Embedded Curriculum on China: Aichi University and Civilizational Education in Contemporary Japan
Date Issued
2012
Date
2012
Author(s)
Moriyama, Yuko
Abstract
Established in 1991, the ‘Graduate School of China’ of Aichi University is a comprehensive graduate school in Japan that focuses on the study of Chinese humanities and social sciences. It is unique because Aichi University is the sole academic institution that has set up a graduate school of China study although Japan has cultivated many researchers of China. Aichi University was formerly known as ‘University of East Asia Common Culture College’ before the War. It was the only one university that Japan had set up in China (Shanghai) and it was run by the ‘Asia Common Culture Association’ established by the Great East-Asian Regionalists.
The historical development of this discipline happened to experience the two civilization educations in Japan''s modern history. The first time was the modern education system announced by the Meiji government in 1868 in order to catch up with the educational environment in Europe and in the United States. The second time was the philosophy and direction of the post-war education reform that was reset by Japan according to the reform program proposed in the U.S. education envoys’ report in 1948 under the occupation by the United Nations after World War II. This study aims at investigating the China Program provided in Japan’s Aichi University to understand how this university could be set up in China and started the independent study of China under the prevailing ideological atmosphere of ‘discrimination against China’ before the War and how this university could stay true to its model of research of China after being forced to change its name while facing the promotion of the American education system after the War.
This study has achieved 5 results. First of all, University of East Asia Common Culture College ran in the opposite direction of the educational policies of ‘giving up China’ of the Meiji government. On this point, its original idea was never changed while being forced to change its name and structure after the War. Secondly, this discipline is deeply influenced by regional studies. The main reason is that the vision of regional studies is broader than country studies and it doesn’t easily subject itself to the influence of media and public opinions. Finally, the 3rd, 4th and 5th results indicate that the fact that this discipline fights alone reflects the Japanese people’s general attitude of ‘contempt for China’; although the Japanese Government seems very active in the studies of China, it never stops thinking the purpose of academic studies is to provide national interests; owing to these two points, Sino-Japanese relations stay stagnant and subject to political manipulation easily.
Subjects
Aichi University
China Study
Cold War
education reform
Fukuzawa Yukichi
GHQ
Meiji Restoration
Orientalism
Sina
SDGs
Type
thesis
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