English in foreign langauge education policy in Japan: Toward the twenty‐first century

ABSTRACT: In this paper, we will try to show how foreign language education in Japan toward, and in, the twenty‐first century may be affected by the changing social, economic and political streams of thought, particularly by the educational policies of the Ministry of Education. In order to get a broader perspective, we will present a profile of Japan's natural and socio‐economic conditions, a brief history of foreign language and culture learning by the Japanese, and the Japanese government's foreign language education policies since the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Such background knowledge may contribute to understanding the plausible raison d'être of changing foreign language teaching in Japan.