English getting behind in Japan perhaps (7)
I believe the answer is:
eastern
'in japan perhaps' is the definition.
(Japan is in the east)
'english getting behind' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'getting' says to put letters next to each other.
'behind' becomes 'astern' (at the back or behind of a ship).
'e'+'astern'='EASTERN'
(Other definitions for eastern that I've seen before include "Facing away from the west" , "Maybe Chinese" , "Asian" , "in Beijing, possibly" , "China?" .)