Foreign Language Instruction in Japanese Higher Education: The Humanistic Vision or Nationalist Utilitarianism?

Japanese society has a love–hate relationship with English. Many develop an antipathy toward English, bred through preparing for demanding examinations that focus on the intricacies of grammar. And yet many Japanese will declare their devotion to mastering English in order to ‘internationalize’. What does this all say about the role of the Humanities, foreign language teaching (here understood as English language instruction), and higher education in Japan? I discuss the role of English and how it relates to nationalist attempts to protect Japan from an English (i.e. foreign) invasion. My argument is that the weakness of foreign language instruction in Japanese higher education can be traced to a problem of motivation: when language is studied to please someone else (e.g. educational authorities, corporations, a vague sense of the national collective), enthusiasm for the humanistic impulse of self-edification is hampered. Japan offers us lessons about how humanistic endeavours can fall prey to nationalist and economistic agendas.