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    Transcending Self and Other Through Akogare [Desire]: The English Language and the Internationalization of Higher Education in Japan
    Transcending Self and Other Through Akogare [Desire]: The English Language and the Internationalization of Higher Education in Japan
    Transcending Self and Other Through Akogare [Desire]: The English Language and the Internationalization of Higher Education in Japan
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    Transcending Self and Other Through Akogare [Desire]: The English Language and the Internationalization of Higher Education in Japan

    By Chisato Nonaka

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    The Japanese concept of akogare has become well known in TESOL-related literature in recent years, usually in the context of interracial sexual desire. In this far-reaching new study of the internationalization of Japanese Higher Education, Chisato Nonaka uses akogare as both an analytical lens and the object of enquiry, and ultimately reconceptualises it as the creation of a space where individuals negotiate and transcend their ethnic, national, racial, gender or linguistic identities. The book innovatively engages with the often controversial binary of Japanese/non-Japanese, and demonstrates how Japan (often thought of as a homogenous nation) may be at a critical crossroads where long-held assumptions about a singular ‘Japanese identity’ no longer hold true. The book has profound implications for how ‘internationalization’ can mean more than just the use of English.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMultilingual Matters
    Release dateSep 26, 2018
    ISBN9781788921725
    Transcending Self and Other Through Akogare [Desire]: The English Language and the Internationalization of Higher Education in Japan
    Author

    Chisato Nonaka

    Chisato Nonaka is an Associate Professor in the International Student Center, Kyushu University, Japan. Her research interests include issues of linguistic, racial, ethnic, national, class and gender-related identities, particularly in transnational education contexts.

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      Book preview

      Transcending Self and Other Through Akogare [Desire] - Chisato Nonaka

      Transcending Self and Other Through Akogare [Desire]

      NEW PERSPECTIVES ON LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION

      Series Editors: Professor Viv Edwards, University of Reading, UK and Professor Phan Le Ha, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA

      Two decades of research and development in language and literacy education have yielded a broad, multidisciplinary focus. Yet education systems face constant economic and technological change, with attendant issues of identity and power, community and culture. This series will feature critical and interpretive, disciplinary and multidisciplinary perspectives on teaching and learning, language and literacy in new times.

      All books in this series are externally peer-reviewed.

      Full details of all the books in this series and of all our other publications can be found on http://www.multilingual-matters.com, or by writing to Multilingual Matters, St Nicholas House, 31-34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK.

      NEW PERSPECTIVES ON LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION: 61

      Transcending Self and Other Through Akogare [Desire]

      The English Language and the Internationalization of Higher Education in Japan

      Chisato Nonaka

      MULTILINGUAL MATTERS

      Bristol • Blue Ridge Summit

      DOI https://doi.org/10.21832/NONAKA1701

      Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

      A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2018020639

      British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

      A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library.

      ISBN-13: 978-1-78892-170-1 (hbk)

      Multilingual Matters

      UK: St Nicholas House, 31-34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK.

      USA: NBN, Blue Ridge Summit, PA, USA.

      Website: www.multilingual-matters.com

      Twitter: Multi_Ling_Mat

      Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/multilingualmatters

      Blog: www.channelviewpublications.wordpress.com

      Copyright © 2018 Chisato Nonaka.

      All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.

      The policy of Multilingual Matters/Channel View Publications is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products, made from wood grown in sustainable forests. In the manufacturing process of our books, and to further support our policy, preference is given to printers that have FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody certification. The FSC and/or PEFC logos will appear on those books where full certification has been granted to the printer concerned.

      Typeset by Deanta Global Publishing Services Limited.

      Printed and bound in the UK by the CPI Books Group Ltd

      Printed and bound in the US by Thomson-Shore, Inc.

      Contents

      Figures and Tables

      Acknowledgments

      Preface

      Foreword

      1 Introduction

      What Is Akogare?

      Akogare Found in Literature and Media

      Akogare and Me

      My Lived Experience of Akogare Toward English

      Breakthrough

      Reverse culture shock and enlightenment!

      The Inception of This Study

      Curiosity, Frustration and Passion as the Driving Force in My Study

      Transcending Self and Other Through Akogare

      Summary of Ch 1

      Defining akogare for the purpose of this study

      JHE as a potential field of focus

      Chapter Overview

      2 Akogare and My Study Participants

      Akogare as an Emic Cultural Construct

      Introducing My Study Participants

      What Is ‘Akogare’ to You? (Collective Definition by My Study Participants)

      Summary of Chapter 2

      3 Akogare in Academic Literature and the Akogare Theoretical Framework

      Part 1: Literature on Akogare

      Akogare [Desire] in Academic Literature

      TESOL in general and in Japan

      Akogare in TESOL

      Crystalizing akogare for this study

      Japanese Higher Education as a Valuable Research Site

      Is Japan in transition?

      A changing Japan where internationalization, English, identity and akogare intersect

      Japanese higher education today

      Types of Japanese higher education institutions

      Overall: Why Japanese higher education?

      Part 2: The Akogare Framework

      Theoretical Implications of Desire in TESOL

      Theoretical Framework

      Theoretical developments in TESOL studies

      Theoretical underpinnings of my study: Identity

      Theoretical implications of akogare

      Research Questions and the Akogare Framework

      Imagining the Japanese Self and the Non-Japanese Other Today

      Brief introduction to the Japanese self and the non-Japanese other

      Defining the self and the other for my study

      ‘The Japanese self’ discussed in the literature

      ‘The Japanese self’ and ‘the non-Japanese other’ in current Japan

      English ‘defines’ the Japanese self and the non-Japanese other in Japan

      Imagining ネイティブ [native English speakers] as the non-Japanese other

      Akogare May Help ‘Bridge’ the Japanese Self and the Non-Japanese Other: Shedding New Light on the Current Internationalization Experiences

      Refocusing on JHE contexts

      Summary of Chapter 3

      4 Methodology

      Narrative Inquiry as a Method, Process and a Paradigm Shift

      Narrative inquiry and akogare

      Research paradigm

      Narrative inquiry with case study orientation

      Visualizing the Workings of My Research Paradigm and Process

      Notes on Japanese Terms and Their Translatability

      Process of Data Analysis

      Summary of Chapter 4

      Objectives and Contributions of My Study

      5 Akogare and Gender

      Akogare and Gender

      The Bieber (look-alike) fever in Japan

      The standards of beauty (e.g. attractiveness) in Japan

      Summary of Chapter 5

      6 Akogare and Precarious ‘Japan’

      Akogare and Precarious ‘Japan’

      Beautiful… but not Japanese?

      Japaneseness as being imagined, manifested and challenged in today’s Japan

      Summary of Chapter 6

      7 Akogare and Japanese Higher Education Today

      Akogare and Japanese Higher Education Today

      The tale of junior colleges

      The tale of Christian universities

      The educational ‘divide’

      Renewed outlook on kokusaika

      Summary of Chapter 7

      8 Conclusion and Future Implications

      Brief Overview of My Study

      Major Findings Under Three Themes

      Akogare and gender

      Akogare and precarious ‘Japan’

      Akogare and Japanese higher education today

      So what?

      Are We Creating the New ‘Normal’?: Rethinking What ‘Japan’ Means Today

      Theoretical, Pedagogical and Other Larger Implications for the Present and the Future of Kokusaika

      Reconceptualization of akogare and theoretical contributions to social identity theories

      Pedagogical approaches and caveats for teaching English in JHE today

      Concluding Remarks: Reimagining Japan and Kokusaika

      Appendix A: Questionnaire for Japanese University Students

      Appendix B: Questionnaire for Japanese University Faculty

      Appendix C: Visual and Textual Aids for Akogare

      Appendix D: Questionnaire/Interview Participants (Faculty: m = 35, f = 22)

      Appendix E: Questionnaire/Interview Participants (Students: m = 30, f = 45)

      Appendix F: The Students’ Choice of Ideal Mother Country (with Reasons) and Overseas Experience

      Appendix G: Face-to-Face Interview Participants’ (Students) Responses to the Miyamoto Case/Japaneseness Ideals and Overseas Experience

      Appendix H: Notes on Recruiting Study Participants

      Appendix I: Notes on Methods and Analysis Used

      References

      Index

      Figures and Tables

      Figures

      Tables

      Acknowledgments

      First, I’d like to thank my mentor Professor Phan Le Ha for guiding me through my PhD journey and this book project. I’ll always remember your passion and wisdom.

      Very special gratitude goes to my family, friends and colleagues in Japan and Hawai‘i.

      お母さん、お父さん、みっちゃん、ゆうちゃん、ありがとう。

      そして、これからも応援よろしくお願いします。

      I’d also like to offer my sincerest gratitude to all my study participants and informants. Your generous and thoughtful contributions made my study possible.

      私の研究にご協力いただいた皆さまへ心より感謝申し上げます。

      Last but by no means least, to my husband David. Without you, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

      Aloha nui loa.

      Chisato

      Preface

      Akogare [desire] is a Japanese word laden with cultural and emotive values. In recent Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) studies, akogare has been conceptualized to emphasize the Japanese-specific desire for English or ‘the West’ in general. My study not only leverages such a conceptualization of akogare, but also reframes it to highlight the complex and liberating space created by akogare where, I argue, we may negotiate or even transcend our ethnic, national, racial, gender and linguistic identities.

      Using akogare as both an analytical lens and focus of investigation, this narrative study examines the field of Japanese higher education (JHE) in which, over the past few decades, the government has rolled out several large-scale kokusaika [internationalization] policies. While billions of yen (=millions in USD) are expended annually for such policies, few studies have yet to determine their actual effects. Moreover, these policies advocate English education (as both a subject and as the medium of instruction) with little reservation, postulating that English is the remedy for all international and global matters.

      To better understand the current kokusaika state of JHE and to reimagine what kokusaika should and can look like for Japan in the coming years, I examine the narratives of Japanese university students and faculty members alike whose voices are largely absent in the existing studies. Specifically, this book focuses on how my study participants (over 200 students, faculty, staff and other informants from JHE institutions) perceive ‘Japaneseness’ or ‘non-Japaneseness’ at a given time and space, which has helped render a complex picture of the kokusaika landscape and of Japan at large. Methodologically, online questionnaires, follow-up interviews and field observations are utilized to weave together the threads of my study participants’ stories.

      Through the bricolage of such narratives, this book presents the following three major findings.

      First, it demonstrates how ‘Japan’ or ‘Japaneseness/non-Japaneseness’ is collectively yet divisively imagined and practiced by my study participants. This not only helps raise awareness of the complex ‘-scapes’ of Japan, but also addresses the urgency to create a space for alternatives voices.

      Second, kokusaika funds often seem to be allocated to a select few universities while other universities without the necessary means are left out of the kokusaika campaign. By extension, there appear to be have and have-not universities within the kokusaika landscape of Japan and their students are likewise affected.

      Third, the idea of English in Japan reigns across different academic contexts where it can both foster and obscure one’s akogare, even among the most well-established scholars in Japan. In this sense, English may be causing turbulence in the traditionally hierarchical system of JHE because the years of experience and academic integrity and rigor may become less important when each stakeholder’s English skills are put to the test.

      Overall, what seems largely absent yet progressively important in today’s Japan, particularly in the kokusaika campaign, is a sense of multiplicity. I conclude, therefore, that the ongoing kokusaika campaign should be leveraged as a potential and appropriate venue to foster a sense of multiplicity.

      Foreword

      In this ground-breaking study, Dr Chisato Nonaka provides readers with refreshingly new perspectives on university internationalization in Japan, something long overdue and desperately needed. Scholarship on the topic over the past two decades, particularly that in the English language, has remained all-too-willing to sketch out the fanciful patterns of official policy: the business and global interests accelerating the internationalization discourse, the political ideologies mobilized to slow down those same narratives and the ambivalence at the institutional level that emerges as a consequence.

      Here, it might indeed be useful to imagine fabric as a metaphor, perhaps Nishijin-ori for the dwindling number of Japanese enthusiasts among us. That is, English-language scholarship to date has remained enamored by the bold designs, decorative color and often spectacular arrangements that the ministry has attempted to imprint on the official institutional policy weave of Japanese higher education. Interestingly, tailors call this front side of the fabric, one where the colors are brightest and the patterns most distinct, the ‘right side’ of fabric. We as scholars, and this very much includes a critique of my own work, have been too willing to play the role of critic and connoisseur of the ‘right side’: writing favorably or (more often) negatively about the intent of official policies such as Super Global Universities, G-30, Super English Language High Schools, English-language curricular reforms, International Baccalaureate and so on.

      Dr Nonaka finally turns the fabric over for us. She invites us to contemplate the ‘wrong side’, the tangled mess of colored yarns that underpin the all-too-smooth official weave: identity, race, language, geography, history, culture, gender, sex, attraction, phobia, economics, precariousness, emotion, desire, religion, beauty, translation, normality, deviance and in/visibility among many others. It is a work that can only have been conceptualized from lived experience, a personal narrative that adds much color to this account. By eschewing the ‘right side’ of policy documents and instead surfacing the rich and varied voices of those who do the actual work of connecting all these diverse threads in their personal kokusaika projects, Dr Nonaka delivers a whole new view of Japan’s attempts to internationalize, one that is considerably more thought-provoking than anything I have read over the past decade or more.

      What ties together this newly surfaced, often dizzying multiplicity is – and this may be the single biggest innovation of the study – the notion of culturally mediated affect: akogare. This is a seismic analytical shift, challenging us all to think carefully about what constitutes the central driver of Japan’s internationalization. With such a decisive move, Dr Nonaka politely urges us all to leave behind the now stale, rational social science templates of the past, quit myopically tracking official policies to listen to the everyday and discard the analytical categories-turned-stifling binaries that have divided Japanese and non-Japanese for too long. It now looks like the ‘right side’ was the wrong side to start analytically after all.

      Yet, what is ultimately most inspiring is Dr Nonaka’s call, rendered repeatedly throughout the middle chapters before being proclaimed forcefully in the conclusion, that Japan’s kokusaika campaign needs to be ‘redesigned around a sense of multiplicity’, wherein the meaning of ‘Japaneseness can be collectively yet divisively imagined and practiced’. While most of us would intuitively agree, it becomes clear that only when we can see the ‘wrong side’ does this sort of project even emerge as a possibility. That is, in my reading, Dr Nonaka is gently reminding us that we, as scholars, do little to serve a redirection of kokusaika toward multiplicity and reimagining as long as we remain fixated on the ‘right side’ of official policy narratives, even when we are trying to critique them. To leave behind the analytical modes of the past is precisely to contribute to the ‘many new Japans’, which she reminds us are already emerging all around us today. We our-selves have to see, surface and embody multiple Japans before we can hope others to do so as well. Dr Nonaka’s contribution gives us guidance on how and where to begin, as she demonstrates ways of becoming a conduit of ‘voice’ and thus multiplicity.

      Given its depth of analysis and its increasingly rare vision of hope for Japan’s future, I cannot recommend a better volume. It helps us to think through the complexities of contemporary change, even as we rethink where we are woven into the rich brocade of kokusaika unfolding all around us, not only in Japan but worldwide.

      Jeremy Rappleye

      Kyoto University

      1 Introduction

      What Is Akogare?

      This book unfolds and evolves around akogare, a type of desire deeply ingrained in Japan and its people. Before I start unpacking its complexity and significance for this book, let me open with examples from the literature (etymology) and media as below. As you will see, there are varying definitions and understandings of akogare and certainly the point of this introduction is not to claim what akogare is. Instead, I hope the demonstrated multiplicity of akogare piques your interest as I spend the rest of this book highlighting its theoretical and pedagogical significance as well as its implications in the field of Japanese higher education (JHE) and beyond.

      Akogare Found in Literature and Media

      Though its use may vary across time and space, akogare has indeed a long history with the Japanese language. Dating back to the Kamakura period (1185–1333) when the culture of composing, exchanging and indulging oneself in poems was in full bloom, a famous poet read:

      Hana no ka no/ kasumeru tsuki ni/ akugarete/ yume mo sadakani/ mienu koro kana (Fujiwara no Teika, 1326)

      [Longing for the moon/ covered with the fragrance/ of the cherry blossoms/ I cannot even see/ my dreams clearly now] (Kurahashi, 1998: 67)

      As seen in this poem, akogare derives from akugare, which consists of ‘aku’ [place/being] and ‘gare/kare’ [leave]. According to etymology dictionaries (Shinmura, 2008; ‘憧れる [Akogareru]’, 2007), the word originally meant a person physically or psychologically leaving from a place where they once belonged. Over time, it evolved to emphasize the psychological state of a person who was (physically or psychologically) leaving and in the present day, it highlights the individual’s infatuation with something or someone. A number of literary works¹ have since dealt with variations of akogare and today you can find it everywhere: from songs to TV dramas to comic books to personal diaries to motivational speeches to conversations on the street.

      Due to its lyrical and romantic undertones, however, a sentiment of akogare is sometimes deemed frivolous. For example, it may be seen as ambiguous or naïve if someone makes important life decisions such as choosing which university to attend or what career to pursue based solely on their akogare. Yet, at the same time, akogare remains a commonly used word/expression among Japanese speakers to declare their dream² job or their idol.²

      To further nuance the word akogare for this study, let me introduce the following akogare anecdote of a television producer named Ochi from Japan. I hope to color the word in a way that helps ‘bridge’ (Mizumura, 2015: 165) the distance between Japanese (akogare = 憧れor あこがれ) and English (the medium of communication for this book), rather than to rely on the definitions found in Japanese-English dictionaries:

      Although Ochi situates this experience in a specific context, it reaches out to a wider audience through the mundaneness of his story. Ochi contends that akogare occurs under a specific circumstance wherein all the participants operate by the same set of rules yet one individual somehow manages to achieve a more desirable outcome than do others.

      In akogare, the unique positioning of the self (as ‘the unaccomplished’) in relation to the other (as ‘the accomplished’) seems crucial in that Ochi’s tablemates had probably been satisfied with their own choice of dish (complacently seeing themselves as ‘the accomplished’) until the moment they saw Ochi’s choice arriving at the table, hence repositioning themselves now as ‘the unaccomplished’. It must have been a very frustrating experience for those who for one reason or another overlooked the most desirable dish on the menu, particularly when it was listed on the regular menu and not on the hidden menu. This results in the dish being tantalizingly out of reach, which I will later elaborate on as the very essence of akogare.

      More importantly, Ochi’s dish itself might not be able to take all the credit for spurring akogare [desire] among the tablemates. What made Ochi’s dish even more desirable, I would postulate, is who Ochi is – an all-around television producer who is a food connoisseur by avocation, a proud (now single) father of a young girl and an owner of multiple homes (including one in Hawai‘i). That said, if the dish had been ordered by someone less ‘accomplished’ in the eyes of the tablemates, it may not have become such a center of attention (and desire) as it did in Ochi’s narrative.

      Nevertheless, this seemingly simple act of nailing down the ‘right’ dish of quality and flare may help you to enjoy a relatively ephemeral satisfaction both from the scrumptious dish itself as well as from the dreamy

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