The Internet and Japanese education: the effect of globalisation on education policies and government initiatives Available to Purchase

Examines the effect of Internet growth on education within Japan, where English and the alphabet are not the first forms of communication. In 1997 the Internet Society carried out research to find what language people were using on the Internet. English accounted for 82% of all web sites, German was second with 4% and then Japanese at under 2%. However, with policy changes at the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, and better translation software, the Japanese use of the Internet exploded. By the end of 1997 the number of servers using Japanese overtook those using German. This article examines the policies, initiatives and developments of the Japanese Government that created this growth and looks at the effect of these changes on educational policies.