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This paper presents a comparative analysis of two language policies developed in the 2000s by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The two language policies analyzed in this paper are the 'Action Plan to Cultivate Japanese with English Abilities' and 'JSL [Japanese as a Second Language] Curriculum in School Education,' developed within the same temporal and spatial frame at the turn of the millennium in Japan. Focusing on lexical labeling in language and population management, it is argued that these two policies have dealt with mutually exclusive groups of the student population, for whom different kinds of bilingualism and Japanese language are imagined. Cumulatively, these two policies represent an unequal access to bilingualism in the Japanese context, combined with the Japanese dualism that indexes national and other speaker-hood through the distinction between kokugo- and nihongo-Japanese education, which has been a key mechanism in the creation of national boundaries in modern Japan. Through this analysis, this paper identifies the particularities of the Japanese case, as well as situating it in the global trend of unequal management of bilingualism. Abbreviations: MEXT: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan [Monbu kagaku sho]; CNL: Council of National Language [Kokugo shingi kai]; CCA: Council of Cultural Affairs [Bunka shingi kai]; CJGTC: Commission on Japan's Goals in the Twenty-First Century [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Japan, the complexity of the teaching profession has been downplayed in the course of repeated systemic reforms, wherein the profession is increasingly viewed as a technical operation. In response to this trend, the concept of "reflective practitioner" (Schön, D. A.) has been proposed as a counterpoint. While it has influenced the discussion of teacher education reform thereafter, it has also been coopted into what Gert Biesta calls "learnification" of teacher education. This paper outlines the trends and debates of teacher education reform in Japan and discusses ways to avoid the "learnification" of teacher education. This paper speaks directly to Item No. 1 of the 8 challenges put forward by the APJTE editors, which concerns the redefinition of teaching "as a technical operation aimed at the effective production of measurable learning outcomes" and its implications for teacher agency, identity and professionalism. It uses Japan as a case to depict the situation in which the trivialisation of teaching into a technical operation and the de-professionalisation of the teaching profession are proceeding not only through the action of educational policy but also through the interaction with discourses that are intended to criticise it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever since the Imperial Ordinance of 1886 laid the foundations for Japan's university system and Mori Arinori declared that the fundamental purpose of the university was to serve the interests of the state and contribute to national strength, Japan's higher education system has been inextricably linked to national interests. This, however, does not necessarily mean it served the public interest, as our paper will demonstrate. We will approach this topic historically focusing first on the pre-Meiji historical legacies, the development of higher education in Japan will then be detailed with the beginnings of Western influence in higher education, especially the role played by Germany and France, and the consequent strong role of the state. A third reform stage will be examined, focusing on the post-Second World War role of the USA and the expansion of both public and private universities. Finally, the major reforms of the 1990s will be discussed, the new Standards for the Establishment of Universities (SEU) and the implications for both public and private higher education in a demographic climate of declining population. The goal of the paper will be to disentangle the concepts of education and the state, education and the public good, and powerful antecedents and current drive toward marketization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Juxtaposed with the emerging body of literature about datafication in schooling, this paper examines the increasing encroachment of data into the Japanese education system, in particular, the use of data associated with standardised academic assessments for governance purposes. In so doing, we use the Japanese 'case' to expose the possible limits of the existing English-language scholarship on this phenomenon. By providing a contextualised, descriptive account of how data is incorporated into the three layers of Japanese education bureaucracy (municipal, prefectural, national), we call into question the assumed universality of datafication in schooling and its effect as proffered by Anglo-American education policy scholars. Using the Japanese case, the study elucidates the ways in which the particular policy context of the Anglo-American countries, where datafication has been extensively studied, sets certain limits on the existing discussion and leaves underexplored certain questions that might be more relevant to countries and regions beyond Anglo-American education policy contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This cross-case analysis explores national level internationalisation of higher education (IoHE) policies in Singapore and Japan. Through comparison of the state level internationalisation strategies, this paper aims to highlight how each country's unique policy environment impacts their approach to IoHE. The analysis suggests that despite the differing national circumstances and ultimate approaches to internationalisation, both states use it primarily as a means to stay competitive in the twenty-first century global knowledge-based economy. This suggests that while IoHE does build bridges between nations, institutions, and individuals within and between regions, within these cases it is being driven by nationally-centred rationales. While some criticize a competition orientation in IoHE, even with such rationales it may still serve to drive greater collaboration and integration among East Asian higher education systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examining the gap between national level minority education policies and local implementation in Japan, this paper considers this gap as a “soft middle” whereby local communities and schools have considerable leeway in how they implement policies. In particular, this paper focuses on Japan's largest minority group, theburakuminand their educational experiences. It traces the origins of educational policies targetingburakuminand how these policies were designed with this soft middle in mind. Following this, the paper considers two different localized approaches, both under policies directed at theburakuminand after the termination of such policies. It argues that schools can selectively implement policies while still fitting within the parameters of the law. Finally, it demonstrates that considering the soft middle provides for a richer, more nuanced understanding of educational systems, beyond monolithic assumptions of national systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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The internationalization of higher education is considered to be a major policy agenda in the global knowledge society. For Japan, internationalization has been a key driver in academic and social advancement, while its traditional culture and national identity have also been retained. Recently, a series of policies have been presented by the government, university, and industry to attract more students and top calibre researchers from Asia and further afield, and to enhance exchange and collaboration, internationalization at home, and global human resource development. Concurrently, the controversial nature of internationalization has been pointed out, as well as the stagnant mobility of Japanese students and their inward-looking attitude. This paper discusses the internationalization of Japanese higher education by examining the relevant policy, practice, and perceptions of the people and institutions concerned. The major findings reveal the complexity of internationalization as a dynamic process of change, its vulnerability and marginality, and the extent of the gap between policy and practice. The author also addresses the increased relevance of the research in this field to policy-making and practice in education and its contribution to the production of new knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Japanese government provided various political opportunities for non-governmental groups and individuals in Japan to 'jointly propose' policy on education and sustainable development at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, 2002. These opportunities resulted in the emergence of the Japanese education for sustainable development (ESD) movement, and the crystallisation of a broader proposal that led to the initiation of the UN Decade of ESD (2005-2014). In this paper, we trace the history of these two outcomes, arguing that the opportunities, developed through the coordination of non-governmental groups by government, took place within, rather than broadened or confronted, the government's scope of interests. While the paper illustrates how the government's continued support was crucial to the development of the ESD movement and the UN Decade, and the movement has met with considerable achievements thus far (via its collective challenges to conventional education in a sustainability context in Japan), we argue that recognition of the political opportunity structures that affect the movement's further development remains crucial. In particular, we argue for close attention to the significance of a corporatist framing of this emerging civil society movement in Japan by the national government, and call for further political and historical analysis of ESD movements and their relations with government, around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the myth of ethnic and linguistic homogeneity prevails, Japan has always been a multiethnic and multilingual entity. The existence of ethnic minorities remained relatively invisible, and their activism to maintain their identities was not widely acknowledged in the public discourse. However, the influx of immigrants since the mid-1980s as a result of globalisation of the world economy, which forced education authorities to respond to their language needs, has made the multilingual and multiethnic student population more visible. This paper reveals how the responses by education authorities and schools to visible migrants differ from those to invisible long-existing ethnic minorities, and how these responses have impacted on invisible minorities, drawing on the case of ethnic Koreans. It argues that the combination of long-lasting activism by and for Koreans and the visible impact of immigrants offers the potential to challenge the mainstream Japanese schooling. First, responses to immigrants effectively acknowledged the ethnically and linguistically diverse nature of the student population in Japanese schools, and the special needs of minorities. Second, activism for Koreans also took up the cause of the visible immigrants, and this helped to highlight ethnic Koreans' concerns. The focus on interactions between responses to these two groups illuminates the dialectic between globalisation and local forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of countries with public higher education systems have implemented privatisation policies. In Japan, the national government introduced the National University Corporation Act (NUCA) in 2004 and changed the legal status of national universities from that of government-owned public institutions to independent administrative agencies. Its objective was to incorporate them, giving their presidents discretionary power and encouraging financial independence and autonomous administration. Applying McNay’s models of university governance, this paper tracks three stages of university governance longitudinally from 1886, when Japan’s modern higher education system was established, to reveal the historical roots of problems that the NUCA is meant to address. In addition, the effects of the NUCA over the first 6-year period (2004–2009) are examined based on data analysis. Its criteria for analysis are developments in the direction of financial, administrative and intellectual independence, accompanied by increased levels of transparency and public accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study deploys Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to understand how educational standards take shape. To exemplify the inherently collective nature of standards and contingency in the process of standardisation, this study will present a case of the CEFR-J project launched by a group of Japanese university academics to modify the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) for English-language teaching and learning in Japan. Drawing on documentary materials and in-depth interviews, I will describe how the CEFR has become a standard for English-language teaching in Japan while various actors were brought together through the CEFR-J project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2018, the Japanese government introduced a controversial education policy, which made moral education (dōtoku) a formal (as opposed to supplementary) subject in elementary schools, and the new scheme intends to teach, foster, and grade patriotic feelings among school children. By referring to semi-autobiographical narratives of 80 Japanese college students, this exploratory study delves into the question of how the Japanese college youth perceive the efficacy of patriotic education. Do we need to teach school children how to love Japan? If so, how? If not, why? This study suggests that the youth narratives do not necessarily align with this shift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology recommended the implementation of Kyoshi-juku by local Education Boards. Kyoshi-juku provide teacher preparation curricula, classroom observational experiences, and specific information about working in local school contexts as a supplement to the preparation curriculum and clinical experiences offered through higher education. We describe the content and implementation of these new programmes and clarify the rationale or intention for offering this new form of teacher preparation in Japan. Through document analysis, we found 36 Kyoshi-juku currently implemented in Japan. We surveyed 120 Education Boards (response rate 35%, N = 42) and interviewed nine Education Officers about Kyoshi-juku implementation. We found that programmes vary in their structure yet are quite similar in how they address teacher learning in the local context. Two main reasons for implementation were interpreted through the mixed-methods approach combining qualitative and quantitative data: teacher recruitment and how teachers learn practical teaching skills in local contexts. Using the teacher preparation problem frames of 1) training problem, 2) learning problem, and 3) policy problem, we argue that local stakeholders used all three problem frames simultaneously to explain how and why this new policy and programmes have taken shape at this moment in Japan. We argue that multiple lenses on problem framing reveal the complexity of policy decisions and programme design in teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to describe post-war continuity and change in disaster education in Japan. Preparedness for natural disasters has been a continuous agenda in Japan for geographical and meteorological reasons, and disaster education has been practised in both formal and informal settings. Post-war disaster management and education have taken a follow-up approach, which means that clusters of measures have been developed after critical national-scale disasters have occurred. Following this clustering, with a minor amendment, the article discusses continuity and change in disaster education, looking at the different versions of the national curriculum (the Course of Study) at the compulsory school level. It is argued that disaster education has always been delivered at school in post-war Japan – this is the continuity – however, its treatment in the curriculum has changed over the years, from the scientific knowledge model, to the civic participation model, to the multi-hazard model, to the everyday life model within broader economic, political and social contexts – this is the change. Through this historical description, the article sheds light on the complexity of the field ‘disaster education’, particularly its two-dimensional aspect, namely, ‘the science of disasters’ on the one hand, and ‘life skills for disasters’ on the other. Currently, these two dimensions are addressed within the policy framework of School Safety. It is argued, however, that this complexity has been a challenge in the positioning of disaster education in the Japanese system. The article concludes by exploring the direction that disaster education has been taking since the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of 2011. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article critically examines discourses of education policy and work skills in twenty-first century Japan. Conducting a close analysis of texts produced by the Ministry of Education (MEXT) and the Japan Business Federation, it combines analytical constructs from the Discourse Theory of Laclau and Mouffe with those from Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to identify two distinct discourses currently engaged in a struggle for hegemony: a discourse of individual-centered neoliberalism and a discourse of group-centered moral conservatism. This struggle can be described at the level of key signifiers, whose meanings are tacitly contested by the two discourses. In employing these antagonistic discourses within single texts and even single clauses, policymakers produce a hybridized but ultimately incoherent discourse that attempts to uphold the prevailing social order by harnessing the individuality of Japanese citizens into a vision of patriotism and national solidarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the current developments in Japan's lifelong learning policy and practices. I argue that promoting lifelong learning is an action that manages the risks of governance for the neoliberal state. Implementing a new lifelong learning policy involves the employment of a political technique toward integrating the currently divided and polarized Japanese population – popularly called kakusa – into the newly imagined collective, namely, atarashii kōkyō or the New Public Commons. Examining the macro policy discourse on Japan's educational policy, this article demonstrates Japan's inflections of neoliberal governmentality with the new distribution of responsibility between the state and the individuals through the construction of new knowledge supporting the New Public Commons. In fact, new knowledge is the epicenter of the national educational policy discourse aiming at generating social solidarity in local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study looks at how education policies in colonial Korea changed over time in order to accommodate the needs of the colonial authorities during the period of Japanese colonial rule in Korea (1910-1945). The colonial experience can be divided into four different periods according to the four Educational Ordinances issued in 1911, 1922, 1938, and 1943 by the colonial government with each period corresponding to a historic event or context. The constitutive relevance of colonial discourse for an understanding of education can be found in the gradual transformation of the education sector in Korea under colonial rule. It is evident that Japanese colonial policy was inherently contradictory in principle and in practice. On the one hand it sought the assimilation of the Koreans, while on the other it maintained its discriminatory and exploitative practices. Such contradiction was obvious within the colonial education system. As the principal instrument of assimilation, education was regarded as the primary means to subordinate the ethnic identity of the colonised and to transform them into loyal imperial subjects. An overview of the four different periods relevant to the changing circumstances to which the education sector responded reveals the social-historical implications of the instrumentality of colonial education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]