Decolonial interventions in the postwar politics of Japanese education: Reassessing the place of Shinto in Japanese language and moral education curriculum

Much of postwar politics in Japanese education has revolved around the tensions between conservative’s retrogressive desire for imperial past on one hand and liberal-left’s progressive agenda other. The former demands a return to teaching traditional (Confucius) family values, patriotism Shinto-inspired reverence (awe) towards universe, while latter rational, critical minds deemed essential democratic citizenship. This binary structure political contestation is increasingly problematized by emerging sensibilities ecological crisis eco-feminist critique human exceptionalism, hype-separation nature ontological individualism. chapter demonstrates how new decolonial literature fundamental rethinking education, particular, relation place Shinto—the indigenous belief system—in school curriculum. It exposes limitations liberal-left discourse which reduced Shinto nothing but conservatives’ ‘return.’ concludes, drawing Chen’s (2010) notion de-cold-war politics, that Cold War framing policy debate must be overcome unleash potentials addressing pressing sustainable challenges today.