| People
who wanted to modernize Japan wanted to abolish the Japanese language (with all
those difficult kanji) and replace it with English. They
thought that this would make it much easier for children to master Western science
and technology. Of course, as we all know, this never
happened, but today Japan faces a very different kind of challenge. Many
people think that learning English in order to communicate with other countries
and to compete in world markets will mean Japan is losing its identity and becoming
a country of "little Americans". However,
Japan lived in the shadow of China for 1,000 years and managed to keep its Japanese
identity. Most Scandinavians speak excellent English
but they keep their distinctively Danish, Norwegian and Swedish values and culture,
so why shouldn't the Japanese? Japan has a message
for the world, but the question is whether the Japanese will be able to communicate
this message to the other nations on earth, or will they be isolated by their
inability or reluctance to communicate in English? | 
