University of the Ryukyus · Faculty of International and Regional Creation · 講師

Research keywordsOkinawan identity・Japanization discourse・textbook nationalism・study abroad identity・culturally responsive instruction・culture and education

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• 認知的不協和喚起及び沖縄人意識高揚を促す「問いかけ」－民族的アイデンティフィケーション不平等是正並びに民族的アイデンティティ維持・発達・継承教授法略考案－2024 · Under Japan’s centralized educational system, which was introduced to Okinawa after Japan’s annexation of Ryukyu, students in Okinawa learn as Japanese. The study argues that this system has an unequal structure concerning opportunities for ethnic identification. The study thus claims that it is appropriate to rectify the inequality in opportunities for ethnic identification through education. The aim of this study is to devise a pedagogical strategy for Okinawans to reconsider their Japanese identity and reexamine their own ethnicity. The pedagogical strategy is based on the cognitive dissonance theory. Specifically, using historical events that are very likely to be significant for Okinawans, the study createted questions that are expected to provoke cognitive dissonance, or “Okinawan/ Japanese identity conflict” in this pedagogical strategy, among Okinawans. Cognitive dissonance provoked by the created questions would motivate Okinawans to learn about Okinawa, Japan, and other regions and matters, eventually raising their Okinawan consciousness. These questions can be opportunities and a turning point for Okinawans to explore their own ethnicity, leading to the development of their ethnic identity. The study expects these createted questions to be implemented as a teaching strategy in educational activities, providing Okinawans with opportunities to reexamine their “Japanese identity” that has been historically, politically, institutionally, and socially constructed. This will then lead to rectifying inequality in ethnic identification as Okinawan, and preserving, developing, and transmitting Okinawan ethnic identity.
• Being more Okinawan in Hawaiʻi: Socio-psychological processes of Okinawan identity development among Okinawan international university and college students in Hawaiʻi2023 · The study aims to investigate Okinawan identity development among individuals who grew up in Okinawa and came to Hawai‘i to study at a university or community college. The grounded theory approach was used for the qualitative inquiry. Nineteen participants were interviewed about their self-descriptions, spaces where their Okinawan consciousness was provoked and influences of activities and learning regarding Okinawa and Hawai‘i on their Okinawan identities. The results pointed to three dimensions of socio-psychological processes of Okinawan identity development in Hawai‘i, namely (a) self-identification as Okinawan in Hawai‘i, (b) Okinawan consciousness and identity salience and (c) a strengthened sense of Okinawan identity. The results were used to construct and discuss the core category of “being more Okinawan in Hawai‘i”, subsuming all the concepts regarding self-identification, consciousness and identity as Okinawan. The study demonstrated the probability that the more frequently Okinawan international university and college students self-identified as Okinawan and the more intense their Okinawan consciousness and identity salience became, the more likely it was that their Okinawan identities became stronger. The study elucidated the socio-psychological processes of Okinawan identity development in Hawai‘i by examining the history and society in Hawai‘i to contextualize the empirical results.
• A systematic form of Japanization in Okinawa: Japanese identity construction through a Japanization discourse in textbooks and a textbook guide2019 · This research examines some modes of Japanization through education in Okinawa where Japanese influences on education have permeated after Japan’s annexation. I investigate how a book excerpt entitled Mizu no Tōzai, included in high school textbooks in Okinawa, constructs Japanese identity. Mizu no Tōzai functions as nihonjinron discourse, which is characterized by ‘Japanese culture,’ ‘Japanese uniqueness,’ and ‘Japaneseness.’ The ‘East-West’ dichotomy, depicted in this nihonjinron discourse, induces students to choose ‘Japan’/‘Japanese culture’ and become ‘Japanese.’ Practice sections of Mizu no Tōzai in textbooks as well as a textbook guide operate to be complicit in this Japanese identity construction. Through a critical analysis of discourse, I reveal that the nihonjinron discourse operating as official knowledge, in collusion with the other discursive texts, produces a position subjected to the discourse of Japanization within which Okinawans become ‘Japanese.’ I problematize these discursive texts as a systematic form of Japanizing Okinawans’ minds through education.
• Okinawan consciousness and identity salience and development among Okinawan university students studying in Hawai‘i2018 · After Japan’s annexation in 1879, Okinawa came under the unprecedented influence of Japanization. This research examined how learning in Hawaiʻi influenced the Okinawan sense of identity of 11 Okinawan students. Grounded theory analysis of interview transcripts indicated that students became more conscious as Okinawan through encounters and interactions with local people, including Okinawans, and Hawaiians in Hawai‘i, and Okinawan events and activities there. Participating in an Okinawan club at the university provided opportunities for the students to express their Okinawan identity, interact with club members, and take responsibility as representatives of Okinawa, which promoted students’ Okinawan consciousness and identity salience.

• 日本国内ナショナル・マイノリティ教育発展研究：沖縄とハワイの比較教育分析を通して2024 · 本研究では、多⽂化共⽣社会実現に必要な⼿段の⼀つである教育を取り上げ、特に教育による沖縄住⺠の「⽇本⼈化」の要因の究明及び教育による沖縄⼈意識・アイデンティティ⾼揚を研究課題の核⼼とし、ナショナル・マイノリティの視点から沖縄に⽴脚した教育構築への提⾔を⽬的とする。その⽬的を達成するため、沖縄をその範囲に⼊れる⽇本中央集権教育制度とハワイの教育を⽐較し、特にその硬直性・柔軟性に注⽬してその相違点を明らかにする。また、⽇本中央集権教育制度におけるナショナリズム・愛国⼼推進を批判的に分析し、ハワイにおける⾃⺠族⽂化教育と⽐較しながら沖縄教育構築の阻害要因と必要な要素を浮き彫りにする。本研究は多様な社会において沖縄⾃らの⺠族的視点から学べる教育体制確立へ貢献する。

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