“…he was still not able to write basic hiragana and katakana characters, despite having lived in the country for nine years” Dude had a doctoral degree but couldn’t bother to learn hiragana and katakana. How tf do people like this exist? #Echobox=1778578206" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/05/1…

I've been living in Japan for 16 years and speak only the most basic Japanese. I never use hiragana or katakana, and Japanese wouldn't be convenient for thinking about the kinds of things I think about. One day, to understand Zen or Shingon properly, I might learn, but that has to wait until after the singularity. If you live in Tokyo, English is all you need.

@CacheThatCheque I passed the JLPT 1, back when it was the 1, with a very high score, and my speaking skills are ok. I can barely write 50 kanji and have no desire to learn as it's a skill I might use once a year. Who writes with a physical pen in 2026?

@CacheThatCheque how do you apply for naturalization without knowing hiragana

@CacheThatCheque Immigrants in the US live here for more than 20 years and don't know a lick of English 🤷‍♂️

@CacheThatCheque I’ve of course learnt how to write them before, but will sometimes blank on one when writing as there’s rarely ever a need to write by hand. Id like to learn to write Japanese fluently but its hard to justify the time investment in this era.

@CacheThatCheque Dude came to Japan in 2015 as a refugee and applied for citizenship in 2018. What a fucking joke.

@CacheThatCheque Holy shit! I'd have maybe had a tiny bit of sympathy for him if he was expected to already know a full range of kanji (even the natives can struggle with it), but basic ass hiragana and katakana? After 9 years? Yeah, he deserves the boot.

@CacheThatCheque I once didn't know my address in the country to get through customs. Cleaner guy spoke to the agent, walked over to me, and said 'sir, just put anything, this isn't for you'

@CacheThatCheque I realized katakana was the one to learn, even tho it is the least common, because it is for foreign words, which I can understand.

@CacheThatCheque There really isn't an excuse when you've been there that long. Speaking should be your strong suit and at least enough reading for road signs and shopping/restaurant shit but if you're pushing almost a decade you should be able to read at least at late grade school level.

The article states that the language skill requirement is a black box. I am puzzled since I read from multiple sources that even if there is no formal language test, one should at least be on par with a Japanese child completing the third grade, and that includes hiragana, katakana and 440 kanjis.

@CacheThatCheque Because his doctorate is almost certainly fake.

@CacheThatCheque At least Japan still confers value to Japanese citizenship. European countries used to but now give them out like candy.

@CacheThatCheque I learned hiragana and katakana in one weekend. It’s unacceptable to live here for nine years and not learn even the basics of written Japanese.

@CacheThatCheque Give him the naturalization but put him in a zoo because that is a real specimen

@CacheThatCheque It's sad. They don't give a fuck about learning a language

@CacheThatCheque "... violated Japan’s obligations stipulated in Article 34 of the United Nations Refugee Convention" The UN should have been disbanded after the fall of the Soviet Union, if they had a purpose it ended, now they're like a useless dude trying not to get fired at work.

@CacheThatCheque But he is still allowed to live here forever and continue to leech

@CacheThatCheque It says his "speaking abilities in Japanese were sufficient", but just couldn't write. There is no need to write Japanese characters by hand other than when filling out forms, which maybe happens a few times a year. agree with the decision though, the fewer Africans the better.

@CacheThatCheque Lmao. I learned to write hiragana and katakana in like two weeks. And I'm stupid lol. How can this guy still not be able to?

@CacheThatCheque What did he eat? Nowadays everywhere has a menu in English or people use their phone to translate, but that wasn’t how it was back in the day. Little kids learn hiragana and katakana seems easier than a PhD.

@CacheThatCheque 30+ years and my writing looks like a 3rd grader’s.

@CacheThatCheque Made just for these occasions

@CacheThatCheque You'd think being unable to hold many jobs, go overseas, and the risk of being deported back to [insert shithole here] would be sufficient motivation to learn a few kana and yet

@CacheThatCheque ひらがなとカタカナ知ってるけどいつもパソコンとかスマホとか使ってるから書いて出来ないよ

@CacheThatCheque I can understand it tbf if you mean handwriting