures.
With many collaborations and exchanges between universities inJapan and India, this interest is only going to grow further into a moreengaging partnership.

Conclusion
The opinions of three students and three instructors reveal thestrong interest of Indian students and professionals in acquiring
Japanese language skills to understand Japanese culture and gain aprofessional foothold in the world. With expanding opportunities tolearn Japanese in Indian institutes, colleges and universities, thepopularity of the language will grow. Together with iconic brands likeSony, Suzuki and the Shinkansen, Japanese language education willsoon acquire its own iconic identity. The inter-Asian cooperation as
Tagore envisaged in the early 20th century is now becoming realized
in the 21st century.

Mukesh Williams is a professor at Soka University, visiting faculty at Keio
University, consultant/news analyst for the BBC World Service, and St.
Stephen’s College Alumni representative and Academic Exchange Programs
Coordinator in Japan.