Functional literacy has been defined in this book as follows:
People can read such everyday reading materials as newspapers and manuals, and also can fill in forms and write memos or simple letters. In addition, they have basic numeracy skills; and some can use a computer. They are likely to have finished at least middle school education ("Scripts and Literacy" in chap. 1).
A literate Japanese should know the official Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana, Roomaji, Arabic numerals, and their proper uses. By this definition, virtually all Japanese are said to be literate, thanks to their rigorous primary and secondary education. Some Japanese writers and scholars who have university education are likely to have high-level literacy as well. Such people, in addition to possessing functional literacy, know about 1,000 extra Kanji beyond the official Kanji; they can read specialized or technical materials; some can write manuals and articles; some have knowledge of English, the preeminent international language.
Let us trace the history of literacy and traditional education in Japan.
When Chinese characters were introduced to Japan by Korean scholars in the 4th or 5th century, there arose a need to learn them along with Chinese culture. Initially only a small circle of Korean and Chinese immigrants, imperial family members, and aristocrats were literate in the newly introduced script. By 604 Prince Shootoku (572/4622) was literate enough to draft the 17-article constitution in Chinese characters and text, and in 608 he began to send to Sui and Tang China Japanese missions and students, who came home bringing Chinese learning and texts.
By the last part of the Tokugawa period virtually all samurai, most townsmen, and well-off peasants were literate. By the mid-19th century, 45% of the men and 15% of the women could read and write (Dore 1965). This rate of literacy is considered high for a feudal society; it must have laid a foundation for rapid industrialization in the next, Meiji period.
In the latter half of the 19th century, when Japan awoke from its 300 years of self-imposed isolation, she found herself hopelessly behind the West in matters of science, technology, and industry. The enlightened emperor, Meiji, was convinced that Japan had to build a modern system of education if it was to catch up with the West. In 1871 the Ministry of Education was established, and the following year the modern national educational system was introduced.
Since 1973, one printing company in Tokyo has been conducting annual tests of Kanji reading and writing skill, involving students from 5th grade to university, as well as non-student adults. The test is conducted in giant rooms, one in Tokyo and another in Osaka. Even though no prize or reward is given out, the tests are popular enough to draw 2,000 to 3,000 volunteer testees annually. People who take such tests must be interested in learning Kanji, and so they are assumed to know Kanji better than do those who do not take the tests. Be that as it may, the test results reveal interesting patterns. Table 24-1 (based on Saiga, 1978: 214) summarizes the correct Kanji scores (out of 100) in the 6th (1977) test, which produced slightly higher scores than the 5th test (1976).
As Table 24-1 shows, Kanji skills increase with educational level and the age of the testee, from primary school to middle school to high school to college/adults. On the one hand, children know some Kanji not taught in primary and middle schools; on the other, adults do not know all the Kanji taught in primary schools. Both children and adults know some unofficial Kanji found in everyday reading materials. This result suggests that the lists of official Kanji and educational Kanji do not fully reflect the use of Kanji in daily life.
Back to the 6th Kanji test, some of the misreadings are revealing. Given Japanese and Sino-Japanese words in Kanji to read aloud, some testees responded with European translations. This result is not surprising in that some writers give European words as Furigana to Kanji phrases (fig. 19-2c, d). It is another piece of evidence that European words are driving out native and Sino-Japanese words. Finally, it shows dramatically that readers can retain the meanings of logographic Kanji even if they forget their sounds.
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