In the third article in this series of articles on Japan literacy in Australia and the level of Japan literacy that exist among the members of the general Australian populace (and in particular the level of Japan literacy that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system, whether the educational institution in question had been located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system), I had a look at the teaching, as well as the study, of Japan and the Japanese language at educational institutions that had been located at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of the Australian education system, and how the level, depth, and quality of both the teaching, as well as the study, of Japan and the Japanese language (and, more generally, the level, depth, and quality of the teaching, as well as the study, of Asia and Asian languages other than English, and in particular the teaching and the study of Japan and the Japanese language at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system. As had been discussed throughout the course of the third article in this series of articles, in recent decades, governments that had been located across all three levels of the Australian political system (whether the government in question had been located at the federal, state, or local level of the Australian political system, and this had especially been the case in regards to governments that had been located at the state and federal levels of the Australian political system, and whether it is the centre-left Australian Labor Party or the centre-right Liberal Party that is in power at either, or both, of these levels of the Australian political system) had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system (whether the educational institution in question had been located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system to undertake study of Asia and an Asian language other than English (and in particular one of the four Asian languages other than English that had been identified as ‘priority’ Asian languages other than English in the Australia in the Asian Century white paper that was released by the Australian Federal Government in October 2012) in order to better prepare students for both the challenges, as well as the opportunities, that had been presented by the “Asian Century” and the rise of Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories.

However, and this had also been discussed in the third article in this series of articles, despite the active encouragement from governments that had been located across all three levels of the Australian political system to encourage students to undertake study of Asia and Asian languages other than English (and in particular to undertake study in one of the four Asian languages other than English that had been identified as ‘priority’ Asian languages other than English in the Australia in the Asian Century white paper, which were the Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Indonesian and Japanese languages) in order to better prepare students for both the challenges, as well as the opportunities, that had been presented by the “Asian Century” and the rise of Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories, in recent years, there had been a move away from both the teaching, as well as the study, of Asia and Asian languages other than English at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system, with a growing emphasis instead being paid to both the teaching, as well as the study, of subjects that are in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields of study. In this regard, an argument could be made that this decline in the level of emphasis that had been paid to both the teaching, as well as the study, of Asia and Asian languages other than English at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system, and an increase in the level of emphasis in both the teaching, as well as the study, of subjects that are in the STEM fields of study could have negative ramifications for both the level of Japan literacy (and, more generally, the level of Asia literacy) that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system, and that this, in turn, can have negative ramifications for the level of Japan literacy that exist among the general Australian populace as a whole.

And while there had been a decline in the level, depth, and quality of both the teaching, as well as the study, of Japan and the Japanese language (and, more generally, the teaching and study of Asia and Asian languages other than English) at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system (whether the educational institution in question had been located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system), an argument could be made that the various educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system has not been the only sector of the wider Australian society that had witnessed a decline in the dissemination of knowledge of Asia and its constituent nation-state and territories, as another sector that had seen a decline in the dissemination of knowledge of Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories has been the Australian media ecosystem, as in recent years, there had been a gradual decline in the level, depth, and quality of the coverage of key news and current affairs events that had been emanating from Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories in large sections of the Australian media ecosystem (whether the media outlet in question had been part of the so-called “mainstream media” or had been part of the so-called “alternative media”) and an argument could be made that this could lead to a decline in the level of Japan literacy that exist among the members of the general Australian populace. In this regard, an argument could be made that this decline in the level, depth, and quality of the coverage of key news and current affairs events that had been emanating from Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories (and in particular the decline in the level, depth, and quality of the coverage of key news and current affairs events that had been emanating from Japan) in large sections of the Australian media ecosystem can have negative ramifications for how members of the general Australian populace views Japan and the Japanese people.

It has often been argued that the various media outlets that makes up the wider Australian media ecosystem (whether the media outlet in question had been part of the so-called “mainstream media” or had been part of the so-called “alternative media”) has often served as the people’s window on the outside world, and that this important role that the various media outlets that makes up the wider Australian media ecosystem plays in informing the general Australian populace of key news and current affairs events that had been emanating from around the world became more pronounced during the coronavirus pandemic which saw the closure of international borders in order to stop the spread of coronavirus. However, much like the decline in the level, depth, and quality of the teaching, as well as the study, of Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system (whether the educational institution in question had been located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system), which was discussed in the third article in this series of articles that is looking at Japan literacy in Australia and the level of Japan literacy that exist among the members of the general Australian populace (and in particular the level of Japan literacy that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system), in recent years, there had been a decline in the level, depth, and quality of the coverage of Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories in large sections of the Australian media ecosystem (whether the media outlet in question had been part of the so-called “mainstream media” or had been part of the so-called “alternative media”), with this decline having negative ramifications for the various relationships that had existed between Australia and the constituent nation-states and territories of Asia, and in particular the various relationships that had existed between Australia and Japan (whether the relationship in question had been diplomatic, economic, business-to-business, or people-to-people in nature).

As had been discussed throughout the course of this series of articles that had been looking at Japan literacy in Australia and the level of Japan literacy that exist among members of the general Australian populace (and in particular the level of Japan literacy that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system (whether the educational institution in question had been located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system), the various relationships that had existed between Australia and Japan (whether the relationship in question had been diplomatic, economic, business-to-business, or people-to-people in nature) has been widely considered to be among the most important relationships that Australia has with Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories, and that having a high level of Japan literacy among members of the general Australian populace is important when it comes to the development of the various relationships that had existed between Australia and Japan. However, while educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system does play an important role in the development of Japan literacy among members of the general Australian populace (which is important for the development of the various relationships that had existed between Australia and Japan), it is not the only aspect of the wider Australian society that can play a role in the development of Japan literacy that exist among members of the general Australian populace, as another aspect of the wider Australian society that can play a role in the development of Japan literacy among members of the general Australian populace is the level, depth, and quality of the coverage of key news and current affairs events that had been emanating from Japan in large sections of the Australian media ecosystem (whether the media outlet in question had been part of the so-called “mainstream media” or had been part of the so-called “alternative media”), and that an argument could be made that having a high level of understanding of key news and current affairs events that had been emanating from Japan among members of the general Australian populace is important for the future of the various relationships that had existed between Australia and Japan.

However, much like the decline in the number of academic programs that had specialised in both the teaching, as well as the study, of Japan and the Japanese language at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system (and this was discussed in much detail in the third article in this series of articles that looked at both the teaching, as well as the study, of Japan and the Japanese language at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system), in recent years, there had been a noticeable decline in the level, depth, and quality of the coverage of key news and current affairs events that had been emanating from Japan in large sections of the Australian media ecosystem (whether the media outlet in question had been part of the so-called “mainstream media” or had been part of the so-called “alternative media), and not only can this decline in the level, depth, and quality of the coverage of key news and current affairs events that had been emanating from Japan (as well as, more generally, the level, depth, and quality of the coverage of key news and current affairs events that had been emanating from Asia and its constituent nation-states and territories) can have negative ramifications for, not only the level of Japan literacy that exist among members of the general Australian populace, but also how members of the general Australian populace views Japan and the Japanese people. In this fourth article in this series of articles that is looking at Japan literacy in Australia and the level of Japan literacy that exist among members of the general Australian populace (and in particular the level of Japan literacy that exist among students who had been undertaking study at educational institutions that had been located across all three levels of the Australian education system, whether the educational institution in question had been located at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of the Australian education system), I will be looking at the level, depth, and quality of the coverage of key news and current affairs events that had been emanating from Japan in large sections of the Australian media ecosystem, in both the so-called “mainstream media” as well as in the so-called “alternative media”, and how the decline in the level, depth, and quality of the coverage of key news and current affairs events that had been emanating from Japan in large sections of the Australian media ecosystem has impacted the level of, not only the level of Japan literacy that exist among members of the general Australian populace, but also how members of the general Australian populace views both Japan and the Japanese people.

You can view the entire article on my website at bhiskins.wordpress.com/2026/09…