The Role of Japanese Language Education in the Asian Century

Foreign language education in Australia is going through an interesting time. The arrival of "the Asian Century" has posed the question "is Australia ready for it?", and this has drawn much attention to education in Asian languages and cultural literacy. Although many university language programs still struggle under constant financial pressure, we are observing increased political and public interest in Asian language education. In this context, I believe that it is the time for us to stop and think about the future shape of Japanese language education. This paper examines the current environment around us and explores the potential role of Japanese language educators in Asian Century Australia.