This study examines student perspectives on gender differences in Japanese speech. Expanding on a small-scale survey by Siegal & Okamoto (2003) that investigated the views of eleven Japanese-language college teachers, this study analyzes 238 questionnaire responses from 220 Japanese-language students at four universities and a US government language school, and 18 Japanese-language teachers. The results of the survey demonstrate that outside the classroom, 88% of students were exposed to gendered speech styles through the media: television, magazines, and cartoons. In-class discussion with teachers, however, was the primary method for learning about these different speech styles. Half of the student participants responded that gendered speech styles should be taught in the classroom because they are characteristic of traditional culture and the Japanese-language. The other half disagreed, asserting that speech styles are an individual's choice, and that the use of gendered speech styles is antiquated, prejudiced, and sexist. The findings suggest that a teacher needs to enhance students' knowledge of speech variations within-gender and their awareness of the link between linguistic forms and social meanings, in order to promote sociolinguistic and sociocultural competence. This will help students use appropriate speech styles in interacting with different people, while learning to choose and construct their own identities through newly-acquired language.