131: 80 Years Later, Japan’s Big Problem (10)

By Joe Kim
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【Structural Problem】
The solution to the major challenges Japan faces today is clear: Education that fosters human rights awareness.
 
To achieve this, two major reforms are essential [See Previous]:

1. Embrace Immigration
2. Commit to Inclusive Education

 
However, these reforms face exceptionally high barriers. The reason is simple: Japan’s stubborn tendency to avoid change.
 
This pattern isn’t new.
 
During World War II, even when many sensed that the country was heading in the wrong direction, they couldn’t change course. As conditions worsened with defeat seemingly inevitable, Japan still failed to change. The result was catastrophic.
 
80 years later, that same resistance to change persists, reflected in growing support for conservatism and a willingness to return to the past, much like militarist Japan [See #129]. Even today, too many people still resist change.
 
A more recent example is the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The clearest lesson we learned from this accident: nuclear power plants are not sustainable. [See #17]
 
The disaster was triggered by an unprecedented natural event during the second year of the Democratic Party’s administration. However, since its founding in 1955, the LDP has ruled most of post-war Japan with an exception of 5 years in aggregate. Clearly, it was the LDP that promoted the sales pitch “nuclear power plants are safe” and drove the construction of 54 reactors nationwide.
 
Immediately after the disaster, public support for a “zero nuclear” policy surged. Yet within less than 15 years, voters returned power to the LDP pushing for not only restarting existing plants but also building new plants.
 
Avoiding change. Resisting change.
 
To break out of this pattern, it’s essential to embrace immigration and advance inclusive education. But achieving these reforms ultimately depends on political will, and that comes down to how people vote in elections.
 
For Japan to move forward, people must stop resisting change and begin embracing it. Education plays a central role in shaping individuals who are capable of doing so. In that sense, meaningful reform must begin with education.
 
Yet many people don’t know how to bring about change or what actions to take. This is hardly surprising, as there are still very few people in Japan who’ve been raised through inclusive education.
 
Logically, one solution would be to welcome people from abroad who’ve been raised through inclusive education. Yet, even this kind of change is often met with resistance.
 
Meanwhile, the problems continue to deepen.
 
To be fair, there have been attempts at reform. In 2002, Japan introduced yutori education--a more relaxed, less rote-focused approach. However, it was implemented without sufficient expertise resulting in poor execution.
 
For instance, one goal was to move away from memorization-heavy college admission exams and foster independent thinking. But when Japan’s test performance fell in international assessments like PISA, critics panicked over a “decline in academic ability!” and yutori education was abandoned after only about eight years.
 
In other words, a system designed to cultivate new abilities was judged using old standards.
 
Too many people cling to “traditional values” simply because they want to preserve the tradition regardless of good or bad. This mindset fuels resistance to change. Those in political power are often no exception--they, too, weren’t raised through inclusive education.
 
And this persists because voters--who also largely lack exposure to inclusive education--continue to support conservative parties.
 
This is the root of Japan’s struggle to change.
Avoiding change. Resisting change.
Even while sensing that things cannot continue this way, it struggles to change course.
 

• Japan resists an education system that cultivates individuals who can think independently and act based on fact/evidence→
• In absence of such education, it fails to cultivate individuals who can think independently and act based on fact/evidence→
• And without those individuals, education system fails to change.

 
It’s a negative spiral.
A classic chicken-and-egg problem.
 
80 years after the war, Japan’s big problem is fundamentally structural.

Read Previous: 80 Years Later, Japan’s Big Problem (9)【Solutions】

​Complete Series: 80 Years Later, Japan’s Big Problem (1)～(10)
[1]   [2]   [3]   [4]   [5]   [6]   [7]   [8]   [9]   [10]  
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Read Theme: Inclusive Diversity