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Authors: David L. McConnell
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for the JET Program is to increase understanding
of Japanese society and education among youth in the participating
countries.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official
If Japanese students and teachers improve their communicative
competence in English, then they have become more
internationalized. This is the goal of the JET Program from the
point of view of our ministry.
A Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture official
The previous chapter sketched the broad historical context within which
the key policymakers began to stress the goal of raising Japan's international standing. Yet the presence of deep-seated cultural assumptions about
social relations and exclusivity suggests that an "away-with-frontiers" internationalism will not come easily to the Japanese. The social, cultural,
and historical barriers to a broader formulation of Japan's national purpose
are truly formidable, and many Japanese understandably find the expectation that Japanese culture must change both perplexing and threatening.
Yet Japan has a long history of adaptation to changing environmental realities, and the perception is widespread that substantive change is inevitable
if Japan is to maintain its economic gains of recent decades.
This chapter examines the behind-the-scenes process of policy formation and the conflicting ministerial goals that became enmeshed in the JET
Program. At the national level, political maneuvering dominates: from the
very moment the idea for the JET Program was conceived, its administrative structure and implementation were affected by competing goals and rivalries between the inward- and outward-looking ministries that were
directly charged with its oversight. In moving from its conception to a system of national-level administration, a relatively straightforward and appealing idea became subject to the political complexities of forming a coalition of diverse actors.
AN UNLIKELY SPONSOR: THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
GOES INTERNATIONAL
Oddly enough, the story of the JET Program begins in the Ministry of
Home Affairs (Jichisho). Literally the "Ministry of Self-Government," the
agency is ostensibly concerned with local administration, fire protection,
and tax affairs. Why would this ministry, which in 1987 was by almost any
definition one of the least "international" ministries in Japan, take control
of a program to import foreigners primarily for the purpose of teaching
English in public secondary schools?
The question is all the more interesting because prior to and during
World War II, the old Home Ministry (Naimusho), first established in 1873,
was the nation's most powerful administrative institution. It was in charge
of virtually anything related to maintaining control of the nation's population-local government, the police, religion, civil engineering, even the people's thoughts. In fact, local boards of education and the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture itself were run by officials of the Home Ministry.
Not surprisingly, the Home Ministry was hardest hit by the Occupation
purge, with 6o percent of its top officials removed. It was then broken up
into the separate Ministries of Home Affairs, Construction, Labor, and Health
and Welfare and the Police Agency. After a brief period as a special agency,
it renewed itself in 196o as Jichisho, with a much narrower mandate focused
on supervision of prefectural and municipal governments.
By the 198os, however, Home Affairs had achieved a remarkable comeback. Its former bureaucrats occupied roughly one-third of the prefectural
governorships, as well as prominent positions in municipal government.
This ministry had also become quite popular among graduates from prestigious universities who sought careers in local or national politics, for it
had the reputation of allowing aspiring politicians and bureaucrats to move
up quickly in their careers. Karel van Wolferen even argues that by the late
i98os Home Affairs had become
of Japanese society and education among youth in the participating
countries.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official
If Japanese students and teachers improve their communicative
competence in English, then they have become more
internationalized. This is the goal of the JET Program from the
point of view of our ministry.
A Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture official
The previous chapter sketched the broad historical context within which
the key policymakers began to stress the goal of raising Japan's international standing. Yet the presence of deep-seated cultural assumptions about
social relations and exclusivity suggests that an "away-with-frontiers" internationalism will not come easily to the Japanese. The social, cultural,
and historical barriers to a broader formulation of Japan's national purpose
are truly formidable, and many Japanese understandably find the expectation that Japanese culture must change both perplexing and threatening.
Yet Japan has a long history of adaptation to changing environmental realities, and the perception is widespread that substantive change is inevitable
if Japan is to maintain its economic gains of recent decades.
This chapter examines the behind-the-scenes process of policy formation and the conflicting ministerial goals that became enmeshed in the JET
Program. At the national level, political maneuvering dominates: from the
very moment the idea for the JET Program was conceived, its administrative structure and implementation were affected by competing goals and rivalries between the inward- and outward-looking ministries that were
directly charged with its oversight. In moving from its conception to a system of national-level administration, a relatively straightforward and appealing idea became subject to the political complexities of forming a coalition of diverse actors.
AN UNLIKELY SPONSOR: THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
GOES INTERNATIONAL
Oddly enough, the story of the JET Program begins in the Ministry of
Home Affairs (Jichisho). Literally the "Ministry of Self-Government," the
agency is ostensibly concerned with local administration, fire protection,
and tax affairs. Why would this ministry, which in 1987 was by almost any
definition one of the least "international" ministries in Japan, take control
of a program to import foreigners primarily for the purpose of teaching
English in public secondary schools?
The question is all the more interesting because prior to and during
World War II, the old Home Ministry (Naimusho), first established in 1873,
was the nation's most powerful administrative institution. It was in charge
of virtually anything related to maintaining control of the nation's population-local government, the police, religion, civil engineering, even the people's thoughts. In fact, local boards of education and the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture itself were run by officials of the Home Ministry.
Not surprisingly, the Home Ministry was hardest hit by the Occupation
purge, with 6o percent of its top officials removed. It was then broken up
into the separate Ministries of Home Affairs, Construction, Labor, and Health
and Welfare and the Police Agency. After a brief period as a special agency,
it renewed itself in 196o as Jichisho, with a much narrower mandate focused
on supervision of prefectural and municipal governments.
By the 198os, however, Home Affairs had achieved a remarkable comeback. Its former bureaucrats occupied roughly one-third of the prefectural
governorships, as well as prominent positions in municipal government.
This ministry had also become quite popular among graduates from prestigious universities who sought careers in local or national politics, for it
had the reputation of allowing aspiring politicians and bureaucrats to move
up quickly in their careers. Karel van Wolferen even argues that by the late
i98os Home Affairs had become
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