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The Japanese language (Nihongo) is a spoken and written language used
mainly in Japan.
The language is spoken almost exclusively in Japan. However, during
the period in which Japan dominated Korea, Taiwan and part of China, locals
in those countries were forced to learn Japanese and were each given a
Japanese name against their will. As a result, there are still many people
in these countries who speak Japanese instead of or as well as the local
languages. Immigrants from Japan, the majority of whom are found in the
United States (notably California and Hawaii), and Brazil also frequently
speak Japanese. Their descendants (known as 二世 "nisei" or second generation)
rarely speak Japanese fluently.
Japanese is the official language of Japan and of no other country.
Because it is Japan's only official language and there are few foreign
Japanese speakers, the language is heavily tied to Japanese culture and
vice-versa. There are many Japanese words describing certain Japanese
cultural ideas, traditions, and customs (e.g., Wa, Nemawashi, Kaizen,
Kamikaze), which do not have corresponding words in other languages.
Understanding the Japanese language requires knowledge of Japanese society.
There are dozens of dialects spoken in Japan. Among them are
Kansai-ben, Okinawa-kotoba, Tugaru-ben, and Kanto-ben (Tokyo and surrounding
areas). Dialects are generally mutually intelligible, although extremely
geographically separated dialects such as the Touhoku and Kyuushuu variants
are not. The Ryuukyuu dialects used in and around Okinawa are related to
Japanese, but the two are mutually unintelligible. Dialects typically differ
in terms of vocabulary, pitch accent, and in some cases pronunciation.
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