Bearing in mind the Japanese context, this paper elaborates on how maintenance of international children’s
heritage language (HL) might contribute to the spread of bilingualism in the country. It also expands on the
ways these young learners see themselves as well as how they are seen by their families and within their
academic context. It is argued that young HL learners’ propensity towards bilingualism might not only pave
these children’s way to the acquisition of a second and/or foreign language, but also contribute to future
developments in foreign language learning among the monolingual sectors of society
