Kids Web Japan. Japan-guide.com - Japan Travel and Living Guide. Languages - Japanese - A Guide to Japanese - 10 facts, 20 key phrases and the alphabet. Learn Japanese online. With our podcast, learning Japanese is easy. | JapanesePod101.com. Japanese language. Japanese (日本語, Nihongo? , [nihõŋɡo], [nihõŋŋo] ( )) is an East Asian language spoken by about 125 million speakers, primarily in Japan, where it is the national language. It is a member of the Japonic (or Japanese-Ryukyuan) language family, whose relation to other language groups, particularly to Korean and the suggested Altaic language family, is debated. Little is known of the language's prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from the 3rd century recorded a few Japanese words, but substantial texts did not appear until the 8th century. During the Heian period (794–1185), Chinese had a considerable influence on the vocabulary and phonology of Old Japanese.
Late Middle Japanese (1185–1600) saw changes in features that brought it closer to the modern language, as well the first appearance of European loanwords. History[edit] Prehistory[edit] A common ancestor of Japanese and Ryukyuan languages or dialects is thought[by whom?] Old Japanese[edit] Modern Japanese[edit]