The main problem with Japan's English-language education lies in its sterile approach to words, as if a grasp of their exact meaning is sufficient preparation for understanding and speaking the language. It isn't. You can't look at a box of paint tubes and visualize a Rembrandt. Words have no meaning outside the context of culture, history and the personalities of native speakers.

To continue or not continue? That seems to be the question facing a good 10 percent of the Japanese population. These are people grappling with the horns of an ornery dilemma. An estimated 1 in 10 Japanese of school age and above are said to be immersing themselves in the study of the English language.