English is the global language. Americans, who have no need to use a foreign language, have an overwhelming advantage.
Moreover, with only 26 letters, the alphabet has a high compatibility with digitization.
In contrast, the future of Japanese, with its mixture of kanji and kana, seems bleak.
When former President Trump tweets in "English," the world immediately reacts.
His statements, as a global media figure, cannot be overlooked. However, it's not just that.
It's because Trump's tweets are in English that they spread rapidly.
Nowadays, English is the lingua franca.
Utterances by Americans, who are native English speakers, spread directly to the world.
Regrettably, in the arena of "language competition," Japanese is a localized language that has undergone Galapagosization.
For now, Japan remains the world's fourth-largest economy, so there is still respect and interest in Japanese, preserving its utility. However, as Japan's global standing diminishes, so too will respect and interest, leading to a decline in the usefulness of Japanese.
In the realm of education, Japan cannot compete with English-speaking countries like the United States and the United Kingdom.
English-dominated universities consistently dominate world rankings.
This outcome can also be attributed to English becoming the global language.
English is a phonetic language composed of a combination of 26 letters in the alphabet.
On the other hand, Japanese is a complex language with a mixture of ideographic and phonetic characters.
Since the era of typewriters, English, with its mere 26-letter alphabet, has been easily written. Even in the era of computers, IT, and AI, English, composed of just 26 letters, exhibits significantly high compatibility with the digital revolution.
In contrast, Japanese requires cumbersome input methods such as kana or romaji, and even conversion to kanji, making it less adaptable to digitization.
From these perspectives, the battle between English and Japanese has already been decided.
Perhaps, we Japanese will inevitably have to use English more than we do now.
In any case, Japanese as a language is destined to disappear sooner or later.
Young people have no choice but to learn English.
Frankly, for non-English speakers, studying English is nothing but a waste of time.
It's unfair and nonsensical for people of all ages to spend their limited time studying English.
After all, most Americans can only speak English, yet they have the audacity to act superior.
Nevertheless, Japanese people must learn English.
This can be considered the "misfortune of being born Japanese."
If only back in the 1980s, during Japan's economic heyday, we had made English the language of instruction in education.
It feels like we are now paying the price for not daring to implement bold reforms such as "bilingual education in Japanese and English."
Japanese people will soon have to admit that Japanese alone is not enough.
Moreover, from the perspective of Japan's national security and economic growth, we may soon have no choice but to make English the official language.
