Why the Japanese study a foreign language by reading?

Recently, I am wondering why the Japanese study a foreign language by reading. The focus of the foreign language education is reading and memorizing grammar and vocabulary, its always taught by a Japanese person in Japan. Whenever I go to a book store, I always find many vocabulary and grammar books are lied. This is why you might find a student who is able to list you some random vocabulary or weird grammar rules you didn’t even know existed, but who freezes when it’s time to order a meal at a restaurant. And it really is a shame that those are the results of a 6 or 10-year-long learning process.

Why does this happen? Why does the Japanese love reading so much?

I experienced learning English in university, where the teachers were native and they taught me writing, listening, and speaking. There’s a high emphasis placed on speaking and aural comprehension. By learning in the university, I find that I learn language best if I write and speak in the language I am studying.

I can assert that using the language one is learning is the effective way to improve language level from my experience. But why the Japanese schools love so reading? Is there any who learned a foreign language by speaking in it?

I consider there are two reasons. First, it is the tradition. As far as I study the history, the old Japanese learned the character from the old Chinese, read and translated their texts. The Japanese have learned foreign language from the past. The second, because English is one of the subjects in school. Just memorizing grammar and words is not enough to use the foreign language well. I believe the teachers understand this, but if the foreign language is a subject, and must be tested, it is need an indication of understanding the language, which are grammar and words. Perhaps the government consider about how foreign language class have the students use the language well and test them well.

Grammar and vocabulary are definitely important, but alone they are not enough. So the question is what should students learn, what is final goal?

I believe it shouldn’t be how well a student can memorize stuff, but if they can actually use the language, otherwise it would be like learning all the rules of a sport and then claiming to be able to play it.