Educational Nationalism and Multiculturalism in Mexico and Japan

• In Event: Politics, Identity, and the Educational Institution

Proposal

Daniel Sabbagh argues that any conceptual or empirical analysis of the relationship between ‘nationalism’ and ‘multiculturalism’ must begin by acknowledging the ambiguity of such notions (Sabbagh, 2005). By exploring the concepts and practices of multicultural education in Mexico and Japan, we argue that both countries bear resemblance, as equally, the civic-versus-ethnic-nationalism dichotomy emphasizes a sort of civic patriotism. The educational system has embedded multiculturalism to fortify national identity.
In Mexico, there are persistent traits of xenophobia in educational policies. Multiculturalism, or interculturalism, is a mode of integration that emphasizes the centrality of minority group identities and the remaking of national identity so that all citizens have a sense of belonging, individual rights, and minority accommodation. Article 2 of the Mexican Constitution states: “The Nation has a pluricultural composition originally based on its indigenous peoples… and who preserve their own social, economic, cultural, and political institutions, or part of them” (Cámara de Diputados, 2022, p. 9). The government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024) launched an educational project where the community, native peoples, and Afro-descendants would be at the center of educational policy. It represented a rejection of European and Mestizo culture.
In Japan, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) often frames educational policy on multiculturalism as “education for international understanding (à la UNESCO)” under its umbrella. The aims of multicultural education are two-fold: to foster respect for diverse cultures and to preserve “civic patriotism” rooted in Japanese traditions. MEXT also encourages being an active member of the international community. Motivating this policy is Japan’s alarmingly low birth rate and growing influx of immigrant laborers, exceeding 3.7 million for the first time in December 2024, and the number of compulsory school-aged foreign children has also doubled over the past decade (The Immigration Services Agency of Japan, 2025).
The focus of this paper is to interpret how emerging multiculturalism challenges the hegemonic official knowledge in education policy and in practice. In Mexico, it is the appreciation of the original peoples’ cultures and traditions, while in Japan, it is a recognition of globalization, global human resource development, and understanding of diverse cultures. Both countries share centralism in the design and implementation of educational policy. As central government institutions set up guidelines and authorize curricula and textbooks, Mexico’s Ministry of Public Education (SEP) and Japan’s MEXT serve as the guardians of official knowledge.
We aim to answer two research questions:
1. How have nationalism and multiculturalism been reconciled within educational policy in Mexico and Japan?
2. How are nationalism and multiculturalism taught in schools? In particular, what are the first things educators of primary education teach to students?
Examining the earliest non-cognitive lessons children learn from their instructors is appropriate because teachers affect cognitive as well as non-cognitive development of children (Hayashi & Tachibana, 2007).
We employed theoretical concepts in this study from the approach of borrowing and lending policies of education and cultural imperialism, which allow us to analyze and compare how the multicultural education approach has gained a foothold in official knowledge in policy and on the ground. Mexico, for example, borrowed notions of decolonization theories and Southern epistemologies. Japan not only borrowed aspects of multicultural education, such as Western ideals of human rights education, but also interpreted Dowa education for anti-discrimination and education for international understanding as a genre of multicultural education (Tokunaga, 2017). The revision of the Fundamental Law of Education reaffirmed the objectives of basic education as the full development of personality, nurturing patriotism, and fostering civic nationalism (MEXT, 2025a).
Critical analysis of official documents, academic texts, press debates, and other materials, including programs, textbooks, and intercultural education resources used in schools, in addition to school interviews, enabled us to research how SEP and MEXT translated nationalism and multiculturalism into educational policy in each country. We have examined the following aspects:
• Principles of multicultural education embedded in educational policy.
• Adoption of multiculturalism and its ties to prevailing nationalism.
• Institutional instruments used by SEP and MEXT officials to induce new multicultural practices on the ground.
Regarding the first research question, we found that in both Mexico and Japan, the ministries of education established policies promoting multiculturalism while fortifying national identity. In Japan, multiculturalism implies preparing students for a globalizing world while fortifying nationalism. However, the target of such international education policies seems to be domestic Japanese students and not necessarily foreign students receiving remedial Japanese language classes (see MEXT, 2025a). The trend in Mexico is different. It aims at revitalizing the original cultures, discarding Eurocentrism, and even the mestizo customs. It implies a kind of civic patriotism.
The responses to the second research question differ between the two countries. While Mexican students learn how to be good Mexican citizens from primary school through ceremonial or non-cognitive activities, Japanese students learn “Minna Nakayoshi,” i.e., “Let’s be friends with everybody,” a traditional philosophy associated with paddy field agriculture when growing rice required harmony, cooperation, and uniformity. Teachers use this phrase throughout primary education without deeper consideration that they are teaching the “collectivist” culture of Japan, unchanged since the end of WWII.
Mexico and Japan strive to raise students responsive to emerging national and global needs. By examining how these countries promote civic nationalism, the study reveals that nation-states integrate multiculturalism into a framework of national identity. Furthermore, teachers give students “reasonable” lessons, such as “let’s be friends with everybody,” words that sound beautiful and benign, but which conceal long-standing cultural collectivism. Perceiving the subjectivity of intercultural understanding shall provide a stepping-stone for fostering peace in a more democratic world.

Authors

• Carlos Ornelas, Universidad Autonoma Meropolitana

• Riho Sakurai, Hiroshima University