Importing Diversity: Inside Japan's JET Program (5 page)

At the national level, lateral tensions were virtually ensured by the administrative arrangement in which three government ministries with different goals and methods-Home Affairs, Education, and Foreign Affairs-were charged with oversight. The story of the start-up of the JET
Program is thus replete with examples of backroom negotiations and turf
battles between the internally focused and externally oriented ministries
that were implementing it. Chapters 2 and 3 explore these dimensions of
the JET Program. I conclude that it is in achieving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' goal-the idea of JET as a cultural exchange program designed to
enhance foreign understanding of Japanese society-that the program has
enjoyed such surprising success (see chapter 6). The structure and form of
the JET Program make the most sense when viewed as a vehicle for creating sympathy for Japan among young people in select Western countries.

As the concept of internationalization moves from the corridors of the
sponsoring ministries through prefectural offices to local schools and classrooms across the nation, it is reinterpreted; the program takes a form determined by the expectations and objectives-the particular social environment-operating at each level. The pressure to succeed is most intense
at the national level. Prefectures and municipalities, by contrast, walk a fine
line between wanting to appear receptive to a major government initiative
and having to respond to school-level demands as well. The reactions of
prefectural administrators to the JET Program are examined in detail in
chapter 4.

It is in the schools themselves that the fit between internationalization
and local priorities becomes most problematic. The most important functions of Japanese secondary schools are to prepare for high school and college entrance examinations and to maintain social order. The stress is on
propriety and organizational maintenance, and judged by these standards,
the foreign participants often behave quite poorly. Chapter 5 examines the
diverse reactions of Japanese school-based personnel to the JET participants-how assistant language teachers are placed in schools and integrated (or not integrated) into daily social routines; how Japanese teachers
respond when the ALT upsets the accustomed routine, either intentionally
or unintentionally; and the creative ways in which teachers reconcile the
desire to be "good citizens" and support the mandate for internationalization with the equally strong desire to protect local interests.

The final level to be considered (also in chapter 5) is that of the classroom, where classes are conducted together by the JET participants and the
Japanese foreign language faculty. Unlike most educational top-down interventions, this one is almost impossible for teachers to ignore: it walks,
talks, and even talks back. Precisely because the instruction provided by the
JET participants represents a potential threat to accepted norms and standard methodologies, team-teaching has become one of the most controversial aspects of the JET Program. Yet many Japanese teachers have worked
hard, with mixed results, to incorporate the ALTs into their overall teaching plan.

By paying attention to the historical, political, and administrative dimensions of program policy and to how the program has changed over time, my analysis provides an important counter to the myth of Japanese
homogeneity. During the course of my fieldwork I met Japanese teachers
and administrators who viewed the foreign participants as much-needed
medicine for an outdated system as well as those who viewed them more
like a virus whose potentially deleterious effects had to be controlled at all
costs. Perhaps less surprisingly, the JET participants as well were an extremely varied group. In addition, the learning curve for Japanese hosts
and JET participants alike was very steep; the program today differs in
some important ways from its incarnation in the late ig8os. Chapter 6 assesses the current state of the program, now past its tenth year, and chapter 7 briefly speculates on its future.

An account of Japan's struggles to come to grips with diversity ultimately forces those of us in other countries to confront our own debates
over multiculturalism. In the epilogue I examine the form of the debate
over integration versus pluralism in the United States when viewed in the
mirror offered by Japan. What are the similarities and differences between
Japanese approaches to internationalization and American responses to
cultural and linguistic pluralism? How does individualism, and the corresponding emphasis on choice and informality, shape the ideology and practice of multiculturalism in the United States? It is my hope that through
juxtaposing the Japanese experience with at least one other case, we can
gain insight into some of these questions.

THE WEIGHT OF HISTORY

At first glance the JET Program appears to be a noteworthy example of the
government going against the grain of a long history of tightly regulating
the flow of personnel across its borders. Centuries of self-imposed isolation
appear suddenly to end as nearly a half billion dollars in public tax money
is spent on importing thousands of foreigners. Yet closer inspection of
Japan's history reveals a broad mixture of cosmopolitan influences that
belie the stereotype of the isolated island nation. Indeed, Japan has been in
the business of "internationalizing" for the better part of its history. The
JET Program even has a remarkable historical precedent. In the early Meiji
period roughly 3,000 "hired foreigners" (oyatoi gaikokujin) were brought
over to assist in Japan's modernization efforts, sometimes with salaries ten
times greater than those of their Japanese counterparts.

Where else but in Japan can we imagine a government going to such extraordinary lengths to invite foreigners to come and internationalize the
entire country as a matter of national policy? Over the past decade, we
have become accustomed to hearing about the profound difficulties of de ploying public policy to integrate diverse populations. In countries
throughout Africa and Asia, where colonial rulers formed nation-states
with little regard for preexisting ethnic boundaries, public schooling has
become a flash point for conflict over language and culture policy. Closer to
home, the debate over bilingualism in Quebec has threatened to literally
tear Canada apart, and the United States is embroiled in ongoing controversies over affirmative action and bilingual education. When the process
of integration is largely driven by politics, it is usually marked by divisive
and bitter public debate: social attachments based on language, race, religion, and custom come into direct conflict with government policies aimed
at creating a unified state and a national identity.

In a few places, however, the boundaries of the modern state more or
less coincide with boundaries defined by language, race, and ethnicity. In
such "folk nations," where the population has a relatively high degree of
homogeneity, the more problematic issue is global integration, which is
largely driven by economics. The teaching of English in Scandinavian
countries, for instance, has been crucial for the integration of their citizens
into the world economic community. The case of Japan belongs in this latter category.

Pendulum Swings

The image of Japan as a historically exclusivist society does not hold up on
closer examination. Analyses of blood types suggest that populations from
the Asian continent were involved in forming the Japanese people as recently as early historic times; the tropical nature of Japan's early architecture points to southeast Asian influence. Moreover, the process of deliberately importing foreign ideas and objects has been going on for quite some
time. Alternating with periods of contraction and isolation have been
times, most notably in the eighth and nineteenth centuries, when Japanese
have rushed to embrace foreign influences. The pattern of Japan's interaction with the outside world is perhaps best characterized as a series of pendulum swings, with each era of openness followed by conservative reaction. Underlying this dynamic is a profound sense of ambivalence and
insecurity about Japan's status in the world.

Japan's cultural debt to China is huge: in the span of several hundred
years Japan acquired the foundations for its political institutions, its literary system, the Confucian code of ethics, literature, architecture, and Buddhism. Between 607 and 839 there were seventeen full-scale Japanese missions to China, each comprising crews of 200 to 6oo persons, including
painters, scribes, musicians, priests, doctors, and military personnel.14 It was during this period that the term ryugakusei (overseas student) was
coined, with the initial meaning "bearer of enlightenment from the lands
beyond the sea.""

So ornate and colorful did imported Chinese culture appear that for a
while it made everything about the indigenous culture seem drab and inconsequential. Even today, visitors to the Buddhist temples of Nara and the
Shinto shrine at Ise grasp this contrast immediately. The Chinese method
of inspiring awe was to clear out a broad open space and erect spectacular
temples, complete with giant gilded buddhas and ornate pagodas. But at Ise
the most sacred place is precisely the least obvious in location and the simplest in structure. For a while, native Shinto cosmology appeared completely overmatched by the color and flair of Chinese imports. What could
possibly be awe inspiring about a rock in running water? Even indigenous
food seemed boring next to Chinese dishes.

Over time, however, anxiety about loss of native culture grew, and its
superiority began again to be vigorously asserted. This ambivalence was
captured in the popular slogan of the times, wakon kansai (Japanese spirit,
Chinese technology), which stressed the importance of importing Chinese
knowledge without upsetting indigenous traditions. In addition, much of
what had been imported from China was domesticated and remolded in the
Japanese context, thus establishing what was essentially a new cultural
system that blended elements from both. For instance, in the ninth century
Chinese characters were simplified into the kana syllabaries used to represent Japanese syllables phonetically. Syncretism is also evident in the
transformation of Buddhism; it lost its otherworldly focus to recognize religious significance in secular life and to emphasize activities within a concrete social nexus. 16

After a long period of feudalism during which Chinese influences underwent further change, the early sixteenth century saw the beginnings of
European influence in Japan in the form of Christianity, European languages, and Western technology. Following the return of four Japanese
voyagers from Europe, a Western craze set in: even the shogun Hideyoshi
Toyotomi and his retainers frequently wore Portuguese-style dress. But in
the early seventeenth century, under the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, the tide
shifted dramatically; by 1636 the death penalty was prescribed for any Japanese caught trying to visit the outside world. The official policy of seclusion (sakoku) was to last for over two centuries.

Unquestionably, the insularity that developed during the sakoku period
can still be felt today. Yet two important points bear mentioning. First, the
Tokugawa policy was a purely practical measure aimed at consolidating po litical power; it cannot be used as evidence of innate Japanese xenophobia.17
Second, the Chinese and Dutch traders were allowed into the artificial port
in Nagasaki, enabling the government to continue to pick up foreign technical and commercial information. For example, at Nagasaki officers of foreign ships were routinely questioned about Chinese capacities for agriculture and for silk production.18 By 1740 two of the shogun's retainers were
studying Dutch, and between 1764 and 1789, there was a "Dutch craze"
(Rampeki) among the merchant class. Temple schools (terakoya) developed during this period, and the view that Western learning was quite appropriate for practical matters, though not for acquiring wisdom and
virtue, became widespread.19

Meiji Japan Awakes to the World

In their fervor for Western things during the early Meiji period, the Japanese seemed determined to compensate for any attitude of reaction against
the rest of the world that had emerged in two hundred years of selfimposed isolation in the Tokugawa period. In a surprisingly short time, English replaced Dutch as the primary medium by which Western ideas and
technology were imported. Japanese individuals who had for various reasons been marooned overseas now returned to a very positive reception
and sometimes considerable power. In 1856 an Institute for the Investigation of Barbarian Writings (Bansho Torishirabe-dokoro) was set up, thus
beginning a systematic borrowing of ideas and institutions from the West.
The Iwakura mission, which included many senior government officials,
was sent to the United States and Europe in 1871 to renegotiate Japan's international status; a less formal purpose, as W. G. Beasley explains, was to
"assess the civilization of the West, with a view to adopting those parts of
it which would be of value to Japan .1121 Some of Japan's best and brightest
were sent abroad for longer periods before taking up positions of influence.
Mori Arinori, for instance, returned from many years in England and the
United States to become minister of education. So impressed was he with
Western cultures that at one point he officially advocated that Japanese be
abolished and English be made the national language.

In retrospect, several features of cultural borrowing in early Meiji Japan
stand out. Japanese were able to incorporate foreign technology with impressive speed, largely because of the high level of education and literacy of
the general population, and particularly of workers in the industrial sector,
by the end of the late Tokugawa period. Moreover, the cultural borrowing
had become extremely selective. As Beasley notes, seventh-century Japan seemed "backward" in every respect compared with China, but late Tokugawa Japan had achieved remarkable heights in poetry, painting, music,
and religion and chose to focus on Western scientific skills and technology.
In that focus, the Japanese relied on what Rohlen calls "alert objectivity,"
the ability to scan one's external environment in order to grasp the essence
of other social and technological orders." One result was that Japanese
borrowing from Western countries displayed remarkable eclecticism. For
example, in the field of education Meiji leaders molded a system which resembled that of France in its organization, the United States in its curriculum, and Germany in its theoretical rationale. It was during the first two
decades of the Meiji period that the Japanese government hired, at considerable expense, thousands of Western "experts." Some of these technicians
and teachers gained considerable influence, and for a while, in the early
Christian institutions of higher education, imported texts were used and
English was the medium of instruction. The slogan "Boys Be Ambitious,"
offered by one of these imported oyatoi and inscribed on the gate to
Hokkaido University, has now motivated several generations of Japanese
youth.