Less television and more conversation at home are important first steps in improving children's language proficiency, a council tasked with discussing how to improve young people's command of Japanese said Tuesday.
In a report submitted to Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Takeo Kawamura, the Council for Cultural Affairs offered proposals to help enable children to read most basic kanji before graduating from elementary school.
The report says that for children to become proficient in Japanese, their parents should speak and read to them while they are young.
The council also urged families to set aside time during which the television is turned off in order to encourage more conversation with kids.
"There are those who point out that many Japanese do not believe in the power of words," the report says. "There is a need for society as a whole to teach (children) to have trust in words as having the power to change things."
It suggests that school texts use kana alongside kanji as a guide to pronunciation, instead of having words written with a mix of kanji and kana.
The government designated 1,945 kanji for everyday use in 1981. The report says writing reports and taking notes in school as often as possible will also help improve children's Japanese skills.