ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters in this book. The book explains the ideology of language and identity that Japan has retained beyond its era of internationalization. It takes an interdisciplinary approach covering education, cultural studies, linguistics, and policy making and uses a combination of global and local perspectives. The book examines what has been taking place in Japan in the process and as a consequence of internationalization or kokusaika, and explores how the limits and opportunities engendered by kokusaika led to the current discourse and practice of globalization. The ideology of English as the language of internationalization has also been critiqued as another instance of Westernization rather than internationalization in a sense of transcending cultural boundaries. In exploration of languages, identities, and a transitional Japan, the book identifies three major areas of transition, such as cultural, ideological, and pedagogical.
