diff --git a/lisp/language/japanese.el b/lisp/language/japanese.el
index 77d06d17700..db6209780a9 100644
--- a/lisp/language/japanese.el
+++ b/lisp/language/japanese.el
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@
 	      (charset . (japanese-jisx0208 japanese-jisx0208-1978
 			  japanese-jisx0212 latin-jisx0201
 			  katakana-jisx0201))
-	      (coding-system . (japanese-iso-7bit japanese-iso-8bit
+	      (coding-system . (iso-2022-7bit japanese-iso-8bit
 				japanese-shift-jis japanese-iso-7bit-1978-irv))
 	      (sample-text . "Japanese ($BF|K\8l(B)		$B$3$s$K$A$O(B, (I:]FAJ(B")
 	      (documentation . t)))