More Japanese towns offer classes to help foreign residents adjust

Education ministry aims to expand language and culture classes nationwide

20241122N Japanese language school

Foreign residents of Hasami, a town in Nagasaki prefecture, practice Japanese with instructors at a Nov. 10 class. (Photo by Yusuke Sakurai)

YUSUKE SAKURAI, Nikkei deputy editor

TOKYO -- An increasing number of Japanese localities are offering classes on Japanese language and culture to help foreigners better integrate into the communities as the population of foreign residents hits a record high.

Around 20% more communities in Japan offered such classes to foreign residents in fiscal 2023 from four years earlier, according to a survey by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

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