Ever since the United Nations ratified the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in 2016, they have received exceptionally high public recognition in Japan. Younger demographics recognise what are typically referred to by the abbreviation “SDGs” through their school and university classes, as the Japanese government has actively worked to incorporate sustainability studies in the nationwide educational curricula. The SDGs have grown especially popular as topic-based courses for English as a Foreign Language classes, which reflect two broad goals for Tokyo.
First, Japan faces pressure to improve its historically underwhelming English language proficiency to compete globally. A 2023 survey by the language education company EF Education assessed the English proficiency of respondents based in 113 non-English speaking countries and regions. Japan ranked 87th overall, placed 15th out of the 23 Asian countries and regions surveyed, and was classed in the “low proficiency” category, the fourth level out of five. Despite decades-long attempts to revise Japan’s national English as a Foreign Language curricula, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) has faced a backlash for its perceived favourability towards teaching English as a means to pass exams rather than acquiring practical communicative skills.
However, Japan has faced growing pressure via global business and cultural links for enhanced English proficiency. The issue is seen to have contributed to Japan’s global decline as indicated by such factors as economic stagnation and demographic crisis. English has also been viewed as a vital tool to help integrate growing numbers of foreign-born residents and tourists in the country.
Despite Japan’s reputation as a model for advanced economic and societal development, it still faces significant hurdles.
Second, abiding by the SDGs boosts Japan’s status as a normative power so that it can garner regional and global influence by promoting ideational values such as democracy, human rights, and loyalty to the United Nations and other international institutions. Although Japan has backtracked on its reputation as a pacifist power due to fears over China’s militarisation and security threats from an unpredictable North Korea, its promotion of the SDGs helps it project an image of a liberal-democratic nation that gains respect in its Asia-Pacific neighbourhood and internationally, especially when compared to its authoritarian-leaning counterparts.
However, teaching the SDGs in English as a foreign language in Japan’s classrooms poses multiple challenges. One contributing factor relates to the role of critical thinking (or lack thereof) in Japanese theory and practice of education. The complex, multidimensional issues related to the SDGs require strong critical thinking skills, yet the Japanese education system has long prized rote memorisation and teacher-centred approaches over creative problem-solving and student-centred approaches.
Japanese students have dealt with “SDG burnout” as many of them must memorise SDG-related material as facts and bullet points focused on unfamiliar (and often Global South) locales. Little is done to relate these ideas to the students’ personal lives and/or life in Japan more generally.
By replacing passive learning techniques with student-centred learning approaches such as class discussions, group projects and presentations, educators can more effectively engage with students and boost their critical thinking abilities.
Additionally, there is a general reluctance to openly discuss issues affecting Japan in the classroom. Despite Japan’s reputation as a model for advanced economic and societal development, it still faces significant hurdles, especially in terms of gender inequality. There is relatively little public activism on this issue, despite working women earning an average of 75% less than men and facing rampant sexual harassment.
Japan’s human rights abuses throughout East and Southeast Asia during the Second World War and its widely perceived lack of remorse for these crimes has also clashed with the cogency of supporting its image as a normative power. This reluctance to engage with difficult topics that are bound up in SDG education creates a tension between the expectations of the Japanese government and the realities of the teachers within the classroom.
For students to become interested in and develop their English skills through the SDGs, perhaps Japan first needs to reckon with its own weaknesses before those of others, such as countries in the Global South.
The implications of SDG-education in Japanese English as a Foreign Language classrooms are critical, as these small-scale practices could have a national-level impact on Japan’s shifting identity. Rather than approaching the subject from a purely theoretical perspective, it may be more useful for Japan to develop more action-oriented educational policies to defend its status as a normative power. Nigeria, Indonesia, and South Korea’s universities have made a mark for themselves through the implementation of impact-based SDG teaching methods.
While Japan has developed certain programs in this vein, such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency-sponsored SDG Global Leader Program and the academic programs offered at United Nations University, the country should work towards expanding the availability of SDG-oriented English as a Foreign Language programs and deepening the course content. With these reforms in place, Japan would possess greater authority in promoting sustainable initiatives nationally and globally.
