AN EXPLORATION OF THE ROLE OF ANIME AND MANGA AS STIMULI FOR

SECONDARY STUDENTS STUDYING JAPANESE

Rachel Payne, Jocelyn Howard and Masayoshi Ogino

The University of Canterbury
_______________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT

Research suggests that non-Japanese students’ interest in media such as anime and
manga can stimulate their desire to learn Japanese language. Researchers also claim
that using J-pop for pedagogical purposes enhances students’ translation abilities,
language competencies and cultural knowledge. However, most studies in this field
to date have been conducted in tertiary educational contexts, leaving the situation
for younger learners largely uncharted. This paper reports on the second part of a
preliminary study of New Zealand secondary school learners of Japanese (n = 178)
which explored the role of anime and manga as stimuli for learning Japanese
language, and the educational benefits these younger learners perceive they derive
from their J-pop consumption. The results indicate that selective classroom use of
anime, in particular, may be warranted in order to take advantage of students’
interest in this medium. However, the findings also highlight the need for a much
deeper understanding of the role of popular culture as a pull-factor for students to
begin and continue studying Japanese language, particularly in countries such as
Australia and New Zealand where Japanese is one of the major languages taught at
the secondary level.

INTRODUCTION

The term J-pop refers to Japan’s modern popular culture, including manga (Japanese graphic
novels or comic books), anime (Japanese animation movies and related television programmes),
Japanese pop songs and video games, and cosplay (portraying a character from one of these
genres). With new social media platforms and multimedia technologies increasing fans’ ease of
access to the various forms of J-pop, the spread of subtitled films and translations has boosted
fan-bases even further across national and language boundaries. As a result, J-pop is now
enjoyed by increasing numbers of non-speakers of Japanese world-wide, with some fans
devoting long hours to become what Stebbins (2007) refers to as “buff” experts, while even
larger numbers of “consumers” engage less intensively with J-pop simply for fun and pleasure.

A number of recent research studies have explored the link between non-Japanese consumers’
engagement with J-pop and their interest in learning Japanese 1 (e.g., Allison, 2006; Fukunaga,
2006; Northwood & Thomson, 2012). Indeed, in its 2013 report, the Japan Foundation drew
attention to J-pop’s potential to attract new learners of Japanese, stating that Japanese popular
culture has now “made its mark on the world, establishing itself as a starting point for interest

1
At schools where Japanese language is taught, opportunities are usually also provided to learn about some
aspects of Japanese society, tradition, pop-culture, etc. However, ‘Japanese studies’, as a separate field from
‘Japanese language studies’, is not included in any country’s secondary level curriculum. This article deals only
with Japanese language studies.

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 24

and involvement with Japan and the Japanese language” (p. 6). However, other studies suggest
that interest in and motivation to engage with these media may not necessarily lead consumers
to take up formal Japanese language education (Armour & Iida, 2016), or sustain the motivation
of those who are already learning Japanese (Watanabe & Fuse, 2008).

In language education research, the age of participants is of particular salience, yet students
attending primary and secondary schools (ages 5 to 16/18) are frequently under-represented in
these studies. Boo, Dӧrnyei & Ryan’s (2015) recent large-scale review of second language
research with a motivational focus that had been published between 2005 and 2014 revealed
that just 20% of the 416 reports they reviewed involved secondary school students. Boo et al.
claim that this may be, in part, due to stricter ethics requirements for research on younger
children. They argue that the under-representation of secondary level learners in research in
this area is “not ideal given that the secondary school age is one of the most suitable for
language learning within instructional contexts” (p. 156). This issue is particularly important in
countries where there is an assumption by many teachers that J-pop will be a significant
motivator for students (Japan Foundation, 2013). It is possible that efforts to boost learners’
interest in Japanese language studies through an increased focus on J-pop could fail, or worse,
have the reverse effect, if that assumed interest is not actually present in the target students.
However, to date, very little research has been done to explore secondary students’ own
opinions about the role of J-pop as a stimulant for beginning or continuing their own Japanese
language learning journey.

In contexts such as New Zealand, where learning additional languages at the senior level still
remains optional in all schools, a fuller understanding of the dynamics that shape a young
learner’s relationship with Japanese language studies is vital in order to improve the retention
of Japanese language learners at the secondary level and gain clarity about the potential role of
J-pop in this endeavour. Indeed, Armour and Iida (2016) contend that “for the study of Japan
and Japanese language to survive across formal educational sectors at least, we will, as
educators, need to reconcile the role that [Japanese popular culture] plays in the curriculum”
(p. 39).

This article reports on a study that draws on the voices of secondary school learners of Japanese
themselves in order to gain a fuller understanding of the relationship between young Japanese
learners’ consumption of two forms of J-pop, anime and manga, and their uptake or
continuation of Japanese language studies.

BACKGROUND

J-pop and Japanese language education

In the continual search for up-to-date, attractive and effective teaching materials, many
educators have incorporated anime and manga into their Japanese language programmes to
help enthuse, engage and educate their students. Armour & Iida (2016), for example, note that
widespread out-of-class J-pop consumption has “prompted many educators across all sectors
to utilise it in classrooms by pedagogising commercially available material” as a means to
“maintain what seems to have been the driving force for students to continue to take Japanese
language classes” (p. 32). In tandem with the potential linguistic benefits of using J-pop in the
classroom, Fukunaga (2006) also draws attention to other possible educational uses, noting that

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 25

“popular culture texts such as anime are a hook to draw students' attention, and teachers can
use them to help students expand their multi-cultural awareness” (p. 220).

Most reports on this topic focus on tertiary level learners. In describing the teaching of Japanese
popular culture in American colleges and universities, where there was a steady increase in
Japanese learners until recently, Shamoon (2010) reports that student interest in anime, manga
and Japanese video games “drives much of the enrollment in Japanese courses” (p. 9). Mahar
(2003), Allison (2006) and Prough (2010) similarly claim that non-Japanese students’ interest in
J-pop is a driver for students signing up for Japanese language programmes. Again with
reference to the tertiary context in America, Swenson (2007) reports a high level of interest in
J-pop amongst college level students, to the extent that most students attending a course-
related screening of anime “were interested in the films rather than the language” (p. 111).

With particular reference to the Australian tertiary context, Fukunaga (2006) argues that there
is a clear link between J-pop consumption and the desire to commence, and persevere with,
Japanese language studies. Similarly, Northwood and Thomson (2012), in their research with
Australian tertiary level Japanese language learners, report that interest in manga and anime,
and interest in Japanese culture, were the two most motivating factors for students continuing
Japanese language studies at that level. The researchers explain that enjoyment of J-pop and
wanting to read manga in Japanese or watch anime without subtitles “inspires students with a
desire to study the Japanese language, creating a cycle of consumption and learning” (p. 341).

The results of a recent New Zealand study of students’ purposes for learning Japanese indicate
that similar factors also influence tertiary students’ language learning decisions there
(Minagawa, Ogino, Kawai, Nesbitt & Burgh-Hirabe, 2016). Interest in J-pop was one of the top
three reasons given by tertiary students for learning Japanese in Minagawa et al.’s study, along
with interest in the Japanese language, and the desire to be able to communicate in Japanese.

Japanese language education in New Zealand

Since the start of the new millennium, the number of students studying Japanese in New
Zealand secondary schools has almost halved, from 19,283 in 2001 to just 10,843 in 2015
(Education Counts, 2015). The contributing factors are complex and closely interrelated: Japan’s
economy has weakened, New Zealand has not yet produced a national language policy to
support language learning in schools, and support for the teaching of Japanese from schools
and the government has declined until very recently 2. These factors have contributed not only
to decreased enrolments, but also to high attrition rates, particularly from Year 10 to 11
(approximately age 14/15 to15/16). Thus, by 2015 only 694 of New Zealand’s 48,644 Year 13
students (the final year of secondary education) studied Japanese (Education Counts, 2015,
2016). These numbers continue to fall.

Oshima (2012) has highlighted the transition from secondary to tertiary education as the
endpoint for many learners of Japanese in New Zealand, citing problems such as mixed-level
classes during the first year of tertiary studies, the lack of incentives for ongoing students, and
pedagogical issues related to teaching and motivation. In addition, general issues relating to the

2
A recent government initiative aiming to increase trade and international relationships currently provides
funding for some schools to establish or strengthen Asian language programs (Ministry of Education, 2015). As
yet there is no data to assess the impact on enrolments in Japanese.

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 2

views of parents, a decline in the perceived value of Japanese as a career tool, and Japanese
being regarded as a particularly challenging subject in comparison to other options are all
reported to influence New Zealand students’ decisions about whether to begin or continue with
Japanese language studies at secondary and tertiary levels (McGee, Ashton, Dunn & Taniwaki,
2013; Ogino, Nesbitt & Shino, 2016, Oshima & Harvey, 2013).

A 2012 survey conducted by the Japan Foundation (2013) solicited the opinion of Japanese
language teachers worldwide across all educational sectors about the reasons their students
elect to study Japanese. 3 The results revealed that 94% of New Zealand secondary Japanese
teachers ranked interest in modern culture including anime, manga and J-pop as a major pull
factor for their students’ Japanese learning. Noting the virtual unanimity of the teachers’ view
of J-pop as a tool to enthuse young learners, and the fact that student voice was lacking in the
Japan Foundation survey, the authors of this article surveyed New Zealand secondary students
about their reasons and purposes for learning Japanese. Only 60% of 178 secondary student
respondents ranked J-pop as a pull factor for them, which revealed a large divergence between
the teachers’ perceptions and the reasons given by students themselves for studying Japanese
(Howard, Ogino, Payne & Dunn, 2017).

Seeking the voice of secondary students

As we have pointed out, much of the information available about J-pop consumption by
Japanese language learners has come from staff or students at the tertiary level. But what about
the impact of J-pop consumption on secondary learners, who, in the case of New Zealand,
comprise almost two-thirds of all the country’s Japanese language students (Japan Foundation,
2017)?

The disparity noted earlier between teachers’ perceptions of students’ reasons and those of the
students themselves (Howard et al., 2017), led our research team to conclude that this
“highlights the importance of gaining student perspectives in educational research, particularly
when the findings have potential to influence critical pedagogical decisions about course
content and delivery” (p. 17). In particular, a clearer picture is needed of why students start
learning Japanese language, why they persevere, and what prompts some to stop learning
Japanese. In line with the global trend, J-pop has become increasing popular with New Zealand
youth, and yet enrolment in Japanese language study continues to fall. How are we to reconcile
these seemingly contradictory trends?

A fuller understanding of the extent to which J-pop can be considered a silver bullet to boost
learner numbers at the secondary level will be of benefit to all those engaged in steering the
future of Japanese language education, across all levels, for any increase in secondary learner
numbers will impact on tertiary learner numbers too, if good articulation between secondary
and tertiary level Japanese learning can be maintained. The present study draws on secondary
student voices to examine these issues further.

3
The Japan Foundation conducted a repeat survey in 2015, but, to date, the summarised findings of this survey
do not include information on the reasons for learning Japanese.
http://www.jpf.go.jp/j/about/press/2016/057.html

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 27

THE STUDY

This study aims to explore the role of anime and manga as potential stimuli for students to begin
learning Japanese and as tools to maintain and foster new interest within Japanese language
programmes. Specifically, the research seeks answers to the following questions:

1) Is secondary students’ interest in anime and/or manga a stimulus to begin studying

Japanese?
2) What is the extent and nature of the consumption of anime and/or manga by secondary
students studying Japanese?
3) What educational benefits do secondary students’ perceive they derive from their
consumption of anime and/or manga?

A questionnaire survey was utilised to gain the views of senior secondary level students (Years
11 to 13) who were studying Japanese at 14 schools in the Canterbury area of New Zealand’s
South Island. This was a convenience sample, as the participants were all attending a one-day
Japanese language workshop at a tertiary institution in the region. The first part of the
questionnaire asked students about their reasons for learning Japanese (reported in Howard et
al., 2017). The second part of the questionnaire gathered information about the students’
consumption of anime and manga. It is the findings from the second section that are reported
here.

A paper-based questionnaire was chosen as the survey tool, rather than an online one, so that
students who did not have access to a digital device at the time would not be precluded from
participating in the study. In selecting survey methodology, the researchers were mindful that
a questionnaire affords the opportunity to gather standardised information from a relatively
large group of students efficiently, whilst still allowing for open-ended questions and responses
(Burns, 2000). In this instance, issues around timing and access to participants precluded the
use of interviews as an additional tool. The researchers acknowledge the limitations this
imposes on the current findings and recognise the benefits of utilising these in future studies.

The questionnaire contained scales, fixed-choice and open-ended questions. Validity was
improved by piloting the questionnaires with a parallel group of 28 students to check for clarity
of instructions and questions. Validity was further enhanced through the involvement of
subject-matter experts to evaluate the final questions and response options, and by making the
survey available to all students attending the workshop day rather than just a limited sample
(Burns, 2000; Mackey & Gass, 2005).

Ninety-three percent of eligible students completed the second section of the questionnaire
(n=178). 4 Data from these were transferred to a spreadsheet using predetermined numeric
coding for the scale and fixed-choice items. Further codes were developed, where appropriate,
to record responses to the open ended questions. The descriptive findings reported in the
following section signal possible trends and areas for further study.

4
Thirty-five native-speaking Japanese exchange students present at the workshop completed a different section
in the survey.

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 2

FINDINGS

In this section, the participants’ demographic data are followed by an overview of the
participants’ engagement with anime and/or manga. Detailed findings are then reported, firstly
in relation to participants’ consumption of anime, and then in relation to manga.

Participant demographics

Of the 178 workshop participants who completed Section Two of the questionnaire, 43% were
male and 56% female (two students did not indicate gender). More than half of the
participants were in their third year of secondary education, Year 11 (see Figure 1), and
correspondingly, the highest response for length of time studying Japanese was from those
who had studied for two years (see Figure 2). This was not unexpected, as students were
requested to answer in full years only and the majority of the Year 11 students began their
Japanese language studies at secondary school in Year 9.

13% 7% 1 year
19%
Year 11 2 years
18%
Year 12 40% 3 years
21%
60%
Year 13 4 years
22%
5 years

Figure 1: Year level Figure 2: Years learning Japanese

Overview of anime and manga consumption

Responses to questions about the participants’ engagement with J-pop revealed that anime was
watched by 44.4% of all the participating students for at least one hour per week, and manga
was read by 26.4% for at least one hour per week. Altogether, almost half of all the participants
reported engaging with at least one of these forms of J-pop weekly (46.1%), and half of those
(24.7% of the total) regularly consumed both forms. As illustrated in Figure 3, almost all the
students who read manga also watched anime (93.6%), whereas nearly half the students who
reported watching anime did not read manga (44.3%).

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 29

Figure 3: Anime and manga consumption

Anime consumption

When asked how much anime they watched each week, 56% of the 178 participants responded
‘none’. The following findings are drawn from the 79 participants (44%) who reported watching
anime regularly (hereafter referred to as ‘anime-consumers’). Of these, 43% were female and
57% were male, reflecting a greater engagement with anime by male students than the
demographics of the overall participant group would indicate (57% compared to 43%). In
keeping with them comprising the largest proportion of all participants, Year 11 students were
the largest group of anime-consumers (53% Year 11; 24% Year 12; 23% Year 13).

Almost half of the anime-consumers reported watching for just one to two hours per week
(46%), and almost a quarter watched anime for seven or more hours per week (22%). Figure 4
illustrates the extent of anime consumption across the total participant group.

6% 9% None

8%
1-2 hours
3-4 hours
56%
21% 5-6 hours
7 plus hours

Figure 4: Reported hours of anime consumption

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 30

Just over half the anime-consumers indicated that watching anime preceded their Japanese
language studies (52%). We refer to these as ‘prior anime-consumers’. In comparison, 41%
reported that they didn’t begin watching anime until after they had started learning Japanese.
These students are referred to as ‘latecomer anime-consumers’. Figure 5 illustrates these
responses in relation to the total participant population.

No anime
3%

prior anime-
18% consumers

latecomer
23% 56% anime-
consumers
no comment

Figure 5: Relative timing of beginning anime consumption and Japanese language study

Students’ responses regarding how much their interest in anime motivated them to start
learning Japanese showed a relatively even spread from ‘not at all’ to ‘extremely’. As Table 1
indicates, 78.4% of all the anime-consumers believed their anime hobby had had at least some
motivating influence on their decision to learn Japanese. It is interesting to note that this
comprises 35% of the whole survey cohort. Of the prior anime-consumers, 97.5% attributed
their anime hobby to having had at least some motivational influence on their decision to learn
Japanese, with almost two-thirds rating the strength of the impact as ‘a lot’ or ‘extremely’.

Impact of interest All anime- Prior anime- Latecomer anime-

in anime on consumers (n=79) consumers (n=40) consumers (n=31)a
starting Japanese % % %
None 21.6 2.5 48.4
A little bit 21.6 17.5 22.6
Moderately 16.4 17.5 19.4
A lot 20.3 37.5 3.2
Extremely 20.3 25.0 6.4
a Six anime-consumers did not indicate whether anime consumption preceded their learning of Japanese.

Table 1: Influence of participants’ interest in anime on their decision to learn Japanese

Almost half of the latecomer anime-consumers (48.4%) reported that anime consumption did
not motivate them to start learning Japanese. Logically, this reply should have been 100% (or
close to 100%, as some students may have been interested in anime but not actually watched
it prior to beginning their study of Japanese). It is possible that the 16 latecomer anime-
consumers who answered positively (to varying degrees) may have misunderstood the question

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 31

and indicated the extent to which anime motivated them to continue studying, rather than to
start studying. This is an inherent danger when dealing with self-report questionnaire data.
Post-survey interviews would have provided the opportunity to explore this apparent
incongruity further.

In response to how helpful anime was for improving their Japanese, one-third of the anime-
consumers reported it was ‘moderately’ helpful, and 39% found it ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ helpful.
In all, 97% of anime-consumers in this study found their engagement with anime beneficial to
at least some degree for their Japanese language studies. In terms of the total survey group,
this means 42.7% of all the participants perceived they experienced some educational benefit
from watching anime.

As shown in Table 2, over three-quarters of anime-consumers reported that watching anime

helped develop their listening and vocabulary skills (84.8% and 74.7% respectively), and over
half noted a boost in cultural and speaking skills (59.5% and 57%). When the data for only those
who rated anime as being ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ helpful were studied, almost all reported a
positive impact on their listening and vocabulary skills, and more than three-quarters of this
group (83.9%) also reported a positive influence on their speaking skills.

All anime-consumers Anime-consumers reporting anime as

(n=79) ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ helpful (n=31)
Skills % %
Listening skills 84.8 96.8
Vocabulary skills 74.7 93.5
Cultural knowledge 59.5 73.3
Speaking skills 57.0 83.9
Kanji 20.3 25.8
Reading skills 8.9 16.1
Writing skills 4.4 9.7

Table 2: Skills reported to be boosted by anime consumption

There was considerable variety in responses from anime-consumers about their favourite
anime. The 45 different titles that were named spanned a wide range of tastes, with action,
fantasy, adventure, sci-fi and comedy among the most popular genre. The most frequently
mentioned anime were Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin (post-apocalyptic fantasy) and
Naruto (action fantasy). Almost all the students watched anime with subtitles (95%) and 14%
also watched versions dubbed into English.

One-third of the anime-consumers reported enjoying particular anime because of their

storylines and for interest and entertainment. More general positive comments, such as it is
cool, cute, or funny were made by a further third, and others liked particular genre because of
the action, characters, and interesting culture. For most students, perceived language
development was an unintended outcome of their anime consumption rather than their main
purpose for watching. Just two students reported language development as a reason they

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 32

enjoyed anime, one noting that “it tests my Japanese”, and another that he “learnt some new
phrases”.

Manga consumption

Almost three-quarters of participants reported ‘none’ in response to the number of hours per
week they read manga, as illustrated in Figure 6. The following data focuses primarily on the
responses given by the 47 participants 26.4%) who reported reading manga for at least one to
two hours per week (hereafter referred to as ‘manga-consumers’), and the relevance of this
sample to the total participant group. Although there were almost equal numbers of female and
male manga-consumers (51% and 49% respectively), there was a slightly higher proportion of
male manga-consumers than their representation in the total population (49% compared to
43%). This difference is less marked than that noted earlier with anime-consumers. As with
anime, Year 11 students were the largest group of manga-consumers (60% Year 11; 17% Year
12; 23% Year 13), reflecting their proportionate representation in the overall survey population.

3% 1%
5% None

17%
1-2 hours
3-4 hours
5-6 hours
74%
7 plus hours

Figure 6: Reported hours of manga consumption

Sixty percent of manga-consumers reported they had started reading manga before they began
learning Japanese (hereafter ‘prior manga-consumers’), with almost half that number (32%)
reporting that their engagement with manga started after they had begun to learn Japanese
(‘latecomer manga-consumers’). The size of these groups is illustrated in Figure 7.

2% No manga

8%

Prior manga-
16%
consumers

Latecomer
74% manga-
consumers
No comment

Figure 7: Relative timing of beginning manga consumption and Japanese language study

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 33

As with anime, the participants’ responses regarding how much their interest in manga
motivated them to start learning Japanese revealed a relatively even spread from ‘not at all’
through to ‘extremely’. Altogether, 74.4% of all manga-consumers believed their manga hobby
had had at least some influence on their uptake of Japanese language studies. This is 19.6% of
the full participant cohort. However, when the responses were examined in relation to whether
reading manga or learning Japanese came first, 89.3% of prior manga-consumers (14% of the
total survey cohort) reported their hobby had had at least some motivating influence on their
decision to start learning Japanese, whereas the majority of latecomer manga-consumers
(86.7%) reported little or no impact.

Impact of interest All manga- Prior manga- Latecomer manga-

in manga on consumers (n=47) consumers (n=28) consumers (n=15)a
starting Japanese % % %
None 25.6 10.7 60.0
A little bit 21.3 14.3 26.7
Moderately 21.3 25.0 6.7
A lot 21.3 28.6 6.7
Extremely 10.6 21.4 0
a
Four manga-consumers did not indicate whether manga consumption preceded their learning of Japanese.

Table 3: Influence of participants’ interest in manga on their decision to learn Japanese

More than one-third (40%) of latecomer manga-consumers attributed their decision to start
learning Japanese, at least in part, to their prior interest in manga. As with the latecomer anime-
consumers who reported some motivational impact, it is possible that these students
responded in relation to the motivational influence they perceive their current engagement
with manga to have on their Japanese language studies, rather than their initial decision to learn
Japanese. As noted above in relation to anime, this discrepancy may indicate that this question
was misunderstood by some students which is a recognised limitation of self-report data.

In relation to whether reading manga was helpful for improving their Japanese language skills,
85.1% of all the 47 manga-consumers, or 22.5% of the full survey cohort, perceived they
obtained some educational benefits from reading manga, although the degree of helpfulness
was less overall than that claimed for anime. Just over one-third of the manga-consumers
(36.1%) reported it to be ‘moderately’ or ‘very helpful’ for improving their Japanese (none
reported it being ‘extremely helpful’), and almost half (48.9%) reported it to be just ‘a little bit
helpful’.

As shown in Table 4, over half of all manga-consumers reported their manga-consumption to

be helpful for increasing their cultural knowledge, reading skills and kanji, and almost half (45%)
perceived benefits for their vocabulary knowledge. There were insufficient students who
reported manga being ‘very or ‘extremely’ helpful for improving their Japanese to warrant
further breakdown of these responses (as done in Table 2 for anime).

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 34

 All manga-consumers (n=47)
Skills %
Cultural knowledge 57.4
Reading skills 51.1
Kanji 51.1
Vocabulary skills 44.7
Writing skills 23.4
Speaking skills 8.5
Listening skills 4.3

Table 4: Skills reported to be boosted by manga consumption

Manga-consumers reported 31 different titles in all as being favourites. As with anime, the
genre varied widely, with action, fantasy, the supernatural, psychological thrillers and
superheroes commonly mentioned. There were many instances where students’ favourite titles
were the same in both J-Pop forms, with Naruto (action fantasy) and Tokyo Ghoul (dark
fantasy/horror) mentioned most frequently. Most of the manga-consumers read manga in
English (77%), with just 13% reading in Japanese, and 9% in both English and Korean.

Two-thirds of the manga-consumers reported enjoying their favourite manga because they
were entertaining, cool, interesting or exciting. The art and humour were also drawcards. Some
students commented that they enjoyed particular manga series because they evoked a
childhood memory or related to a game they play. Just one participant cited the Japanese
language as their reason for a particular favourite manga.

DISCUSSION

Anime and manga as stimuli for studying Japanese

A key focus of this research was to investigate young learners’ own perceptions of the power
that anime- and manga-consumption has had to motivate them to study Japanese. The term
‘motivation’ in the broader sense applies to both the initial trigger and the ongoing stimulation.
The power of J-pop consumption to achieve both these things was clearly demonstrated in this
survey; it was recognised as a trigger by approximately four-fifths of all the anime- and manga-
consumers. What is not yet known, however, is why these J-pop consumers were stimulated to
begin learning Japanese, yet other anime and manga fans are not.

As noted in the findings, latecomer anime- and manga-consumers in this study should have
answered ‘not at all’ when asked how much their J-pop hobbies triggered their initial interest
in studying Japanese. That so many latecomers (over half of anime-consumers and two-fifths of
manga-consumers) gave positive answers concerning the initial motivating power of these
forms of J-pop on their Japanese language studies signals that anime and manga have the
potential not only to trigger initial interest in studying Japanese but also to sustain that interest
and even develop it once studies commence.

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 35

These findings align with the ranking that New Zealand tertiary students have ascribed to J-pop
as a motivating factor (Minagawa et al., 2016). They also concur with results from studies
conducted beyond New Zealand. Armour and Iida (2016) reported that almost one-half of the
247 anime and/or manga fans in their study who were current or past learners of Japanese
(either self-taught or at educational establishments) “indicated they were ‘highly motivated’ to
learn Japanese through their consumption or anime and manga”. Similarly, in the current study,
one or both of these J-pop forms was among the first stimuli to ignite students’ interest in Japan.
Findings such as these further demonstrate the importance of gaining a deeper understanding
of the impact of learning consumption through out-of-school interests on learning that occurs
within formal educational settings.

Extent and nature of anime and manga consumption

It should come as no surprise that once engaged in learning Japanese, students are intrigued to
explore other avenues of Japan-related culture outside the classroom. Although just over half
this cohort of New Zealand secondary Japanese learners consumed neither manga nor anime
(53.9%), there was a sizeable proportion (46.1%) who regularly spent at least some leisure hours
engaging with one or both of these forms of J-pop, and whose ongoing interest in their learning
Japanese was sustained by regular consumption of anime and manga.

The current findings corroborate the results of the first part of this study which revealed a
significant discrepancy between many New Zealand secondary school teachers’ perceptions
about the motivating potential of J-pop compared to the views of these secondary students
themselves (Howard et al., 2017). However, despite the actual level of student interest in J-pop
reported in this study being demonstrably smaller than was assumed by New Zealand teachers
who completed the Japan Foundation (2013) survey, they are still not negligible if we are
considering the potential of J-pop to stimulate and sustain interest in learning Japanese.

A clear picture to emerge from the current study is the wide range in habits between the
consumers of the two J-pop media surveyed here. For example, 68% more of the surveyed
students spent at least an hour a week consuming anime than manga. Moreover, anime were
reported to be consumed for longer hours than manga. This large difference in students’
consumption habits between the two J-pop forms is important because much of the research
on this topic categorises anime and manga together as ‘J-pop’. It is clear from this study that
the patterns of consumption vary, and the two media may have widely different stimulating
effects on young learners.

The current research has also revealed a wide range of consumption habits within each of these
forms of J-pop. The participants’ eclectic tastes are evidence of independent interest in, and
exploration of, a myriad of genres and subgenres from sci-fi to historical fiction, romance to
horror. In this age of almost unlimited online access, students can easily pursue their own
preferences as consumers, rather than merely following a prescribed trend. This needs to be
noted by those hoping to employ J-pop to engage young Japanese learners. Exposing, for
instance, students to a particular subgenre cannot be expected to enthuse all the potential fans
of the broader genre; not all will have the same (or necessarily any) engaging effect for all
students.

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 36

Educational benefits of anime and manga consumption

Several important factors should be borne in mind when considering this study’s findings
concerning the educational benefits of anime and manga consumption. Firstly, the study
focused specifically on the participants’ perception of the educational benefits of their J-pop
hobby, so as to gauge the students’ own assessment of the strength of the beneficial
connections between their educational and extracurricular activities. Fukunaga (2006) outlined
many educational benefits observed in J-pop fans in tertiary level Japanese language
programmes, ranging from “word recognition, listening and pronunciation, and awareness of
various Japanese linguistic features” (p. 213) to increased affinity with “cultural knowledge of
nonverbal gestures, mannerisms, social settings and rules, families, meals, and homes” (p. 217).
How many of these benefits are also accrued by secondary level learners is a topic that warrants
investigation, but it is beyond the scope of this paper to identify and quantify. What is of note
in the current study is that more than two fifths and one fifth respectively of all the participants
acknowledged perceived educational benefits from their engagement with anime and manga.
This indicates that there is indeed an encouragingly strong link in the fans’ minds, if not
necessarily in reality, between their J-pop hobbies and their Japanese language studies.

The second major point to be borne in mind is that the students surveyed in this study were
consuming J-pop for pleasure and interest rather than with the conscious aim of boosting their
studies. If educational benefits do occur as part of this “informal learning” (Carliner 2012, p. 5),
it is as a welcome side product, a secondary goal, but not planned. Indeed, the students may
not have even been aware that learning had happened. This is clearly illustrated by the reasons
participants gave for their J-pop consumption. These were strongly associated with enjoyment
of the plots, characters and graphics, while enjoyment of the spoken/written language or the
improvements it brings to language study were scarcely acknowledged.

The third important point when considering the findings of this study is that, aside from the
improved cultural knowledge coming from J-pop consumption, as outlined by Fukunaga (2006),
any perceived (and actual) linguistic benefits from this hobby are only possible when the
medium is Japanese, i.e. anime with a Japanese soundtrack (with or without subtitles) and
manga written in Japanese. This study found that 95% of the anime-consumers, who comprised
almost half of the full survey cohort, were regularly exposed to spoken Japanese language
outside the class through their J-pop hobby. There is potential then for at least some genuine
linguistic benefit, and the survey results show that students could relate quite accurately the
potential benefits of their hobby for their listening and speaking skills and vocabulary
development.

In contrast, the study revealed that only 13% of manga-consumers were reading manga in the
target language. Thus, less than 4% of all those surveyed were able to gain any linguistic benefits
from manga consumption. Engaging with manga in English is understandable on several counts,
bearing in mind the complexity for new learners of the language of manga written for Japanese
native speakers, and the limited access students have to Japanese printed manga in New
Zealand. Differences in the level of the positive responses regarding the perceived educational
benefits of anime and manga displayed in Tables 2 and 4 show the students’ broad
acknowledgement of this difference; the greatest perceived benefit from manga consumption
was noted to be cultural, rather than linguistic. However, it is debatable how accurate even this

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 37

perception is, given the wide range of genres consumed, including many fantasy and sci-fi works
with limited connection to either traditional or modern Japanese society.

It could be argued that any perceived positive associations made by young J-pop-consumers
between their hobby and an improvement in their Japanese studying abilities should be
welcomed as external reinforcement linking study and leisure activities. Nevertheless, it is to be
hoped that some of the more unrealistic expectations (for example, benefits to speaking skills
from manga consumption, or to kanji capability from anime consumption) do not lead to
disappointment and frustration if they are not realised.

Further research and limitations

To date, the extent of interest in anime and manga in the wider secondary level population has
not been established. Further investigation should be made of the choice made by many young
people not to consume Japanese culture. An insight onto their reasons for not engaging with
this trend would be valuable if efforts are to be made in designing classroom activities to
promote such engagement. Nor has it been determined why some J-pop consumers at this
young age choose to study Japanese formally, yet others do not. These areas warrant
exploration, particularly in contexts where decreasing enrolment and retention numbers
threaten the viability of Japanese language programmes in many secondary schools. It would
also be useful to establish the extent and nature of current pedagogical use of anime and manga
in secondary Japanese classes, and whether use of these for academic purposes is perceived
positively by secondary students.

Limitations associated with drawing on self-report questionnaire data alone have already been
acknowledged. Use of additional research tools, including focus group interviews, and
additional data sources could assist in reducing the constraints of self-report questionnaire data
and provide a deeper understanding of the role of anime and manga as stimuli for Japanese
language study. A further limitation of the current study could be minimised in future research
by expanding the regional representation of the participants.

CONCLUSION

By seeking the voice of young learners of Japanese themselves, this study has revealed that
patterns of anime and manga consumption by secondary level students differ, so these two
forms of J-pop need to be considered separately when assessing their potential pull-power for
young learners. This study has shown that, for at least some young anime and manga fans, their
hobby has kindled a strong interest in learning Japanese. It has also revealed that anime
consumers, in particular, perceive their hobby to have positive and specific impacts on their
language learning endeavours. Careful use of selected genres in Japanese language classes
could well be an effective way to capitalise on this demonstrated student interest, both for
language development, and also to support students’ exploration of aspects of Japanese culture
not usually accessed in the classroom. However, until the latent interest in anime and manga
among secondary aged learners as a whole is better understood, the power of these two forms
of J-pop as potential stimuli to boost interest in Japanese courses should not be overstated. It
is clear that further exploration is needed if we are to fully understand and effectively harness
the pulling power of anime and manga to recruit and sustain the next generation of young
Japanese language learners.

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 38

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge the teachers who supported this study and the students
who participated in the survey. They also appreciate the assistance provided by Karyn Dunn
with statistical testing and interpretation.

FUNDING

This research was supported by a grant from the University of Canterbury’s School of Language,
Social and Political Sciences.

REFERENCES

Allison, A. (2006). The Japan fad in global youth culture and millenial capitalism. Mechademia,
1, 11-21.
Armour, W. S., & Iida, S. (2016). Are Austraian fans of anime and manga motivated to learn
Japanese language? Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 36(1), 31-47.
doi:10.1080/02188791.2014.922459
Boo, Z., Dӧrnyei, Z., & Ryan, S. (2015). L2 motivation research 2005-2014: Understanding a
publication surge and a changing landscape. System, 55, 145-157.
doi:10.1016/j.system.2015.10.006
Burns, R. (2000). Introduction to research methods (4th ed.). Melbourne: Longman.
Carliner, S. (2012). Informal learning basics. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.
Education Counts. (2015). Secondary subject enrolments 2000-2015. Retrieved from
https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/schooling/student-numbers/subject-
enrolment
Education Counts. (2016). Student rolls: Roll by sector and funding year level – 1 July 2015.
Retrieved from http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/schooling/student-
numbers/6028
Fukunaga, N. (2006). “Those anime students”: Foreign language literacy development through
Japanese popular culture. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(3), 206-222.
Howard, J., Ogino, M., Payne, R., & Dunn, K. (2017). Why learn Japanese? An examination of
teachers’ perceptions and students’ reasons. Babel, 51(2), 5-19.
Japan Foundation. (2013). Survey report on Japanese-language education abroad 2012 –
Summary (English). Tokyo, Japan: Japan Foundation.
Japan Foundation. (2017). Survey on Japanese-language education abroad 2015. Tokyo, Japan:
Kurosio Publishers. Retrieved from
https://www.jpf.go.jp/e/project/japanese/survey/result/survey15.html
Mackey, A., & Gass, S. (2005). Second language research: Methodology and design. Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Mahar, D. (2003). Bringing the outside in: One teacher’s ride on the anime highway. Language
Art, 81(2), 110-117.

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 39

McGee, Ashton, K., Dunn, K., & Taniwaki, T. (2013). Japanese language education in New
Zealand: An evaluative literature review of the decline in students since 2005.
Palmerston North, New Zealand: IPC Tertiary Institution.
Minagawa, H., Ogino, M., Kawai, J., Nesbitt, D., & de Burgh-Hirabe, R. (2016, September). Why
are they learning Japanese? Students’ voices on Japanese education from a tertiary
national survey in New Zealand. Paper presented at International Conference on
Japanese Language Education (ICJLE), Bali, Indonesia. Retrieved from http://bali-
icjle2016.com/proceeding/?pagenum=9
Ministry of Education. (2015). Asian Language Learning in Schools programme (ALLiS).
Retrieved from http://www.education.govt.nz/ministry-of-education/specific-
initiatives/asian-language-learning-in-schools-programme/
Northwood, B., & Thomson, C. K. (2012). What keeps them going? Investigating ongoing
learners of Japanese in Australian universities. Japanese Studies, 32(3), 335-355.
doi:10.1080/10371397.2012.735988
Ogino, M., Nesbitt, D., & Shino, P. (2016). Tertiary Japanese language eduaction in New
Zealand: Past, present and future. In M. Ogino, P. Shino, & D. Nesbitt (Eds.), Creating
new synergies: Approaches to tertiary Japanese programmes in New Zealand (pp. 17-
42). Palmerston North, New Zealand: Massey University Press.
Oshima, R. (2012). An investigation into the reasons of discontinuance of Japanese amongst
first year tertiary students who have studied Japanese to Year 13 at secondary school.
(Master’s thesis, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand).
Retrieved from
http://aut.researchgateway.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10292/4501/OshimaR.pdf?sequen
ce=3&isAllowed=y
Oshima, R. & Harvey, S. (2013). The concept of learning Japanese: Explaining why successful
students of Japanese discontinue Japanese study at the transition to tertiary
education. The Language Learning Journal, 1-18. doi: 10.1080/09571736.2013.833646
Prough, J. (2010). Marketing Japan: Manga as Japan’s new ambassador. ASIANetwork
Exchange: Journal for Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts, 17(2), 54-68.
doi:http://doi.org/10.16995/ane.207
Shamoon, D. (2010). Teaching Japanese popular culture. ASIANetwork Exchange: Journal for
Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts, 17(2), 9–22. doi: http://doi.org/10.16995/ane.204
Stebbins, R. A. (2007). Serious leisure: A perspective for our time. New Brunswick, NJ:
Transaction.
Swenson, T. (2007). “What kind of culture could produce these?” Appeal of the exotic as entry
into Japanese culture. Ôsaka Jogakuin Daigaku Kiyô (The Working papers of Osaka
Jogakuin University), 4, 103-122.
Watanabe, S. & Fuse, N. (2008). Beikoku no daigaku ni okeru nihongo gakushusha no dooki
choosa: Anime/Manga no eikyo [Research on the motivation of learners of Japanese in
the U.S.A.: The influence by anime and manga]. In ICJLE, Proceedings of the
International Conference on Japanese Language Education 2008 (pp. 426-429). Busan,
Korea.

The New Zealand Language Teacher, vol. 43, 2017 40

Copyright of New Zealand Language Teacher is the property of New Zealand Association of
Language Teachers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to
a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may
print, download, or email articles for individual use.