ABSTRACT
Language planning really began in Japan in April 1900 when the government appointed seven language experts to a team charged with preparatory investigations into what should be done about language problems. The process was first dignified with the establishment of a formal body when this team was superseded in 1902 by the National Language Research Council (Kokugo ChOsa Iinkai), set up within the Education Ministry to carry out a thorough investigation of the state of the language.
