Japanese Government Policies in Education, Science, Sports and Culture 2000[Part 2 Chapter 8 Section 3 1]

Amidst the promotion of Japanese language policy, the deliberations of the National Language Council, which is comprised of people of experience and academic standing and experts, have mainly concerned the issue of the orthographic notation system.

In recent years, the Council's work has reflected the changes in Japan's social circumstances. The issue of the Japanese language has also undergone significant changes. Therefore, in June 1998, the Council issued a report on the progress of its deliberations regarding the issue of wording with a focus on formal language and the issue of a form of writing kanji (Chinese characters) that is adapted to information devices, stating the following points:

(1) When considering wording to aid smooth communication, aside from formal language (including honorific, polite and humble language), a variety of expressions that take into consideration various aspects, such as the counterpart and the situation, are in use. Given this situation, there is a need from now on to discuss usage guidelines for respectful expressions as a whole, including formal language.

(2) Regarding the form of kanji that are not in the standard tables, based on the form of characters actually in current use, the traditional printed character form from the Meiji period is considered the standard printed form. Taking into consideration the habits and frequency of usage of the abbreviated forms of this, some of them are listed in the Table of Unlisted Chinese Character Forms as "simple forms in everyday use" (provisional name).

The National Language Council is continuing its deliberations on the issues of the globalization of Japanese language such as the spread of the Japanese language internationally and the incorporation of foreign loanwords (so-called "katakana words") into Japanese, and plans to issue a report during the year 2000.


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