Japanese language education in Qatar is not very widespread. A 2006 survey by the Japan Foundation found only 2 institutions in Qatar teaching the language, with 3 teachers and 187 students. The first Japanese-language educational institute was opened in 1979, however, it closed in 2001 due to lack of students. It was re-opened in April 2009 as the Japan School of Doha.
The former Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa, took a personal interest in seeing Japanese language teaching in his country expanded; as a result, the chairman of Qatar Telecom began working with the Japanese embassy in 2006 in order to get a native teacher supplied to the Al Bayan Educational Complex for Girls in Al Dafna. 41 secondary students, 48 preparatory students, and 75 primary students enrolled in the course. Qatar's Ministry of Education also runs a language school which offers instruction in Japanese; it enrolled 20 students. No university offered the language as of 2006. Neither the Japanese Language Proficiency Test nor JETRO's Business Japanese Test were held in Qatar as of 2006.