The International Promotion of the National Language in France and Japan

The national language serves as a central instrument for communicating cultural differences and fostering a sense of identity among individuals. It is also employed internationally to project a favourable image of a state. Governments engage in activities to teach their language in foreign countries, although these practices vary according to each state’s cultural values and history. In the cases of France and Japan, both states have historically mobilised their culture as a tool for influence, albeit to varying degrees. While the status of French as an international language has long been integral to France’s diplomacy, the Japanese language does not benefit from the same global reach, despite the influence of popular culture on its international dissemination. Consequently, these two languages currently hold divergent statuses that affect their promotion overseas. Aiming to answer the research question — how do France and Japan mobilise language as a tool for projecting national identity?— this paper investigates how the historical traditions and legacy of both languages influence these policies and how decision-makers legitimise them through explicit or implicit references to identity. Whereas the mobilisation of the French language explicitly advances a universal goal and relies on specific cultural values, Japan constructs its discourse on the principle of mutual understanding, presenting Japanese as a means to gain the trust of foreign audiences.