Summary

In parts of Asia and the Pacific live many people acquired Japanese before or during the World War II and retain competency in the language today. Particularly in Taiwan and the islands of Micronesia, the Japanese language continued to be used as a lingua franca among speakers whose native language differed. Moreover, in parts of the Atayal people of Yilan County in Eastern Taiwan, a Japanese-based creole language formed. This research performs field studies of the Japanese language varieties and creoles in these areas (Taiwan, the Mariana Islands, Sakhalin, etc.) in order to describe and record them. It also seeks to uncover the formation processes (as well as the sociological factors which influenced them) behind these overseas Japanese language varieties formed by contact with other languages. Of these varieties, only the Japanese-based Yilan Creole of Taiwan is used among all generation of speakers, while all the other language varieties are used by those 75 years of age and older, increasing the urgency with which such research must be carried out.