The number of students of the Japanese language at Chinese Universities has been rising rapidly since the advent of the 21st Century, and the figure now stands at over 400,000. However, the core materials that have traditionally been used to teach the language are largely knowledge-oriented, and so offer few opportunities for free and flexible thought and do little to promote creative study and personal growth in students. For these reasons, the materials are less than perfect for deepening understanding of the Japanese language. In this project, the Beijing Center for Japanese Studies will attempt to remedy this problem. The first step will be to recruit the very best teachers of the Japanese language. Then, with the help of specialists from Japan, the center will develop the first ever series of university degree-level Japanese language teaching materials in China. These materials will comprise a intensive reading, listening comprehension, conversation, writing and a teachers' manual. The Sasakawa Japan-China Friendship Fund will provide support over a four year period for the work conducted jointly by Japanese and Chinese specialists. Specifically, the fund will cover costs arising from joint editorial/document review meetings attended by specialists from China and Japan (twice per year, once in China, once in Japan), guidance in training students from Japanese language teachers at regional universities, and costs for participation in events, in China and Japan, to mark publication of materials created through the project. The teaching materials will be the product of the collective wisdom of specialists on both sides. They will have a strong focus on content, and will likely become widely used by students taking a Japanese language major at Chinese universities. By improving the Japanese language proficiency of Chinese students, the materials will provide a bridge for future cooperation between China and Japan, and hopefully deepen the understanding of Japan among Chinese students.

In the third year of the three-year project, the following activities will be carried out.

• Joint editorial meetings in China (Summer 2010, held over 1 week)：
  Six specialists in Japanese language education from the National Institute for Japanese Language, Waseda University, Ochanomizu University and other institutions will join Chinese authors and language specialists at joint editorial meetings in Beijing and Luoyang to create a comprehensive curriculum. At the meetings, which will be held over one week, participants will jointly review and revise drafts of the teaching material series and carry out any other relevant work.
• Joint editorial meetings in Japan (Spring 2011, held over 2 weeks)：
  Five Chinese authors of teaching materials and specialists affiliated to the Beijing Center for Japanese Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing Normal University, Xi'an International Studies University and other institutions will join their Japanese counterparts at joint editorial meetings in Japan to create a comprehensive curriculum. At the meetings, participants will jointly review and revise the final draft of the teaching materials series, and, with input and advice from the Japanese specialists, collect data about possible themes for the teaching materials to be created next fiscal year. Through this collaborative effort, the China-Japan team will produce a publication-ready version of the comprehensive curriculum.
• Monitored lectures for teaching material assessment:
  With the collaboration of highly experienced teachers of the Japanese language currently holding a post at a university in China, the efficacy of the teaching materials developed last year will be tested in monitored lectures. Results from these lectures will be fed back to the authors, who will amend the teaching materials as necessary.
• Presentation to mark the publication of the teaching materials:
  A presentation will be made on the occasion of the convention regarding Japanese language to be held in China in order to mark the publication of the teaching materials.