Why Japanese?

Practical Reasons

Japanese is critical in business and foreign policy.

Japan is the world’s third-largest economy and the United States’ fourth-largest trading partner. Many prominent global companies are Japanese such as Sony, Nintendo, Toyota, etc.
Knowing Japanese makes your resume stand out.
According to the US State Department, Japanese is a Critical Language. In other words, the government needs Japanese language speakers. This helps you secure a federal job related to international relations such as in the Department of Defense or the State Department.
Japanese shares many similarities with Chinese and Korean, so you can use it as a foundation for further language learning. Kanji, one of the three main Japanese writing systems, is directly from China. The relationship between the Japanese and Korean languages is disputed by linguists, but they share a lot of common words.
Knowing at least one of these three languages makes learning the rest easier.

Taking Japanese at TJ eases the transition into college-level Japanese classes. The head start that high school Japanese gives you eases the transition into fast-paced college-level Japanese. The courses are designed for complete beginners in Japanese and there's a skip test! Whether you're a native speaker or wanting to learn a new language, there's a level for anyone!
There’s so many ways to get involved in TJ’s Japanese Program from competing at the National Japan Bowl to organizing school-wide cultural traditions like Oshogatsu, the Japanese New Year’s celebration, with Japanese National Honors Society!
We’re connected to the National Japanese Embassy, so sometimes we have special events from there such as a showcase of the Tokyo Olympic Torch!
You aren’t expected to write much kanji, especially now since online classes/tests require typing kanji. It’s more important that you recognize kanji characters and know what they mean.