This article examines how and why the US reconstructed Okinawa in Japan, with a focus on the theme of 'self' and 'others' in educational interaction. I argue that during the occupation of Okinawa, the US tried to detach Okinawa from Japan socio-culturally, using the historically based racial tensions between them by promoting the local 'Ryukyuan'…

Seeking to contribute to recent attempts to rethink the deepest foundations of the field, this paper offers news ways of contemplating time, specifically its relations to self, nihilism, and schooling. We briefly review how some leading Western thinkers have contemplated time before detailing Japanese scholars who have offered divergent, original,…

This article investigates the changing state-university relations in Japan and Malaysia. Its main objective is to identify and examine possible lessons for Malaysia, based on the Japanese experience. Notably, since the late 1970s, Malaysia has been looking towards Japan as a model for socio-economic development (the "look-east" Policy)…

This paper notes that universities are mobile. That is, models of universities are transferred or borrowed or move around the world and in the process of moving or being moved they tend to change or be changed from the kind of university they were--either in practice or as ideals at the point of origin. To explore these themes the article…

In our internationalizing world, even countries that have had a reputation of being so-called "homogeneous" are facing cultural diversification within. Though Japan is a country often described as homogeneous or, at least, homogeneously minded, with the inflows of new types of foreigners, it is presently experiencing what has been dubbed…

In spite of the current great interest in educational reform and the calls for fundamental change, history suggests that the liberalization of Japanese education will follow the lines recommended by the Ministry of Education--painstakingly planned and slowly and cautiously implemented after lengthy experimental studies. (JHZ)

Democratization of education in Japan is still recent, and women continue to lag behind men in higher education. However, women's expectations of social participation are increasingly higher, and in another 10 years women graduates of the mass stage of higher education will reach the age for influential decision-making positions. (JHZ)

Provides historical background for understanding social changes and the resulting problems facing Japan's schools. Topics include resistance of youth to society and its schools, the breakdown of regional communities, the impact of competition for grades, and the changing role of teachers. (JHZ)

The economic, social, and educational history of the Burakumin--a Japanese minority group--is traced since 1603. The role of Burakumin activism--plus increased national awareness and economic well-being--in promoting economic, social, and educational improvement is reviewed. It is noted that Burakumin progress toward further social and educational…