International interest in the Japanese language dates from the 19th century but has become more prevalent following Japan's economic bubble of the 1980s and the global popularity of Japanese popular culture (such as anime and video games) since the 1990s.
[1] As of 2015, more than 3.6 million people studied the language worldwide, primarily in East and Southeast Asia.
[2] Nearly one million Chinese, 745,000 Indonesians, 556,000 South Koreans and 357,000 Australians studied Japanese in lower and higher educational institutions.
[2] Between 2012 and 2015, considerable growth of learners originated in Australia (20.5%), Thailand (34.1%), Vietnam (38.7%) and the Philippines (54.4%).
However, it has since issued a statement to the effect that the test will continue to be available as a result of support from the Japanese government.