Japanese cultural products are one of the main reasons for Indonesian students' increasing interest in studying the Japanese language.

The academic head at the Japanese Language Teaching department of the Jakarta State University, Dwi Astuti Retno Lestari, told The Jakarta Post that her students mostly cited manga (Japanese comics), anime (Japanese animation) and dorama (Japanese dramas) as their reasons to choose Japanese.

This rang true for 20-year-old Fitriyani, a third-year university student. She pointed out it was dorama that captivated her during her high school years and, in turn, led her into majoring in Japanese language teaching.

"I find dorama very fascinating because through them I can learn about Japanese culture and how people live in Japan. I find Japanese culture very interesting; they are hard workers, punctual and disciplined," she said on the sidelines of a lecture by the Japanese ambassador to Indonesia, Kojiro Shiojiri, at the university last Thursday.

Fitriyani is not the only one to think that. Many other Indonesians are attracted to Japanese culture and history. Shiojiri said 500,000 Indonesians were learning Japanese, either in formal education institutions, such as high schools or universities, or in non-formal short courses.

The large number raises questions about the availability of jobs for the graduates of such a specific field of study. Dwi said the graduates could always look for teaching jobs at high schools or courses.

"Many high schools are now opening Japanese language classes to accommodate the growing interest. More and more non-formal courses are also established; They all look for teachers," she said, adding that her university was one of only two in Jakarta that aimed to produce Japanese language teachers.

Shiojiri said his embassy sometimes assisted people in searching for jobs.

"Some people write to the embassy to seek assistance in looking for a job, and if we know of a company that is looking for employees we can approach them," he said.

However, Shiojiri said he could not go as far as giving Japanese language graduates special access to jobs in Japan or in Japanese companies in Indonesia.

"In a bilateral relationship, there are constraints on what we can and cannot do," he said.

"But I will take giving access to graduates into consideration," he added.

The embassy's role, Shiojiri said, was more about improving the quality of Japanese language education.

For example, the Japanese embassy has been donating books and Japanese newspapers to the Japanese language teaching department at the Jakarta State University.

The embassy also sends teachers, consultants and native-speakers to teach at the university.

"We also hold festivals for everyone interested in Japanese cul-tureand every year we hold speech competitions for students," Shiojiri said.

Fitriyani's fascination with Japanese culture earned her a third place in a speech competition held for university students inGreater Jakarta in May. She went on to be a finalist in a national competition held in the same month.

Like the Netherlands, Japan has had special historical ties with Indonesia as the two countries occupied the country in the past. Japan colonized Indonesia in 1942 until Indonesia declared its independence in 1945 and thereafter the two countries forged bilateral ties, especially in trade. Indonesia has become the largest market for Japanese products in Southeast Asia.