Can you picture a place where retirees, office workers, housewives, and students sit down together with labour migrants, the foreign spouses of Japanese people, and other long-term residents? Local Japanese classes are exactly that. Across Japan, these classes are organised and run by unpaid volunteers who help migrants learn the language. They are remarkable spaces. But be cautious of idealising them too quickly.
These classes exist because of a gap, not a plan. A lack of public funding, a drive to cut costs, and a shortage of professional teachers created the conditions for volunteers to step in. Their unpaid labour has reinforced a common assumption: that any native speaker can teach their language to foreigners. This is one reason why the professionalism of certified language teachers is so often undervalued, with many qualified teachers working under insecure conditions.
Since the mid-1980s, the number of migrants in Japan has risen steadily, with only a brief dip during the COVID-19 pandemic. Falling birth rates and an ageing population have left many sectors facing severe labour shortages. Foreign workers are expected to fill the gap, but many arrive with little or no Japanese and generally have no opportunity to learn, except through volunteer-run local classes.
To address this, the 鈥楢ct on the Promotion of Japanese Language Education鈥� was introduced in 2019, establishing clear roles for professional language teachers, coordinators, and volunteers as support staff. In practice, however, this intended division of labour often conflicts with conditions on the ground. Figures from 2021 tell the story plainly: about 50% of Japanese language teachers in local communities are volunteers, around 40% are part-time, and only 10% are full-time.
One common route into language support is through training courses offered by local authorities, which equip volunteers with basic knowledge of Japanese grammar and teaching technique. But research has revealed a tension at the heart of this arrangement: the more enthusiastic non-specialist volunteers are about helping foreign residents learn Japanese, the more foreign residents may become conscious and anxious about their lack of Japanese proficiency.
The difficult working conditions faced by many foreign workers make systematic, grammar-focused learning, the kind that requires preparation and follow-up, hard to sustain. To meet their needs, broad knowledge about teaching methods and teaching expertise are required.
At the same time, not all volunteers primarily want to act as teachers. Interviews reveal a wide range of motivations:
鈥業 wanted to pursue a meaningful, human-like activity alongside my very demanding and exhausting job.鈥� / 鈥楢fter my retirement, I looked for a meaningful activity I could continue.鈥� / 鈥業 like meeting people and have many hobbies. Japanese language support is one of them.鈥� / 鈥業 was interested in international exchange before.鈥� / 鈥業 looked for an activity to give back to society, somehow the favours and help I had received when my husband died.鈥� / 鈥楳y daughter had stayed abroad before.鈥�
This brings us to the promise, and the tension, of local Japanese classes. The variety of participants makes them a distinctive kind of space: a third place beyond work and family, a site where people can connect with the wider community, a place to be and belong. But this potential is hard to realise when the focus stays locked on school-like teaching.
There is nothing inherently wrong with language instruction. Many volunteers enjoy teaching, and many migrants expect to be taught. For young labour migrants especially, passing the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test offers tangible advantages for work in Japan and for job searches after returning home. Many seek focused test preparation and expect professional guidance from their 鈥榯eachers鈥�.
The problem is one of framing. When too much emphasis falls on formal instruction, migrants come to be seen primarily as non-native speakers rather than as fellow community members. And volunteers who came hoping to engage with foreign residents and develop new activities may find themselves pushed into a teaching role they never wanted.
For the diversity of local Japanese classes to flourish, migrants need to be recognised as active members of the community. The Basic Surveys on Foreign Residents, carried out annually by the Immigration Services Agency, offer valuable insight here. The 2024 survey found that the longer foreign residents plan to stay in Japan, the greater the proportion who wish to participate in local activities. Some 26.5% of respondents wanted to join club activities with people who share similar hobbies. Another 21.1% were interested in volunteer work such as interpretation and community clean-ups. And 12.0% expressed interest in joining neighbourhood or local community associations.
But when asked about obstacles to social participation, the most common answer was stark: 鈥榥ot knowing what activities are available鈥�.
Some communities are already finding creative responses. In Soja City, Okayama Prefecture, the local authority has developed a programme training foreign residents to become 鈥楩oreign Disaster Prevention Leaders鈥�, enabling them to work alongside local government and provide self-help and mutual aid in emergencies. The initiative is striking because it inverts the usual dynamic: foreign residents are no longer positioned as people who receive help, but as people who give it.
Volunteering in local Japanese-language support is, indeed, a double-edged sword. But the people who should not be criticised are the volunteers themselves. The real problem is structural. In the current arrangement, the potential of both volunteers and migrants remains underused. For this to change, municipalities need to hire and adequately compensate professional Japanese teachers. With that foundation in place, civil actors, both foreign and Japanese, might develop their potential and participate in activities driven by their own interests, fostering connections that move beyond the supporting-and-supported dynamic that currently defines too many of these spaces.
This post is based on Gildenhard, Bettina. 2026. 鈥淰olunteering in Local Japanese Classes 鈥� Insights into a Microcosm between Personal Initiatives, National Language Policies and the Quest for Professionalism.鈥澨�Japan Forum, April, 1鈥�25. doi:10.1080/09555803.2026.2656200. Read more
