A Survey

The Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan announced its survey on Japanese communication yesterday (on 24th). It shows a certain aspect of Japanese.

One question was like this: How do you respond when you are talked by a foreigner?
The answer like "I will respond in Japanese" was 51.8%. The same answer in 2001 was 43.6%.

Another question was as follows: What do you think foreigners who live in Japan should use Japanese in communication with Japanese?
The answer like "It is better for them to use Japanese" was 78.8%.

The article on one Japanese economic daily reported with words that most of Japanese seemed to hesitate to communicate foreigners with other languages.

I personally think that this survey is reflection of Japanese minds... not open to others, but just be interested in their own world. Japan is one of the wealthy countries in the world and most of them can stay there without moving out for searching better situation to live. In a sense, they do not know the reality of the world. In this earth, of course, many people who are different in terms of skin colour, minds, religion, custom, and the like, live together, but if their mind is not open to others, they tend to forget the fact. According to this survey, I am afraid to say that Japanese seems to forget it.