Attendance at the 28th BATJ Annual Conference
2026/9/1
On Tuesday 1st September, Consul General Katsutoshi Takeda attended the 28th British Association for Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language (BATJ) Annual Conference.
BATJ was established in 1998 with the aim of improving the quality of Japanese language education in the UK and revitalising linguistic research within the academic sphere. Its annual conference presents an opportunity for the sharing of educational and academic research findings, as well as the hosting of seminars and workshops. In conjunction with the Japan Foundation London, there is also the annual ‘Japanese Speech Contest for University Students’.
This year's conference was held at the University of Edinburgh over two days, centred on the theme ‘Literacy Education in Japanese Language Teaching: Language, Culture/Intercultural Understanding, and IT/AI.’ It attracted a large number of participants from both within the UK and abroad, including attendees from Japan.
In his remarks at the reception, Consul General Takeda noted that Japanese language education transcends the mere teaching of a language; it fosters deeper intercultural understanding, and those studying Japanese in the UK serve as a bridge between the two nations. He expressed his gratitude to the Japanese language teachers who support these efforts for their contributions to date and voiced his hopes for the association's continued development.
The program also included a message from Charles Bodsworth, Chief Executive of the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation (read on his behalf by Natsuko Perera, Chair of BATJ), a rakugo (comic storytelling) performance by Kohei Shiozawa, and a presentation on miso and other products by Robin Sheriff, who is engaged in koji fermentation locally. Participants engaged in lively exchanges of views throughout the event.
For more information about the BATJ, please visit the following website:
https://batj.org.uk/
BATJ was established in 1998 with the aim of improving the quality of Japanese language education in the UK and revitalising linguistic research within the academic sphere. Its annual conference presents an opportunity for the sharing of educational and academic research findings, as well as the hosting of seminars and workshops. In conjunction with the Japan Foundation London, there is also the annual ‘Japanese Speech Contest for University Students’.
This year's conference was held at the University of Edinburgh over two days, centred on the theme ‘Literacy Education in Japanese Language Teaching: Language, Culture/Intercultural Understanding, and IT/AI.’ It attracted a large number of participants from both within the UK and abroad, including attendees from Japan.
In his remarks at the reception, Consul General Takeda noted that Japanese language education transcends the mere teaching of a language; it fosters deeper intercultural understanding, and those studying Japanese in the UK serve as a bridge between the two nations. He expressed his gratitude to the Japanese language teachers who support these efforts for their contributions to date and voiced his hopes for the association's continued development.
The program also included a message from Charles Bodsworth, Chief Executive of the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation (read on his behalf by Natsuko Perera, Chair of BATJ), a rakugo (comic storytelling) performance by Kohei Shiozawa, and a presentation on miso and other products by Robin Sheriff, who is engaged in koji fermentation locally. Participants engaged in lively exchanges of views throughout the event.
For more information about the BATJ, please visit the following website:
https://batj.org.uk/
