Difficulties in Learning Japanese Reading Comprehension Reviewed from the Perceptions of Indonesian Students

This study aimed to describe and analyze the difficulties faced by students in learning Shochuukyuu Dokkai, as well as their efforts to improve their reading comprehension skills. This study used a quantitative descriptive research method. The technique used is a survey technique. Data collection was carried out by distributing questionnaires via Google form to 67 fourth-semester students of the Japanese Department from three Private Universities in West Java Indonesia, namely Universitas Kristen Maranatha, Universitas Komputer Indonesia, and Universitas Nasional PASIM on March 20–April 19, 2024. The results of the study showed that in sequence the difficulties experienced by students in learning Shochuukyuu Dokkai were understanding the content of Japanese language discourse, the teaching methods used by lecturers, understanding the use of Japanese grammar, understanding the meaning of Japanese vocabulary, understanding Japanese expressions, and understanding the meaning of kanji characters in Japanese language discourse. The most frequent efforts made by students to overcome these difficulties and improve their ability to read and understand Japanese texts are to often discuss with lecturers and friends outside of class hours and also often read Japanese comics that suit their interests. Improving the ability to read Japanese texts by motivating students to continue studying hard, enriching learning resources, and varying the teaching methods used by lecturers is highly required.