ABSTRACT
Although it contradicts reality, the official stance of the Japanese Government continues to assert that there are no minority language groups in Japan. Thus, language maintenance is a neglected field. The myth that Japan is a monolingual country is often used as justification for this negligence. Indigenous Ryuku and Ainu, and Korean-speaking people are well-known linguistic minorities. However, there is yet another linguistic or minority grouping which is known as Kikokushijo, or 'returnees.'
