200701 EDUCATION
Why? A couple of decades ago, when you landed in Tokyo International Airport, you would be greeted with signs and symbols that would just not make sense to you if you do not know Japanese. Like Mandarin, the Japanese dialect is pretty hard to understand and write. In fact, if I recollect, before a tourist lands in Japan he is given training to comprehend Japanese.
All of this was the scene couple of decades ago. Though, I would not say that the importance of the local dialect has decreased, the increased importance on English as a Second Language makes you feel comfortable. Suddenly, there is a grown perception to tourism as tourists are no longer prone to insecurities when they visit Japan.