ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the images of schooling, assimilation, and 'otherness' in the economically powerful and developed nation Japan. It can be seen at first glance that Japan is economically privileged and could be seen as a 'metropolis', thus attracting large numbers of immigrants. However, it has a way of organizing immigration that attempts to limit and control the ways foreign groups bring about change. The objective of this chapter is to consider how a concept of post colonial theory and Thomas S. Popkewitz's notion of inclusion and exclusion can enable us to problematize Japanese language teaching for immigrant children in Japanese schools and the Japanese version of multiculturalism. It is also important to note that this chapter indicates that discourses on multiculturalism and multicultural education in Japan engender inclusion and exclusion at the same time for example, in the aforementioned multicultural discourse on Japanese language education for immigrant children, which inversely promotes antimulticulturalism.
