Author Information
Mitsuko Takei, Hiroshima Shudo University, JapanKenta Babasaki, Hiroshima Shudo University, Japan
Abstract
Japan is undergoing rapid demographic change as both the number and diversity of foreign residents increase, prompting policy responses framed through tabunka kyōsei (multicultural coexistence), a framework that emphasizes harmonious living and pragmatic accommodation of cultural and linguistic diversity. Despite its prominence, tabunka kyōsei has been widely criticized for lack of conceptual coherence and uneven institutional implementation. Against this backdrop, this study poses the guiding research question: Can Japan learn from Hawaiʻi in shaping its multicultural future? Rather than assessing policy effectiveness or advocating policy transfer, the study adopts an analytical approach by developing a conceptual framework that contrasts multicultural hybridity with multicultural complexity. Drawing on a qualitative synthesis of interdisciplinary literature, the paper examines how Hawaiʻi’s historically grounded hybridity has become normalized through everyday practices such as language use, foodways, and education, while remaining entangled with structural inequality and colonial legacies. By contrast, Japan’s contemporary multicultural condition is characterized as complex, marked by the coexistence of inclusive policy discourse, persistent narratives of homogeneity, and managed policy-driven interventions such as Plain Japanese (yasashii nihongo). The paper argues that Japan can “learn from Hawaiʻi” not by emulating its social formations, but by using comparison to clarify how diversity is configured, experienced, and institutionalized in different contexts. The hybridity-complexity lens thus offers a context-sensitive analytical tool for rethinking multiculturalism and informing higher education practices that foster reflective engagement with diversity in contemporary Japan.
Paper Information
Conference: IICE2026Stream: Challenging & Preserving: Culture
This paper is part of the IICE2026 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Takei M., & Babasaki K. (2026) Can Japan Learn From Hawaiʻi for Its Multicultural Future? An Analytical Journey From Multicultural Hybridity to Multicultural Complexity ISSN: 2189-1036 – The IAFOR International Conference on Education – Hawaii 2026 Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 143-153) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-1036.2026.14
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-1036.2026.14
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