Fostering Antiracist Engagement in Japanese Language Teaching

Abstract

Japanese language teaching and learning is influenced by various types of human diversity. Diversity of gender, language, and culture are often addressed in learning materials, instructional practices, and professional discussions in the field. Yet, issues of race are often glossed over in everyday pedagogical practices and professional discourses on equity, diversity, and inclusion. To fill this gap, this article will focus on issues of race and introduce key concepts—race and ethnicity, racism, intersectionality, and new racism—by drawing on some examples from the survey results presented by Mori et al. (this volume). The article proposes antiracist engagement in Japanese language teaching that encourages the recognition of different forms of racism operating in various contexts and the exercise of hyper self-reflexivity to always question own positionalities and responsibilities in a complex web of power relations.