Japanese language education in Russia

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Japanese language education in Russia formally dates back to December 1701 or January 1702, when Dembei, a shipwrecked Japanese merchant, was taken to Moscow and ordered to begin teaching the language as soon as possible.[1] Aside from one Japanese-medium school, the Japanese School in Moscow, founded in 1965,[2] virtually all Japanese language education in Russia throughout history has been aimed at non-native speakers.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] In Tsarist Russia

Russian interest in Japan dated back to the early 17th century, when Dutch cartographer Gerald Mercator's descriptions of Japan were translated into Russian. The Russian ambassador to China at the time, Nikolai Spafariy, also tried to gather information about Japan; however, the first real knowledge of the Japanese language would come from Dembei, who, shipwrecked and stranded on the Kamchatka Peninsula, was taken to Moscow by Vladimir Atlasov in December 1701 or January 1702, despite his repeated protests and his expressed desire to return to Japan, and ordered by Peter the Great to teach Japanese to a small group of young Russian men.[1] It is believed he finally began teaching in 1705.[3] Japanese education in Russia continued throughout the 18th century, using as teachers Japanese fishermen who, like Denbei, drifted ashore in the Russian Far East and, due to the sakoku policy of the Tokugawa Shogunate, found themselves unable to return to Japan.[4] However, Japanese studies were not included in the official programmes of Russian universities until the 1898 establishment of the Department of Japanese Philology at Saint Petersburg University.[5] Soon afterwards, Serge Elisseeff would become the first Russian to undergo higher education in Japan, graduating from Tokyo Imperial University in 1912;[3]

[edit] Soviet era

Japanese language education suffered a severe setback during the Great Purge, when many Russians with overseas contacts or knowledge of foreign languages were stripped of their jobs, imprisoned, and even executed, on suspicions of espionage. Notable scholars killed during this period include Yevgeny Polivanov, designer of the official system for the Cyrillization of Japanese,[6] and Nikolai Nevskii, who specialised in Okinawan studies.[3] Later, during the Khruschev era, increasing numbers of Russians began again to go to Japan as international students, but few returned to the Soviet Union after completing their studies, and even fewer of those because teachers, due to the low salaries.[4]

[edit] After the Soviet breakup

In the Russian census of 2002, 24,787 people claimed knowledge of the Japanese language, making it the 65th-most known language (behind Vietnamese and ahead of Andian).[7] With only 835 people claiming Japanese ethnicity (nationality) in that census,[8] Japanese is thus one of only two East Asian languages in Russia for which the population of speakers outnumbers the population of the ethnic group to which the language belongs. The other such language is Chinese, which has 59,235 speakers in Russia and is the 44th-most known language,[7] but only 34,577 members of the nationality.[8]

Most students chose Japanese for economic rather than cultural reasons. Study of the language is noted as being most popular in the Russian Far East,[4] especially among Sakhalin Koreans.[9] Also, despite the dispute between Russia and Japan over the Kuril islands, increasing numbers of Russian people in the southernmost islands, such as Shikotan and Kunashiri, are studying Japanese for purposes of daily communication with Japanese, with whom they come into frequent contact.[10]

[edit] Linguistic studies of Russophone learners of Japanese

Russophone learners of Japanese make both phonological and grammatical errors when speaking the language.[11][12]

[edit] Standardised testing

The Japanese Language Proficiency Test has been offered in Russia since 1998,[4] at first only in Moscow, but since 2001, in Vladivostok as well. Since the test's introduction, the number of examinees has risen by an average of 21% per year.[13] However, JETRO's Business Japanese Test was not offered in Russia or any other former Soviet Union member state as of 2006.[14]


JLPT examinees in the
Commonwealth of Independent States
Year Location Number of Examinees by Level
L1 L2 L3 L4 Total
2005[15] Almaty, Kazakhstan 28 43 68 25 164
Moscow, Russia 48 197 316 287 848
Vladivostok, Russia 23 56 97 55 231
Kiev, Ukraine 27 63 120 54 284
Tashkent, Uzbekistan 41 101 122 69 333
2004[16] Almaty, Kazakhstan 34 63 61 28 186
Moscow, Russia 33 168 265 310 776
Vladivostok, Russia 23 94 58 58 233
2003[17] Almaty, Kazakhstan 41 87 42 24 194
Moscow, Russia 34 157 224 207 622
Vladivostok, Russia 20 73 61 45 199
2002 Data missing
2001[13] Moscow, Russia 34 78 173 159 444
Vladivostok, Russia 17 34 84 38 173
2000[18] Moscow, Russia 26 120 122 94 362
1999[19] Moscow, Russia 24 101 135 88 348
1998 Moscow, Russia - - - - 278

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Lensen, George Alexander (April 1961). "The Russian Push Toward Japan: Russo-Japanese Relations, 1697-1895". American Slavic and East European Review Vol. 20: pp. 320-321. DOI:10.2307/3000924.
  2. ^ (Japanese) モスクワ日本人 学校の歩み. Japanese School in Moscow. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
  3. ^ a b c Hirano, Ko. "St. Petersburg U. vows to rev up Japan studies", Kyodo News, 2006-11-16. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
  4. ^ a b c d Kobayashi, Tadashi (2001). "Japanese Language Education in Russia". Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia. Retrieved on 2006.
  5. ^ Bessonova, Elena. "Japanese Studies at Moscow State University". Congresso Internacional de Estudos Japoneses no Brasil. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
  6. ^ "Sixth Polivanov Readings open in Smolensk", Pravda (English Edition), 2003-05-20. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
  7. ^ a b (Russian) Население по национальности и владению русским языком по субъектам Российской Федерации (Microsoft Excel). Федеральная служба государственной статистики. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
  8. ^ a b ">(Russian) Владение языками (кроме русского) населением отдельных национальностей по республикам, автономной области и автономным округам Российской Федерации (Microsoft Excel). Федеральная служба государственной статистики. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
  9. ^ Baek, Il-hyun. "Scattered Koreans turn homeward", Joongang Daily, 2005-09-14. Retrieved on 2006-11-27.
  10. ^ "Territorial dispute still unsolved 50 years after normalization", Kyodo News, 2006-10-07. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
  11. ^ Shirai, Yasuhiro (2000). "The Aspect Hypothesis: A Universal of SLA or L1 Transfer?". Cornell University.
  12. ^ (Japanese) Funatsu, Seiya, Shigeru Kiritani (2000). "第二言語の摩擦音知覚における後続母音の影響－ロシア人日本語学習者における母語の干渉 (Effect of Following Vowel on Perception of Second Language Fricatives - Native language interference in Russian learners of Japanese)" Vol. 4.
  13. ^ a b The 2000 Japanese-Language Proficiency Test Number of Examinees by Sites. The Japan Foundation (2002-02-14). Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
  14. ^ 13th JLRT (2006): A Summary Report (PDF). Japan External Trade Organization (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
  15. ^ Japanese Language Proficiency Test 2005: Summary of the Results. Japan Educational Exchanges and Services, The Japan Foundation (2005). Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
  16. ^ Japanese Language Proficiency Test 2003: Summary of the Results. Japan Educational Exchanges and Services, The Japan Foundation (2004). Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
  17. ^ Japanese Language Proficiency Test 2003: Summary of the Results. Japan Educational Exchanges and Services, The Japan Foundation (2003). Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
  18. ^ The 2000 Japanese-Language Proficiency Test Number of Examinees by Sites. The Japan Foundation (2001-02-07). Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
  19. ^ The 1999 Japanese-Language Proficiency Test Number of Examinees by Sites (2000-02-07). Retrieved on 2006-12-13.

[edit] Further reading

  • (Japanese) Tsutsumi, Masanori (December 1992). ロシア・ソビエトにおける日本語研究 (Studies of the Japanese Language in Russia and USSR). Japan: Tokai University Press.

[edit] External links

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