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In 1945 Japan had to adjust very rapidly to sudden defeat, to the arrival of the American Occupation and to the encounter with the English language, together with a different outlook on many aspects of society and government. This scholarly book is based on in-depth interviews with people, now aged, who were school students at the time of the Occupation and who experienced first-hand this immense cultural change. The book considers the nature of the changing outlook, including democratization, the new role for the Japanese Emperor and all this represented for the place of tradition in Japanese life and the growing emphasis on individualism away from collectivism. It discusses the changing system of education itself, including new structures and new textbooks, and relates the feelings of the participants as they came to terms with defeat and the language and culture of the former enemy. Overall, the book provides a fascinating insight into a key period of Japanese history.
List of contents
List of Tables
List of Figures
Abbreviations
PART 1: Context
Chapter 1 The Scope of this Book
Chapter 2 Setting the Scene
PART 2: Historical Background
Chapter 3 History of Foreign Language Education in Japan
Chapter 4 Exploring the Historical Literature (1)
Chapter 5 Exploring the Historical Literature (2)
Chapter 6 Data Sources, Collection and Analysis
PART 3: Interviews and Their Implications
Chapter 7 The Interviews: What We Learned
Chapter 8 Concluding Thoughts
Appendix A Examples of Publications
Appendix B School Systems
Appendix C Lists of Japanese Names Translated into English
Appendix D The Locations of the Middle Level Schools Attended by Participants (Except for Yoko) as well as Other Places Referred in the Book.
Appendix E Summary of Warfare Between the Manchurian Incident and the Pacific War
Appendix F Political Occurrences and the Periods of the Participants’ Middle-level Schooling
Appendix G The Numbers of English Majors in Hiroshima Arts and Sciences University and Hiroshima Higher Normal School
Appendix H Employment of Foreign Teachers
Appendix I Information on the Participants (Age Order)
Appendix J Sample Interview Questions
Appendix K The Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Mayumi Ohara obtained her doctorate at the University of Technology Sydney.
John Buchanan is an Associate Professor of Education at the University of Technology Sydney.
Summary
This scholarly book is based on in-depth interviews with people, now aged, who were school students at the time of the American Occupation and who experienced at first hand the immense cultural change that accompanied it.
