Engaging with the More-Than-Human and Decolonial Turns in the Land of Shinto Cosmologies: “Negative” Comparative Education in Practice

Abstract

Purpose: In this explorative, self-reflective article, I attempt to extend the methodological discussion of a "negative" approach to comparative education that I have recently articulated elsewhere. Here, I demonstrate how I attempted to put in practice negative comparative education by drawing on my experience at the Shanghai workshop, Beyond the Western Horizon in Educational Research, organized by Iveta Silova, Jeremy Rappleye, and Yun You at the East China Normal University. Design/Approach/Methods: I conceive my participation in the Shanghai workshop as a disruptive moment wherein my previous forms of knowing and being were challenged. More specifically, I discuss how my attempt to situate the ecofeminist and decolonial literature, the two of the three main bodies of literature introduced through the workshop, within the context of Japanese education triggered me to reconsider the role of Shinto in Japanese education and question my own firm identification with the liberal-left politics within Japan.

Reimagining Modern Education: Contributions from Modern Japanese Philosophy and Practice?

“…But in comparative terms, Japanese education (and much of East Asia) is not nearly as bad as our dominant images of it would suggest. Although we acknowledge the importance of Takayama's (2020) call to stay attuned to "intra-national differences" and be vigilant as to how "international differences" can paper over important differences within a given national context, we feel the need to emphasize that such sentiments sometimes risk granting the fact that domestic political discourses accurately represent empirical realities. As we have most recently shown in relation to bullying in Japan, if one were to believe domestic discourse in Japan, one would conclude that bullying and violence is rife in Japanese schools.…”

Anticipating Other Worlds, Animating OurSelves: An Invitation to Comparative Education

“…However, these multiple more-than-human worlds often remain invisible to our modern, civilized—and colonized—eyes. When we catch glimpses of these worlds, their images often appear severely distorted in favor of the Western order of things (see Komatsu & Rappleye, 2020; Takayama, 2020; Taylor, 2020 for further discussion). And if we deliberately stepped outside of the dominant culture and into the boundary zones between different worlds, paused, and allowed ourselves to attune to what is around us?…”

“…Any attempt to engage with “other” worlds is always inevitably complex, challenging, and contested (see Takayama, 2020). It can even be fatal.…”

Beyond the Dichotomy: Engaging a Deeper Dialogue About Our Interdependent Futures Between the Western and Non-Western Horizon

“…The authors provide informative and insightful perspectives to help us think and go beyond the Western horizon. Takayama (2020) discusses the Shinto’s decolonial potentials and points out the significance of localized Shinto for reimaging education for sustainable futures. By revolving around the connotation of Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi’s “Butterfly Dream,” Silova (2020) highlights the idea of “pluriverse (in the making)” and the importance of re-engaging with more-than-human worlds.…”