The Sakoku period and the current state of English learning in Japan

The so-called sakoku period in Japan spans the mid-seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries and has acquired a legendary status, even among people who might otherwise be unfamiliar with Japanese history. The word sakoku is often translated as national isolation, and this period was traditionally seen as a time when Japan was totally cut off from the outside world, aside from a solitary trading post in Nagasaki. Some scholars have argued that a form of isolationism, stemming from a distrust of foreign influences, has persisted in Japan ever since, as evidenced by the extremely strict border controls enforced during the Covid pandemic, which can also help to explain Japan's relatively poor performance in terms of English proficiency. However, there is compelling evidence that the sakoku phenomenon has been exaggerated historically, particularly in the West, and that such arguments can therefore be ascribed to a form of Eurocentrism.