1　 Orthography Reform Proposals

        In the closing years of the Edo period, intellectuals who had knowledge of foreign affairs, called for reform of Japanese language orthography. Maejima Hisoka presented "Kanji On-haishi no Gi" (1866) to Shogun Tokugawa Keiki, and in "Moji no Oshie" (1873) Fukuzawa Yukichi explained that kanji should be gradually abolished and kana used. Proponents of the reform movement founded organizations such as "Kana no Kuwai" and "Romaji Kai" and developed their respective assertions through bulletins. Let us summarise as regards the people who held central roles in the series of movements, the assertions of the organisations, and the development of their activities.

2　Yokohama Pidgin

        After opening in 1859, many foreign people arrived in Yokohama and trade was carried out, however I wonder in what way communication of intention was carried out. Western merchants were accompanied by Chinese people that could understand kanji, and communication in writing was attempted; however, before long a new language was born in use between Western, Chinese, and Japanese people. It was called Yokohama dialect, Yokohama pidgin, and was a pidgin of English and Chinese, with Japanese as the base. For example, "Baby san bashaw" and "Anata yasui. Watarkshee kau. Anata takai. Watarkshee peke peke." In 1873 a booklet called Exercises in the Yokohama Dialect was published, and it is said that a revised and enlarged version was published until 1915. Let us summarise from this booklet what kind of thing Yokohama pidgin was and its features.

3　Western Kanji Scholars

        As the Japanese writing system is complex, it was once called the "devil's language" by a missionary who was hampered in work by it. Even now, for students from non-kanji countries, it is often regarded as one of the most time intensive languages to learn. However, amongst the Western people who studied Japanese in the closing days of the Edo period, when the learning enviroment was nowhere near as refined as today, there were persons who developed sufficient reading and writing abilities. They who needed to read documents, write compositions, I wonder how those kanji scholars grappled with it? Let us sum up the British diplomat Alcock's letter learning concept, and Russia–Orthodox missionary Nicholas of Japan's study method and Japanese language proficiency.

4　 Early Japanese Language Learning Books

        After the opening of Japan, missionaries and diplomats, traders, and travellers, many foreign people arrived in Japan. Amongst them, there were also those who had Japanese language knowledge, however most started learning Japanese after arriving in Japan. In particular, for missionaries and diplomats, the learning of Japanese was an important subject, and amongst them, there appeared people who created Japanese study books. Their study books were used not only in Japan, but abroad as well. From amongst those who created study books, S R. Brown, Ernest Mason Satow, George Aston, and others, chose two points: organization and transcription, and then summarized the special features of Japanese example sentences and grammar explanations. Furthermore, the study books and dicitionaries created at that time are available to the public such as through Meiji Gakuin University Library's digital archive.

5　 Early Japanese–English Dictionaries

        Amongst the missionaries that arrived not long after the opening of Japan, there were those that supported the removal of the ban against Christianity, and created Japanese language study books and dictionaries. American missionary Charles Hepburn (aka 'Hebon'), whose name has gone down in history for the "Hepburn system" of romanization, aided in the creation of a translation of the Bible and the "A Japanese and English Dictionary" (Waeigorin Shusei) dictionary. Let us summarise the establishing process of "A Japanese and English Dictionary" and the features of Japanese example sentences. Furthermore, while there have been several editions of this dictionary, let us also summarise the points of difference between the first and third editions.

6　 A Japan Language Learning Book Created in a German Prisoner of War Camp

        Having entered into the Anglo–Japanese Alliance, Japan went to war as one of the Allies in the First World War, and as the Anglo–Japanese allied forces, they fought against Germany in China's Tsingtao (Qingdao) (a German base in Asia, leasehold land in Shandong province). Following Germany's defeat approximately 4,700 German prisoners of war were interned all over Japan. An exchange arose between the prisoners of war at that time, the local people, and the internment camp staff, introducing novels and movies. In the internment camps, Japanese language classes were held and Japanese language study books were also created. Let us summarise what kind of person Kurt Messner, who taught Japanese and created study books, was—his activities and the content of the books in relation to Japanese language and culture.

7　 English Language Teaching Advisor Harold Palmer and Japanese Language Education

        In 1922, Harold Palmer (1877–1949) came to Japan as a Ministry of Education English teaching advisor, and assisted in coaching with the use of the oral method, which stressed voice training. It is stated that his philosophy was also continued in Japanese language education through a close friend at that time, Naganuma Naoe. Let us summarise Palmer's ideal toward language education, his activities in Japan, and further, the context it imparted to Japanese language education.

8　 Waseda International Institute

        In the early 20th century, due to the increase in Chinese students, a Manchu exchange student department was created, and there was a university that carried out exchange student education, however, after the Xinahi Revolution, exchange students decreased sharply and it was closed. In the 1930s, once again, those aiming for Japan study exchange apppeared. 2nd generation persons of Japanese descent began to come to Japan as exchange students from Hawaii, America, and Brazil. Waseda University continued the Manchu exchange student department, established the Waseda International Institute, and accepted exchange students. Let us summarise the details of the founding of Waseda International Insitute, the educational contents, and the accepted exchange students.

©2014 Yoshimi OGAWA