>>77588027What
>>77607407 said, but I want to also add a different point. Entertainment and cultural osmosis are a huge way to get people to learn another language. English is extremely important for expanding your horizons to way, way, WAY more resources than any other language bar none, especially on the internet. It's also a lingua franca in many places.
And those reasons are all great, BUT English is also a language that has had huge impacts on culture and entertainment. Even ignoring the expansive British Empire and other such things that spread English far and wide, media in English for over a century has been top tier compared to the rest of what the world offers. Yes, Hollywood and such can be a joke now, but brushing off their impact would be insanely stupid. Most foreign cinema, video games, and general entertainment are low quality compared to what the US has pumped out (and the UK as well).
What Japan has that 99% of countries outside of the English speaking world doesn't have is FANTASTIC entertainment that doesn't need subs or a dub. The Japs have great games, anime, manga, and a decent-ish movie scene to where they do not need to get English entertainment for much of what they watch.
tl;dr This combined with what the other anon said are why Japs don't know English well. It's badly taught, and Japs, unlike most non-English speaking countries, has world class entertainment to rely on.
