ひきだすにほんご Activate Your Japanese!

ひきだすにほんご Activate Your Japanese! introduces Japanese culture and language mainly to foreign citizens seeking to live and work in Japan and Japanese-language learners who wish to learn about life in Japan.

The Japan Foundation has collaborated with NHK Educational Corporation to produce this program. From 2022 onward, it will be broadcast on television channels and video sites in various countries and made available to classrooms in and out of Japan. Broadcast and availability of this program as on-demand video on NHK WORLD-JAPAN also began on February 28, 2022.

Activate Your Japanese! - TV | NHK WORLD-JAPAN Live & Programs

News / updates

April 25, 2022: We will be presenting at the 2022年度日本語教育学会春季大会 (online) on May 22nd. For details, see The Society for Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language website. Registration closes on May 10th (JST).
April 25, 2022: ひきだすにほんご Activate Your Japanese! featured in the 日本語ジャーナル article.
April 19, 2022: The List of Program Contents is available now.
April 13, 2022: PR movies, a flyer (English) and banners for the program are available now.

How to watch the program

You can watch the program here:

NHK WORLD-JAPAN
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/activateyourjapanese/

Context of this Production

Recently, cross-border travel and communication has flourished, and there are more and more foreign nationals working in Japan in a multitude of fields. People of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds, including those in the Specified Skilled Worker system, will have more opportunities to live in the same communities and work at the same workplaces.

The goal of this program is to encourage those who have learned basic Japanese (JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education* A2) in engaging in more independent communication in Japanese (JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education B1).

The main segment will present communication strategies** for making the fullest use of one’s Japanese skill to achieve communication goals, in conjunction with a drama that follows the progress of Xuan, a Vietnamese person who comes to Japan to work in a hotel. Other segments, such as an onomatopoeia segment, in which viewers can have fun with the huge variety of onomatopoeia in Japanese, and a segment in which people who have moved to Japan from abroad introduce the highlights of the areas they live in, will support multi-faceted learning.

Another aim of this program is to provide a resource for institutions and local residents in Japan concerning the levels of Japanese ability that non-native speakers may have and about communication methods they can use to communicate with non-native speakers living and working in Japan.

*The JF Standard for Japanese-Language Educationis a framework for learning, teaching, and evaluation methods for the Japanese language that was developed by the Japan Foundation based on the ideas behind the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Levels of Japanese proficiency are described in six stages from A1 to C2.
**For example, behaviors like asking for clarification when one hears an unfamiliar word or smoothly taking turns when participating in a conversation. This program takes a new approach that seeks to improve communication skills in Japanese by focusing on communication strategies.

Segments (15 minutes per episode x 24 episodes total)

Xuan Tackles Japan!: Xuan is a Vietnamese person who comes to work at a hotel in Japan. Upon arriving in Japan for the first time, she finds herself in big trouble when she can’t hold a conversation as well as she hoped! But then, a keychain she happened to receive at the airport comes to life...! This drama following Xuan’s progress is filled with communication strategies for success in communication! Viewers will enjoy learning Japanese while they follow along!
Onomatopoeia -Share Feelings-: This mini segment presents onomatopoeia, words that indicate feelings and sensations like “wakuwaku” and “sukkiri,” using colorful animation and short skits. Chatting will be more fun when you use onomatopoeia!
Welcome to My Japan!: Meet people who have moved to Japan to live and work! What kind of work do they do? What is their favorite Japanese word or phrase? What is famous in their town? Viewers will get encouragement and tips on how to live life to the fullest in Japan as they sample the appeals of places all across the country!

Japanese language learning materials for living in Japan provided by the Japan Foundation

The Japan Foundation has developed Irodori: Japanese for Life in Japan, a Japanese language coursebook for use in teaching basic Japanese communication skills needed by foreign nationals to live and work in Japan, and IRODORI Japanese Online Course, suitable to the needs of self-teaching learners.
ひきだすにほんご Activate Your Japanese! can be used in conjunction with study of these materials to further improve practical communication skills.

Irodori: Japanese for Life in Japan: Irodori: Japanese for Life in Japan is a web-based Japanese-teaching material for foreign people to learn basic Japanese communication skills that are needed for daily life and work in Japan. Irodori is made up of three parts: Starter, Elementary 1, and Elementary 2. Starter corresponds to the JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education A1 level, and Elementary 1 and Elementary 2 correspond to the A2 level.
IRODORI Japanese Online Course: Users can view and listen to a wealth of videos, illustrations, and audio recordings to learn Japanese needed in situations of daily life in Japan. Plenty of materials are also provided for practice of topics that the learner wishes to improve or gain confidence in.

Useful Resources

List of Program Contents 【EXCEL: 16KB】

Flyer

You can download the flyer for the program. Please check out the character correlations and information on the performers to enjoy the program even more.

ひきだすにほんご Activate Your Japanese! Flyer【PDF:3.5MB】
image of ひきだすにほんご Activate Your Japanese! Flyer