It’s been 30 years since the first issue of Hiragana Times was published for non-Japanese people in 1986. Thirty years ago, the Japanese economy was booming, and more than 90% of Japanese people thought of themselves as being middle class. The Japanese business model was well regarded throughout the world for its successful implementation of lifetime employment, pay grades based on seniority, good relations between management and labor, marginal salary differences, and focus on long term profit. In spite of its lack of natural resources, Japan had achieved miraculous economic growth after World War Two. Because of that many nations were inclined to learn from Japan. Against this backdrop, Hiragana Times was released for the benefit of non-Japanese with the idea of “Studying Japanese while learning about Japan.” At that time all the texts were transcribed in hiragana only. Later we evolved to add kanji with furigana, English texts, and more. The influence of globalization has had a huge impact on Japan over these past 30 years. In accordance with these changes, the interest of Japanese learners has shifted from economic matters to cultural matters. Now Japan is becoming a country of great cultural importance. Fortunately, Japan has an abundance of cultural assets including its four seasons, beautiful natural scenery, hot springs, cuisine, traditional entertainment, manga, and anime. According to the survey carried out by the Japan Foundation and released in 2013, there are approximately four million students of the Japanese language in Japanese educational institutions overseas – the highest number ever. Compared to English, Japanese has a rich vocabulary. On top of this, the Japanese language has hiragana, katakana, kanji, and even romaji script allowing speakers to subtly express their feelings. In other words, the Japanese language itself has a side that is of cultural interest. In line with globalization, English words are increasingly being used in Japanese. Now English words are being used in Japanese. For example, for such common things as the names of body parts: head, hand, foot, and so forth. At present both these English words and the original Japanese terms – atama, te, and ashi – are used, however, many Japanese words are being replaced by English words. For example, nowadays almost no Japanese use mimikazari for earrings, kubikazari for necklace, budoushu for wine, or shokutaku for table. In the near future many English words will replace conventional Japanese words. However, this trend will be good for English speaking Japanese language learners. Being a mixture of yamato kotoba (the native language), Chinese, and English, the Japanese language has become more and more unique. If English words are written in the alphabet and not converted into katakana as Chinese characters were incorporated into the language, the Japanese language will be better equipped to meet the challenges of globalization. The Japanese language is written vertically and horizontally. However, with the increasing proliferation of personal computers, horizontal writing that allows for the addition of alphabetic text will become the norm.