Article: Japan at a Loss for Words : More and more young Japanese have trouble expressing themselves in their native language.(Brief Article)

If you want proof that the Japanese language is in decline, just watch a few parliamentary debates and press conferences on Japanese TV. You won't see politicians talking about what can be done to improve language skills among the country's youth. Rather, you'll see government officials misusing their own language. In one memorable 1997 press conference, the politician Koko Sato, who had been convicted in a payoff scandal, tried to redeem himself by saying that "it is better to forget the past." Unfortunately, Sato botched the old Sino-Japanese phrase he was trying to use, and ended telling the viewing public that "too much is as bad as too little."

Sato isn't ...

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