Philosophy of education in dialogue between East and West: Japanese insights and perspectives

Rizal, Falaqi Muhamad, Taufiqurrochman, R ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1001-4353, Syuhadak, Syuhadak ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4140-9377, Qomari, Qomari and Charis, M. Abdullah (2026) Philosophy of education in dialogue between East and West: Japanese insights and perspectives. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London. ISBN 9781003271024 UNSPECIFIED : UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

This book opens a dialogue between Eastern and Western philosophies of education in the context of globalization. Unlike previous studies that highlight the influence of Western thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Locke on Japan, this volume emphasizes that East Asian educational traditions possess unique perspectives that cannot be fully understood through Western frameworks. The volume also explores how East Asian insights can contribute to and enrich the global discourse on the philosophy of education. Employing a pluralistic approach, this book examines the intersection of Eastern and Western educational theories and philosophies in contemporary issues such as care, morality, politics, democracy, and modernity, while avoiding ethnocentrism and the homogenization of educational standards. The volume consists of ten essays; this review gives a brief summary of each, and indicates some of the broad themes of the volume. Some contributions to the volume discuss how education in Japan has changed in response to outside influence. Masaki Takamiya's essay, ‘Morality and Education’, discusses how moral education in Japan has adopted Western thought since the Meiji Restoration, shifting from Confucian values that emphasize loyalty and patriotism in the shushin curriculum, a traditional moral education emphasizing loyalty and patriotism, to concepts of autonomy and individuality from Western philosophy. This shift demonstrates Japan's effort to balance traditional and modern values in moral education. Shigeki Izawa's ‘Politics and Education’, examines the relationship between politics and education, emphasizing the tension between continuity and discontinuity in the reception of Western thought. This tension is evident in the adoption of new educational concepts modelled after the American educational system, such as experience-based curricula and social studies (Shakaika), which became symbols of post-war educational democratization in Japan. However, these approaches faced criticism for being overly individualistic and liberal, as well as for failing to consider the socioeconomic realities of children in rural areas. Jeremy Rappleye's contribution, ‘Modernity and Education’, emphasizes that modernity, which developed organically in Europe, created deep cultural discontinuities in Japan. To understand and adapt European modernity, Japan had to translate fundamental concepts such as self, knowledge, history, nature, and the world into its cultural, religious, social, philosophical, and ecological frameworks. In this process, Japan experienced two primary responses: one leaning towards nostalgic nationalism and the other towards extensive Westernization. Beyond these two responses, there has been an ongoing philosophical effort to reinterpret European modernity from a Japanese ontological perspective, contributing to the development of contemporary educational theories and practices in Japan.

Item Type:	Book
Keywords:	philosophy; japan; education
Subjects:	13 EDUCATION > 1399 Other Education
Divisions:	Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teaching Training > Department of Arabic Language Education
Depositing User:	Taufiqurrochman R.
Date Deposited:	24 Jun 2026 15:19

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