Classification of Japanese

Okay kiddo, do you want to know how we can put different types of Japanese people into groups based on things like where they're from or what language they speak? That's called "classification of Japanese".

You know how you have classmates in your school who are all different ages and come from different neighborhoods and families? Well, it's kind of like that with Japanese people, except there are way more of them all over Japan and even in other countries too.

So, when we try to figure out how to talk about them, we use different categories or labels to group them together based on similarities. It's like sorting out different types of toys or foods into their own baskets or boxes.

One way we can classify Japanese people is by where they come from in Japan – like different parts of Tokyo or Hokkaido or Okinawa. Each place has its own customs, traditions, foods, and accents or dialects that make them special.

Another way is by their ancestry or family background, like if they're descendants of people from Korea or China or other parts of Asia who came to Japan a long time ago. They may still have some cultural ties to their original country or language that set them apart from other Japanese folks.

And finally, we can also classify Japanese people by what language they speak or write. For example, some people in Japan mainly use Japanese characters (called "kanji") while others use a lot more "hiragana" or "katakana" letters that look different. And then there are people who speak other languages besides Japanese, like English or Chinese or Korean, either as their first language or as a second language they learned in school or at home.

Does that make sense, little one? It's kind of like having a big puzzle with lots of pieces that need to fit together in different ways to show the whole picture. Classifying Japanese people helps us understand how diverse and interesting they are, and how they all contribute to making Japan a unique and vibrant society.