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What Japanese Studies does, then, is not only to teach students about an important and highly relevant part of the world but also to encourage their development as "international citizens" or "global citizens" or whatever the buzzword is these days. Japanese Studies classes effectively transform Japan from a fantasy land that only exists within the American cultural sphere to a real place populated by real people who exist independently of the American cultural imagination; and, if Japan really exists, then it only stands to reason that other countries, such as Egypt and Afghanistan, really exist as well. The shift in cultural perspective is enormous. Probably most of the people reading this take such a cultural perspective for granted, but we've all been through college and probably don't remember what it's like to be a junior in high school and surrounded by nothing but Western language, history, and literature. For me personally, Japan might as well have been Disneyland while I was in high school, and I believe there are still a great many Americans well past their teens who don't think too differently.

Kanji aficionados and educators are buzzing over the biggest kanji news in nearly three decades: Next fall, for the first time since 1981, Japan's government is expected to announce a revision of the joyo (general-use) kanji list. Currently numbering 1,945, these kanji comprise the official list allowed for use in newspapers and government publications, and Japanese school children are meant to learn them all during their compulsory education.