A Framework for Foreign Residents to Learn Japanese and the System: Trial to Begin in Fiscal 2028, Government Expert Panel Holds First Meeting

Explanation

How should the government create a public program for foreign nationals living in Japan to learn the Japanese language and Japan's institutional systems? A government expert working group examining this question held its first meeting in Tokyo on August 18, 2026.

The working group consists of six members and is chaired by Susumu Takahashi, Chairman Emeritus of the Japan Research Institute. The government aims to begin a pilot program during fiscal 2028.

Topics discussed at the first meeting included the program's structure and learning content, teaching methods, evaluation indicators for measuring learning outcomes, how attendance status should be reflected in residency screening, the role of companies that employ foreign workers, and cooperation between the national government and local municipalities.

Hayato Suzuki, State Minister of the Cabinet Office, said, "We want to build an effective program." Midori Matsushima, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, remarked to the effect that understanding Japanese would allow daily life to proceed smoothly and enable people to work in Japan over the medium to long term.

Let us also look at the numbers behind this. According to population estimates released by the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on August 20 of the same week, the foreign population as of March 1, 2026 stood at 3,821,000, an increase of 257,000 (7.20%) from the same month the previous year. The Japanese population at the same point stood at 118,989,000, a decrease of 866,000 (0.72%), meaning foreign nationals now account for about 3.1% of the total population.

Japanese language education has until now been handled in various forms by local governments, volunteer groups, companies, and Japanese language schools. What is being examined this time is a separate framework in which the national government prepares common learning content and a common way of measuring achievement. Deciding what counts as having "learned" something also means putting into public words which parts of Japanese, and to what level, are considered necessary for daily life and work to function. That is why evaluation indicators are on the agenda.

As yardsticks for measuring Japanese language ability, there already exist the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) administered by the Japan Foundation and the Japan Educational Exchanges and Services, as well as the framework of reference for Japanese language education presented by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. How this working group will use these, or whether it will create a separate yardstick, had not been decided at the stage of the first meeting.

This meeting was only the first, and both the content of the program and how it will be linked to residency screening remain to be discussed. Since the target for the pilot is during fiscal 2028, the discussions will take roughly two years.

Source: Jiji Press, "Study begins on Japanese-language learning system for foreign residents: expert working group," published August 18, 2026
https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2026081800803&g=pol
Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, "Population Estimates," published August 20, 2026 https://www.stat.go.jp/data/jinsui/new.html