How many gairaigo are there?
In 1889, there were 85 gairaigo of Dutch origin and 72 gairaigo of English origin listed in a Japanese dictionary. From 1911 to 1924, 51% of gairaigo listed in dictionaries were of English origin, and today, 80% to 90% of gairaigo are of English origin.
How much of Japanese is loanwords?
Japanese currently consists of around 33% words of Japanese origin (wago), 49% words of Chinese origin (kango) and 18% loanwords from other languages (including words of mixed origin and the made-in-Japan pseudo-English known as wasei eigo).
Does Japanese borrow from English?
However, most come from English, the dominant world language today. Due to the large number of western concepts imported into Japanese culture during modern times, there are thousands of these English borrowings.
Why does Japan have so many loanwords?
A large part of the reason for so many loanwords in Japanese is that it has a way of picking them up from just about every language it interacts with—much like English, as was mentioned in a comment to the original question.
Why do Japanese mix English?
Obviously a large city like Tokyo has a large number of foreigners around, and to make the cities in Japan more accessible, signs and announcements for mass transit are often bilingual. THOSE English words are, actually, there for non-Japanese speakers to be able to get around.
Why does Japanese sound like English?
Buddhist monks developed Japanese katakana in the 9th century as a short-hand. Now, Japanese texts write loan words from European languages or English in katakana. There are thousands of terms based on English, which is why some Japanese words might sound familiar!
What is the most dominant religion in Japan?
Shinto is the largest religion in Japan, practiced by nearly 80% of the population, yet only a small percentage of these identify themselves as “Shintoists” in surveys.