Kaori Okano Publications | La Trobe University

Kaori Okano Publications | La Trobe University




PROFESSOR Kaori Okano

Professor, Japanese Studies
===
BOOK

Education and social justice in Japan
20211-224 (235 pages)Routledge
Co-authorsOkano K
MOREDOI

Pacific Affairs

Book Reviews, Northeast Asia

Volume 95 – No. 3

EDUCATION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IN JAPAN | By Kaori H. Okano

Routledge Critical Studies in Asian Education. London: Routledge, 2021. ix, 224 pp. (Tables, figures.) US$160.00, cloth. ISBN 978-0-415-83252-6.

This book is a comprehensive update of Kaori Okano’s previous, well-accepted book (co-authored with Motonori Tsuchiya), Education in Contemporary Japan: Diversity and Inequality (Cambridge University Press, 1999). It provides an overview of Japanese education from the early pre-modern era to the current reform initiative in 2019. More importantly, the book adds new perspectives of social justice in education to the current scholarship on Japanese education.

In chapter 1, which serves as an introduction, Okano puts forth her thesis by addressing two key elements: (1) distributive justice, or who receives how much schooling and the process of distributing education opportunities and rewards equally and equitably; and (2) the content of education, namely, the extent to which a topic is taught, whether this meets the needs of different social groups, and groups that influence decisions on educational content (173). These two concepts provide the overarching lens through which she pursues her argument.

In chapter 2, Okano shares the history of the development of the Japanese modern education system. It transformed Japanese society from a feudal society to a modern nation-state under a highly centralized operation, and then, in the post-WWII era, from a militarist and nationalist society to a liberal democratic one. Chapter 3 features the most recent reforms in 2019. The reforms accommodated “an increasingly diverse and flexible path of, and approach to, learning” (63), which I believe is a core argument of social justice in education in contemporary Japan.

In the following chapters, Okano focuses on a diversified audience which has not received much attention in the extant scholarship on Japanese education. In chapter 4, she sheds light on “culturally and linguistically diverse populations” (68), including indigenous peoples like Ainu and Okinawa, those of buraku descent, Zainichi Koreans, ethnic Chinese, and new migrants from the 1980s, such as the war-displaced Japanese and their families from northeast China and Indo-Chinese refugees. Okano argues that “Japan has become more culturally and linguistically diverse in the last two decades, with the addition of newcomer migrants to the old-timer ethnic minorities of former colonial subjects” (103). She documents grassroots efforts by local education boards and schools on behalf of both long-existing minority groups and new migrants, efforts that proved to be strong initiatives towards transforming prevalent old practices and understandings in Japanese society.

Chapter 5 examines Japanese education through patterns of inequality in terms of poverty, gender, and regions. One of the important arguments made is that Japan’s “relaxed education” or yutori kyoiku policy since the 1980s (unexpectedly) widened the gap across social groups, since in the 2000s and 2010s children’s learning outside of school became fee-based and often required parental engagement. Considering this gap in society or kakusa shakai, Okano eventually proposes that more measures like compensatory programs should be in place to increase participation in schooling for children from low-income and migrant families (173).

Chapter 6, on the politics of shokuiku (education about eating), is the most distinctive and newest contribution to the scholarship on education in Japan. Education about eating is done through a compulsory school lunch, and it is an old practice. However, Okano points out a new significance of this lunch program since the issue of child poverty has become noticeable in contemporary Japan. Furthermore, she also argues that the Basic Shokuiku Act 2006 promotes a diverse agenda, namely fighting the increasing rate of lifestyle-related diseases and childhood obesity, and addressing the decline in food sufficiency.

Chapter 7 discusses another of Japan’s distinctive education practices: nonformal education, or shakai kyoiku. Okano published an earlier book titled Non-formal Education and Civil Society in Japan (Routledge, 2016), and chapter 7 in this current book again focuses on non-formal education for school-aged children. Japan’s shakai kyoiku has played a significant role in promoting social justice at grassroots levels since the early post-WWII era; and the Japanese people have engaged in issues such as human rights, gender, ethnicity, and poverty through dynamic community-based learning activities. Refocusing on children in this context is new and important.

One noteworthy factor is that all changes in the field of education mentioned in this book occurred during the so-called “lost decade” from the 1990s, due to recession, the subsequent slow economy, and changing employment practices (or the collapse of lifetime employment). This period brought new social values and practices, which did not exist in Japan during the period of economic development. The lost decade allowed the Japanese people to “explore what they desire, individually and collectively, in order to feel a sense of self-fulfilment, well-being, and happiness” (177). This book argues that new social values and practices are being formed through new intiatives in education for a post-growth Japanese society.

Lastly, the entire argument is enriched by Okano’s own unique positionality and perspectives as not only a researcher but also the mother of two children who experienced education in Australia and Japan. As she points out, this positionality has helped her “to understand the process of schooling from yet another perspective” (13), adding first-hand, original insights to the book. The book is very informative, easy to read, and can be assigned to undergraduate courses. This is a welcome addition to Japanese studies scholarship.

Akihiro Ogawa

The University of Melbourne, Parkville

Book Reviews

Education and social justice in Japan

by Kaori H. Okano, Abingdon and New York, Routledge, 2021, ix, 224 pp., £120 (hardback), ISBN 9780415832526

Peter CaveORCID Icon

Pages 293-297 | Published online: 06 Nov 2021

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https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2021.1999885

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Professor Kaori Okano is one of the leading specialists on Japanese education writing in English, especially on the sociology of education. This book is a follow-up to Education in Contemporary Japan: Inequality and Diversity (Okano & Tsuchiya, Citation1999), the ground-breaking work that has provided an invaluable analytical overview of contemporary Japanese education since its publication. The earlier book retains much of its value even today, partly because of its thoroughness and quality, and partly because of the relative stability of the Japanese education scene. Nonetheless, there have been important changes since the late 1990s, and this new book is an excellent analytical guide to the current situation.

The book is composed of eight chapters, including an introduction and conclusion. In the introduction, Okano states that the book will examine “the most significant developments in schooling in the last two decades” (3), their causes and effects on youth and society, and how they should be interpreted in terms of social justice and “the interests of disadvantaged social groups.” The introduction also outlines major sociological roles played by education (dissemination of knowledge and skills, socialization, assessment and differentiation, and legitimization of particular views of the world), and provides a valuable, concise summary of different theoretical approaches to education within sociology and anthropology (structural functionalist, conflict or critical theory, and interpretative approaches). Okano positions herself closer to critical theory than to structural functionalism. Finally, the chapter discusses the concept of social justice in education, which Okano understands as composed of “distributive justice” (“who gets how much of schooling”), and the content of what is distributed (what children learn, and how this relates to different social groups) (6). Okano argues that whereas distributive justice is primarily concerned with ensuring equality, focusing on the content of what is distributed requires consideration of differences between groups, and the ways in which what is taught may favour some groups over others.

The book’s second chapter provides a well-informed account of the history of education in Japan from pre-modern times to the post-1945 period. This is very useful for those unfamiliar with the subject.

Chapter 3, “Directions of change”, examines reforms to Japanese education in the last two decades. Overall, it provides an excellent overview, detailed but not losing sight of the big picture, though more use could have been made of research published in the last decade. Okano sees the process of change as incremental and cautious, “a pragmatic package” (39) whereby Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has sought to respond to demands from diverse groups. She categorizes opinion into four broad groups, “neoliberals, neoconservatives, progressive humanist educationalists, and human rights advocates” (39), outlining roughly who falls into each group. This is a very reasonable analysis. Okano suggests that overall, the result of the changes has been an increased measure of diversity within the education system, which has benefited some, but may have meant greater influence of family background upon children’s educational experiences. This seems to me a fair assessment, though a little more attention might have been paid to the substantial diversity already existing in the system through the very significant private school sector. For example, the real growth in the number of six-year secondary schools is far less than indicated by government statistics, given that many private secondary schools had long been six-year schools in practice. Furthermore, the availability and attractiveness of private schooling is a crucial reason why Tokyo (especially) and some other metropolises introduced school choice for public middle schools. Effectively, choice already existed through the private sector, for those with enough money.

I am less convinced by the claims about the “slimming of school functions” over the last two decades (55–56). No evidence is offered to support the assertion that “more parents started sending their children to commercially offered cram schools” (55); indeed, later in the book (160), we are told that juku attendance rose between the 1970s and 1990s – that is, before the 2002 curricular reforms most associated with the “relaxed education” (yutori kyōiku) label – but has flatlined since. Reference could have been made to major surveys on this subject. For example, MEXT figures indicate that while juku attendance rose in the late 1980s, it decreased somewhat in the following 15 years (MEXT, Citation2008). Benesse surveys (since 1990) also indicate that the proportions of middle school students attending juku, using a home tutor, or using subscription home study aids (tsūshin kyōiku) all decreased between 1996 and 2015, though results for fifth grade elementary students are mixed: the proportion attending juku increased from 33% to 39% between 1996 and 2015, whereas the proportions using a home tutor or subscription study aids fell (Benesse Sōgō Kyōiku Kenkyūjo, Citation2015, p. 115). The picture seems more complex than Okano suggests.

Chapter 4 deals with culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) minoritized social groups. Okano suggests that “the incorporation of CLD young people into Japanese society is the most crucial challenge facing Japanese schools today” (68). This chapter too provides an excellent overview of its subject, including national policies, local government responses, and student experiences. As Okano notes, national policies to address the needs of CLD children (especially children of foreign migrants) have been limited, so most initiatives have been taken by local authorities and individual schools, resulting in significant variation. It is difficult for this reviewer to avoid feeling that the national government has been as reluctant to engage seriously with this challenge as with the wider issue of immigration to Japan. Perhaps more surprisingly, Okano also points to the continued absence of ethnicity, linguistic diversity, or non-Japanese nationals as subjects of study in the Social Stratification and Social Mobility (SSM) surveys, perhaps the most important quantitative research conducted by Japan’s sociologists. This raises the question of the responsibility borne by the sociological establishment for inadequate public understanding and policy response.

Chapter 5 examines childhood poverty, gender disparities, and regional variations. In its use of recent research, it is perhaps the best chapter in the book, and should be a starting point for anyone coming to these subjects. There is an excellent discussion of the childhood poverty situation, its causes and effects, and the policies that have been introduced to tackle the problem. Not surprisingly, research shows that socio-economic status (SES) and family structure affects educational achievement. It is striking how much SES affects progression to tertiary education, which must be particularly significant given the greatly increased importance of degree qualifications for career prospects. The section on gender gaps reveals that Japan’s disappointing ranking of 65th for educational attainment in the Global Gender Gap Report 2018 was entirely due to its ranking of 101st for enrolment to tertiary education – again indicating the significance of this part of the education system. After dealing with institutional discrimination and girls’ educational attainment, Okano has an excellent discussion of why girls make gender-specific choices (largely due to reasons outside the education system itself).

Chapter 6 discusses shokuiku (education about eating) and school lunches. This is a valuable treatment of a subject rarely examined in literature to date, but which has fundamental importance for social justice and wellbeing. Most of those familiar with Japanese schools will have been impressed by the high nutritional quality and low cost of school lunches, as well as by the nutritional information provided to children. Okano gives an excellent historical account of the development of the school lunch programme, and places it in international context. She then discusses the Basic Shokuiku Act (2006) and its ramifications. Government figures showing that over 90% of fifth-graders always ate breakfast in 2010 (145) are impressive. However, I am confused by the concluding discussion on pages 146–47. Okano states that “the shokuiku legislation as a whole views individuals as responsible for making healthy eating choices. … It essentially adopts a neo-liberal view of individual responsibility and accountability” (146). Yet later on the same page, she writes that “Japanese shokuiku practice … forces schools to feed all children with a balanced identical lunch. This responsibility is increasingly important as childhood poverty becomes more visible,” and on page 147, she states that “we can interpret the shokuiku legislation as intervening excessively to influence what is essentially a matter of individual private ‘taste’.” These statements seem incompatible with the view that shokuiku legislation is fundamentally neo-liberal. Furthermore, it sounds as if Okano herself is endorsing a neo-liberal, individualistic view – which seems at odds with the earlier statement that schools’ responsibility to provide a balanced lunch to all children is increasingly important amid child poverty.

In this sense, Japanese school lunches seem to me to encapsulate a common dilemma, especially among those who consider themselves as on the “progressive” end of the political spectrum. Providing the same nutritious food for all at low cost must surely reduce inequality and redress the effects of poverty – a good thing in “progressive” terms. On the other hand, it also represents control by authority and deprivation of individual choice, and might be considered Foucauldian “discipline”, all of which might be viewed askance by liberal “progressives”. This dilemma is difficult, if not impossible, to resolve. It might be partially solved by providing a measure of choice in lunches, but this would almost certainly push up costs (and food waste) and require greater subsidy, or higher lunch fees.

To this reviewer, old enough to remember how compulsory school lunches in English schools were abandoned by the Thatcher government in 1980 (Garner, Citation1985), the contrast in approaches by conservative governments in Japan and the U.K. is striking, and worthy of more study. It seems a notable example of the relatively limited influence of neo-liberalism on Japan’s education system.

Chapter 7 deals with non-formal education for school-aged children. Within this broad category, Okano considers support schools and activities for migrant children, support for long-term absent (futōkō) students, support for children from disadvantaged families, alternative schools for foreign students, and shadow education (juku etc.). This provides a useful overview of a diverse and complex picture.

The book’s conclusion briefly analyses developments in Japanese education since 2000 in terms of the conceptualizations of social justice introduced earlier. Okano suggests that difference and diversity have become more valued and accommodated over the last decades, allowing “more students to participate longer in schooling” (175). However, relatively little has changed in terms of diversifying the content of schooling. Nor have affirmative action programmes found favour. The approach to social justice in Japanese education is still overwhelmingly about seeking to ensure that all children get the same amounts of the same educational content, regardless of their social group.

Okano’s authoritative work provides an excellent overview of recent developments in Japanese education. Inevitably, specialists on this inherently controversial field may disagree with some of her analyses or conclusions. However, none will fail to be impressed by the combination of scope, detail, and judiciousness that make the book an essential reference on its subject.

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References

Benesse Sōgō Kyōiku Kenkyūjo. (2015). “Dai-go-kai gakushū kihon chōsa” hōkokusho. https://berd.benesse.jp/shotouchutou/research/detail1.php?id=4862 (accessed 23 August 2021).

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Garner, D. (1985). Education and the welfare state: The school meals and milk service, 1944–1980. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 17(2), 63–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/0022062850170206

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MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology). (2008). Kodomo no gakkōgai de no gakushū katsudō ni kan suru jittai chōsa hōkoku. https://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/20/08/08080710/001.pdf (accessed 24 August 2021).

 Google Scholar

Okano, K. H., & Tsuchiya, M. (1999). Education in contemporary Japan: Inequality and diversity. Cambridge University Press.

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BOOK

Discourse, gender and shifting identities in Japan: the longitudinal study of Kobe women's ethnographic interviews 1989-2019, phase one
2018162 pagesRoutledge
MOREDOI

Discourse, Gender and Shifting Identities in Japan

The Longitudinal Study of Kobe Women�s Ethnographic Interviews 1989-2019, Phase One

Edited By Claire Maree, Kaori Okano

Copyright 2018

ISBN 9780367890735

176 Pages

Published December 12, 2019 by Routledge

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Description

This book is the first in a unique series drawn from an interdisciplinary, longitudinal project entitled ‘Thirty Years of Talk.’ For 30 years, Okano recorded ethnographic interviews and collected data on the language of working class women in Kobe, Japan. This long-range study sketches the transitions in these women's lives and how their language use, discourse and identities change in specific sociocultural contexts as they shift through different stages of their personal and public lives. It is a ground-breaking, ‘real time’ panel study that follows the same individuals and observes the same phenomena at regular intervals over three decades. In this volume the authors examine the changes in the speech of one particular woman, Kanako, as her social identity shifts from high-school girl to mother and fisherman’s wife, and as her relationship with the interviewer develops. They identify changes in linguistic strategies as she negotiates gender/sexuality norms, stylistic features related to the construction of rapport, the use of discourse markers as she gets older, and the interviewer’s information-seeking strategies.

Table of Contents

 1. Phase One of the Longitudinal Study of Kobe Women’s Ethnographic Interviews 1989-2019: Kanako 1989 and 2000 (Kaori Okano and Claire Maree)  2. Kanako’s World 1989-2000: Growing Up Working Class and Shifting Identities (Kaori Okano)  3. Dialect and Discourse Markers Use: From Adolescence into Adulthood (Lidia Tanaka)  4. ‘Give Me A Break Already’: Gender, Laughter and the Interviewed-Self (Claire Maree)  5. Rapport and Discourse Transformation in Ethnographic Interview (Ikuko Nakane)  6. Evolving Questions, Questioning and Affiliation in Ongoing Ethnographic Interviews (Shimako Iwasaki)  7. Epilogue: Shifting Identities, Over the Years, and Within Ethnographic Interviews (Claire Maree and Kaori Okano)

Editor(s)

Critics' Reviews

'Well-written in concise and accessible style, this book serves not only as a must-read for scholars in gender studies, but also as a valuable reference for those interested in sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, discourse analysis, and Japanese studies.' - Ke Zhang, Faculty of Foreign Studies, Beijing Language and Culture University, China

'This first volume in the planned series, taken as a whole, provides a well-constructed, well-written window into the world of life transitions as mirrored in speech and is a welcome addition to the literature.' - Nanette Gottlieb, Emeritus Professor, School of Languages and Cultures, University of Queensland, Australia

'The book makes us rethink important questions about what should be considered age grading in language use and how it can be investigated, although these issues are not directly discussed in the book. Furthermore, the book compellingly demonstrates that, in order to understand the change in one's language use over time, it is inadequate to examine the use of a few (phonological or grammatical) variables in isolation, and that one needs to consider language use at the discourse-pragmatic level.' - Shigeko Okamoto, Emeritus Professor, Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics, University of California, USA

BOOK

Rethinking Japanese studies: Eurocentrism and the Asia-Pacific region
201870:i-231 (234 pages)Routledge
MOREDOI

Rethinking Japanese Studies: Eurocentrism and the Asia-Pacific Region Paperback – Illustrated, 25 May 2019

by Kaori Okano (Editor), Yoshio Sugimoto (Editor)

Part of: Routledge Contemporary Japan

Edition: 1st

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Japanese Studies has provided a fertile space for non-Eurocentric analysis for a number of reasons. It has been embroiled in the long-running internal debate over the so-called Nihonjinron, revolving around the extent to which the effective interpretation of Japanese society and culture requires non-Western, Japan-specific emic concepts and theories. This book takes this question further and explores how we can understand Japanese society and culture by combining Euro-American concepts and theories with those that originate in Japan. Because Japan is the only liberal democracy to have achieved a high level of capitalism outside the Western cultural framework, Japanese Studies has long provided a forum for deliberations about the extent to which the Western conception of modernity is universally applicable. Furthermore, because of Japan’s military, economic and cultural dominance in Asia at different points in the last century, Japanese Studies has had to deal with the issues of Japanocentrism as well as Eurocentrism, a duality requiring complex and nuanced analysis.

This book identifies variations amongst Japanese Studies academic communities in the Asia-Pacific and examines the extent to which relatively autonomous scholarship, intellectual approach or theories exist in the region. It also evaluates how studies on Japan in the region contribute to global Japanese Studies and explores their potential for formulating concrete strategies to unsettle Eurocentric dominance of the discipline.

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ISBN-10

0367272814

ISBN-13

978-0367272814

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Review

'These chapters contain a key to understand not simply how to make Japanese Studies relevant to a world in which Japan may seem passé, but also how area studies might enable a transcendence of the constraints of Eurocentrism and provincial Anglo-American standards of academic judgment.' - Gordon Mathews,Professor of Anthropology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

'Nonetheless,the book makes noteworthy contributions and contains some intriguing findings. It explores the origins, impact, and emerging alternatives to Eurocentrism in Japanese studies, largely within the Asia-Pacific region. Contributors also touch on issues of global knowledge production, the international stratification of academia, and Asia-Pacific scholarship, thus reaching beyond a narrow focus of Japanese studies within the Asia Pacific.' - W. Lawrence Neuman, Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin, USA

About the Author

Kaori Okano is Professor in Asian Studies/Japanese at La Trobe University, and the President of the Japanese Studies Association of Australia (2015–7).

Yoshio Sugimoto is Emeritus Professor at La Trobe University.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 1st edition (25 May 2019)

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 248 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0367272814

 Pacific Affairs; Vancouver Vol. 91, Iss. 3,  (Sep 2018): 606-608.Publisher logo. 

RETHINKING JAPANESE STUDIES: Eurocentrism and the Asia-Pacific Region. Routledge Contemporary Japan Series. Edited by Kaori Okano and Yoshio Sugimoto. London; New York: Routledge, 2018. xii, 231 pp. (Tables, illustrations.) US$150.00, cloth. ISBN978-1-138-06850-6.

Two deficiencies stalk most edited collections of conference papers: the dissolution of the conference's interactive energy, and a mixture of disjointed, uneven contributor papers. Both are evident in Rethinking Japanese Studies, a collection from the 2015 meeting of the Japan Studies Association of Australia. Nonetheless, the book makes noteworthy contributions and contains some intriguing findings. It explores the origins, impact, and emerging alternatives to Eurocentrism in Japanese studies, largely within the Asia-Pacific region. Contributors also touch on issues of global knowledge production, the international stratification of academia, and Asia-Pacific scholarship, thus reaching beyond a narrow focus ofJapanese studies within the Asia Pacific.

The collection has a clear structure. Between a strong, synthetic introductory chapter by Kaori Okano and Yoshio Sugimoto's insightful closing chapter, the chapters fall into three clusters. 

The first three-chapter cluster looks at Japanese studies within Japan. Eiji Oguma outlines the evolution of Japanese studies by non-Japanese scholars, then explains why scholarship within Japan is extremely insular. Japan's unusually large publishing industry, a closed and self-referencing academic system, and large rewards for publishing in Japanese for Japan's well-educated public are the primary culprits. 

Next, Lidia Tanaka describes the dual system ofJapaneselanguage...

BOOK

Nonformal education and civil society in Japan
20161-201Routledge
Co-authorsOkano KH
DOI

Nonformal Education and Civil Society in Japan

Edited By Kaori H. Okano

Copyright 2016

ISBN 9781138575882

216 Pages 5 B/W Illustrations

Published October 12, 2017 by Routledge

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Nonformal Education and Civil Society in Japan critically examines an aspect of education that has received little attention to date: intentional teaching and learning activities that occur outside formal schooling.

In the last two decades nonformal education has rapidly increased in extent and significance. This is because individual needs for education have become so diverse and rapidly changing that formal education alone is unable to satisfy them. Increasingly diverse demands on education resulted from a combination of transnational migration, heightened human rights awareness, the aging population, and competition in the globalised labour market. Some in the private sector saw this situation as a business opportunity. Others in the civil society volunteered to assist the vulnerable. The rise in nonformal education has also been facilitated by national policy developments since the 1990s.

Drawing on case studies, this book illuminates a diverse range of nonformal education activities; and suggests that the nature of the relationship between nonformal education and mainstream schooling has changed. Not only have the two sectors become more interdependent, but the formal education sector increasingly acknowledges nonformal education’s important and necessary roles. These changes signal a significant departure from the past in the overall functioning of Japanese education. The case studies include: neighbourhood homework clubs for migrant children, community-based literacy classes, after-school care programs, sport clubs, alternative schools for long-term absent students, schools for foreigners, training in intercultural competence at universities and corporations, kôminkan (community halls), and lifelong learning for the seniors. This book will appeal to both scholars of Japanese Studies/Asian Studies, and those of comparative education and sociology/anthropology of education.

Table of Contents

1. Nonformal education in Japan: Its interface with formal schools, Kaori Okano 2. The homework club and beyond: A civil society group’s quest to build a place for learning and belonging in a time of migration, Tomoko Nakamatsu 3. The importance of nonformal education in the success of Dôwa Education, June A. Gordon 4. Community based after-school care programs in Japan: Potential of non-formal education for children and residents, Eiji Tsuda 5. Homo Athleticus: The Educational Roles of Extracurricular Clubs in Japanese Schools, Thomas Blackwood 6. Alternative Schools: An Educational Safety-net for Long-term Absent Students, Hideki Ito 7. The changing relationship between ‘schools for foreigners’ and formal schools, Kaori Okano 8. Education and training for the intercultural competence of Japanese university graduates: Policy, practice and markets in informal education, Jeremy Breaden 9. Kōminkan: Its Roles in Education and Community-Building, Chizu Sato 10. Lifelong learning universities in the ageing society: Empowering the elderly, Koji Maeda

Editor(s)

Critics' Reviews

This volume provides an integrated view of how learning in Japan occurs outside of schools, from kindergarten to universities for the elderly. It explores how migrants and indigenous minorities cope with public schooling through non-formal means, and offers a rare look at the role that religious organizations sometimes play in Japanese society. -- Professor Gerald Le Tendre, Pennsylvania State University

Non-formal education is often a neglected area of scholarly investigation. Yet, it occupies significant space and importance in everyday life in our contemporary society, providing all generations with alternative learning opportunities. This book will be a unique contribution that highlights the interface between formal and non-formal education and provides readers with multilayered understanding of learning in post-industrial Japan. -- Professor Ryuko Kubota, University of British Columbia

 Overall, this book provides an excellent overview of nonformal education in Japan, describing in detail the history, policy, and background of various programs as well as positive effects they have had on participants and/ or the community at large. It also delves into challenges programs have faced, in terms of government policy limitations or how a lack of funding has curtailed projects or forced creative solutions. For these reasons, I wholeheartedly recommend this volume to anyone with an interest in various types of nonformal schooling, including scholars in the fields of social or comparative education (especially with a focus on Japan or East Asia), future participants or would-be volunteers, and finally, parents who might benefit from a detailed description and background information on aspects of their child’s education.  -- Robert J. Werner, JALT Journal

BOOK

Handbook of Asian education: a cultural perspective
20111-558 (558 pages)Routledge
MOREDOI



BOOK

Minorities and education in multicultural Japan: an interactive perspective
2011i-272 (278 pages)Routledge
MOREDOI

Minorities and Education in Multicultural Japan: An Interactive Perspective book cover

1st Edition

Minorities and Education in Multicultural Japan

An Interactive Perspective

Edited By Ryoko Tsuneyoshi, Kaori H. Okano, Sarane Boocock

Copyright 2011

ISBN 9780415690287

288 Pages

Published October 12, 2011 by Routledge

Description

This volume examines how Japan’s increasingly multicultural population has impacted on the lives of minority children and their peers at school, and how schools are responding to this trend in terms of providing minority children with opportunities and preparing them for the adult society.

The contributors focus on interactions between individuals and among groups representing diverse cultural backgrounds, and explore how such interactions are changing the landscape of education in increasingly multicultural Japan. Drawing on detailed micro-level studies of schooling, the chapters reveal the ways in which these individuals and groups (long-existing minority groups, newcomers, and the ‘mainstream Japanese’) interact, and the significant consequences of such interactions on learning at school and the system of education as a whole. While the educational achievement of children of varying minority groups continues to reflect their places in the social hierarchy, the boundaries of individual and group categories are negotiated by mutual interactions and remain fluid and situational.

Minorities and Education in Multicultural Japan provides important insights into bottom-up policy making processes and consciously brings together English and Japanese scholarship. As such, it will be an important resource for those interested in education and minority issues in Japan.

BOOK

Young women in Japan: Transitions to adulthood
19 Feb 2009Young Women in Japan: Transitions to Adulthood1-294
Co-authorsOkano KH
DOI



BOOK

Education in Contemporary Japan Inequality and Diversity
8 Apr 1999   270 pagesCambridge University Press
Co-authorsOkano K, Tsuchiya M
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This book offers a balanced introduction to and examination of contemporary Japanese education. While the postwar system of schooling has provided valuable ingredients for economic success, it has been accompanied by unfavourable developments such as excessively competitive exams, stifling uniformity, bullying and an undervaluing of non-Japanese ethnicity. This book offers up-to-date information and new perspectives on schooling in contemporary Japanese society, and uses detailed ethnographic studies and interviews with students and teachers. It examines the main developments of modern schooling in Japan, from the beginning of the Meiji era up to the present, and includes analysis of the most recent reforms. It develops a new picture of the role that schooling plays for individuals and the wider society. Essential reading for students and educators alike.

up-to-date, includes analysis of the most recent reforms

provides a balanced depiction of the benefits and flaws of the Japanese education system

draws extensively on ethnographic studies and participants' own accounts as 'insiders'

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Reviews & endorsements

'… a re-examination of Japan's education system is timely, and Ikano and Tsuchiya's book makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of this complex topic … One of the great strengths of this book is that it examines closely the ways in which various protagonists in the education process interact …'. JRAI

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Analytical frameworks: schooling and the society

2. Development of modern schooling

3. Students' experiences of schooling I: social groups

4. Students' experiences of schooling II: minorities

5. Teachers' experiences of schooling

6. Problems and reforms in the 1980s and 1990s

Conclusion.

BOOK

Pendidikan Moden Jepun
1999411 pagesITBM
Co-authorsOkano K
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BOOK

School to Work Transition in Japan An Ethnographic Study
1993  286 pagesMultilingual Matters
Co-authorsOkano K
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RESEARCH REPORT
Diversity and social justice in education
1 Jan 2022Education and context in reimagining education: The International Science and Evidence based Education Assessment256-327 (72 pages)UNESCO
Co-authorsChristodoulou JA, Okano K, Grove A...8 more
MOREDOI


JOURNAL ARTICLE
Earthquake Children: Building Resilience from the Ruins of Tokyo
1 Jan 2022JOURNAL OF JAPANESE STUDIES48(1):195-197 (4 pages)SOC JAPANESE STUD
Co-authorsOkano KH
MOREDOI


JOURNAL ARTICLE
Varying orientations to sharing life stories: A diachronic study of Japanese women’s discourse
1 Jan 2022Language in Society51(4):577-602 (26 pages)Cambridge University Press
Co-authorsNakane I, Okano K, Maree C...3 more
DOI


JOURNAL ARTICLE
The International Science and Evidence-based Education Assessment
1 Dec 2021npj Science of Learning6(1):4 pagesNature Research
Co-authorsDuraiappah A, van Atteveldt N, Asah S...15 more
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JOURNAL ARTICLE
Japanese women’s speech through life-transitions (1989-2000): an analysis of youth language features.
20 May 2021Journal of Linguistic Anthropology31(1):119-143 (25 pages)Wiley-Blackwell
Co-authorsTanaka L, Okano K, Nakane I...3 more
DOI


BOOK CHAPTER
The place of Indigenous Peoples in multicultural education: Policies, debates, and practices in Australia and Japan
2021Post-Imperial perspectives one indigenous education: Lessons from Japan and Australia66-79 (14 pages)Routledge
Co-authorsOkano K, Anderson P (Editor), Maeda K (Editor)...2 more
MOREDOI


BOOK CHAPTER
The significance of building an Ainu-led higher education system and the empowerment of the Indigenous Ainu
2021Post-Imperial perspectives on Indigenous education: Lessons from Japan and Australia211-226 (16 pages)Routledge
Co-authorsMaeda K, Okano K, Anderson P (Editor)...3 more
MOREDOI


BOOK CHAPTER
How to organise research: research designs
20 Dec 2020Studying Japan: Handbook of research designs, fieldwork and methods78-87 (10 pages)Nomos
Co-authorsOkano K, Kottmann N (Editor), Reiher C (Editor)
MOREDOI


BOOK CHAPTER
Diversity, decentralization, and social justice in school reforms in Japan
17 Dec 2020Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education22 pagesOxford University Press
Co-authorsOkano K, Pink W (Editor)
MOREDOI


BOOK CHAPTER
Japan: The Localization Approach and an Emerging Trend Toward the Study of Poverty Within Ethnicity and Inequality
18 Jul 2019

The Palgrave Handbook of Race and Ethnic Inequalities in Education747-781Palgrave Macmillan Cham
Co-authorsOkano KH, Stevens PAJ (Editor), Dworkin AG (Editor)
DOI


BOOK CHAPTER
Bilingualism and multilingualism in primary education (Japan)
2019Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies1-5 (5 pages)Bloomsbury
Co-authorsOkano K, Menter I (Editor), Tatto MT (Editor)
MOREDOI


BOOK CHAPTER
Bilingualism and multilingualism in secondary education Japan
2019Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies1-5 (5 pages)Bloomsbury
Co-authorsOkano K, Tatto MT (Editor), Menter I (Editor)
MOREDOI


BOOK CHAPTER
Japan: the localization approach and an emerging trend toward the study of powerty within ethnic and inequality
2019The Palgrave Handbook of Race and Ethnic Inequalities in Education1:747-781 (35 pages)Palgrave Macmillan
Co-authorsOkano K, Stevens PAJ (Editor), Dworkin AG (Editor)
MOREDOI


JOURNAL ARTICLE
縦断的インタビューデータにみる神戸出身女性話者のスピーチスタイル――ことばの経年変化とライフステージ [Changes in a Kobe woman’s speech styles across life stages: Longitudinal interviews 1989-2016]
2019Hougen no Kenkyuu5:27 pagesHitsuji Shobo
Co-authorsTakagi C, Okano K, Iwasaki S...3 more
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BOOK CHAPTER
Epilogue: shifting identities over the years and within ethnographic interviews
2018Discourse, Gender and Shifting Identities in Japan: The Longitudinal Study of Kobe Women's Ethnographic Interviews 1989-2019, Phase One19:193-196 (4 pages)Routledge
Co-authorsMaree C, Okano K, Maree C (Editor)...1 more
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