The concept of D&I, where people of all nationalities, genders, and ages respect each other's differences while letting their own individuality shine, is starting to make inroads in Japan.

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) is a university that is paving the way for D&I in Japan.

Opened in Beppu City, Oita Prefecture, in 2000, about non-Japanese account for about half of APU’s faculty and students, and since its founding, it has welcomed students from a total of 166 countries and regions. Under the new "Leap Beyond Global" plan unveiled by President Hiroshi Yoneyama, who took office in 2024, APU is pursuing new kinds of education, research, and practical applications that incorporate D&I.

Why is D&I needed now and what kind of future will it lead to?

For this interview, we spoke with Sachiko Nakajima, the Thematic Project Producer for the education-themed Signature Pavilion at the 2025 World Exposition ("Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai"), and APU College of International Management Associate Professor Yoshiki Shinohara, who serves as the Director of Center for Inclusive Leadership at APU.

What are the benefits of promoting D&I?

——Ms. Nakajima, you are producing one of the Signature Pavilions for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai that will be held next spring, and the theme for your pavilion is “Invigorating Lives.” Why did you choose to include D&I as one of the concepts for this pavilion?

Nakajima: The theme of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai is “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” The theme of our pavilion is "Invigorating Lives," so looking at "life" in terms of one’s reason for being and the joy of living, it is our hope that this Expo will afford us with an opportunity to create a society where a diversity of lives can shine.

At its essence, life is completely different for each individual, but especially in Japan, where the environment is often homogeneous, we tend to compare ourselves with others based on a single standard and often feel that we have no potential.

This is precisely why we believe that D&I is a keystone of not only our pavilion, but of the Expo as a whole, in the sense that people from all walks of life can “shine” and fully express their individuality in their own lives.

——What specific benefits can we expect when D&I is realized?

Nakajima: I believe there are two main benefits.

One is that the world will genuinely be more fun and interesting than it is now.

As a musician, I have the opportunity to perform with people who are blind and deaf, and every time I do, I always make new discoveries about myself. I find that some of my senses that I am usually unaware of are sharpened, or that my facial expressions and gestures become more vivid. Actually, the same thing happens when I meet people from other countries, which is very fun and interesting.

The Expo will host events from about 160 different countries, so you will be able to engage with people of many different religions, cultures, and values—not to mention languages. In engaging people like this, visitors will discover new aspects about themselves that they had not noticed before and begin to get a sense of their own potential. I think this is exactly what is meant by “invigorating lives.”

The other benefit is that people can learn to empathize with each other.

When it comes to minorities, be it in terms of gender, race, disability, or any other attribute, it is easy for inequality and disparity to emerge. There is a surprising number of cases in which the majority may not take offense, but a minority may feel they are being discriminated against or harassed.

To change this, we must first share fun experiences together and get to know each other. I think the first step is to become friends with someone and create a relationship where you can have an in-depth dialogue with them and say things like "I don't like it when you talk to me that way.” In such situations, when you realize you may have unintentionally hurt someone with your words or that something someone said to you made you feel uncomfortable and you recognize that you need to let them know how you feel, a mutual understanding of the negative feelings that each person has been quietly harboring emerges, leading to a supportive atmosphere where you can empathize with each other’s perspectives and help each other out.

If this happens, I believe that diverse forces can coalesce, thus leading to the creation of new things and bringing about change.

As the birthrate declines more and more and as Japanese companies and society shift tack to a more global course, I think this is something that will become very important in education.

Japanese society and the Galapagos syndrome

Shinohara: As Ms. Nakajima just pointed out, there are two main issues behind the Japanese government's efforts to promote D&I, such as by empowering women: population decline and the aging of society. From an economic perspective, the major challenge is how to compensate for the dwindling labor force.

One way to do this is to accept more foreigners. Although there is a need for Japanese companies to hire foreigners, the current situation is that they are imposing the Japanese way of doing things on them, as if to say, "when in Rome, do as the Romans do.” On the other hand, if companies adopt this attitude when hiring foreigners, they will shift toward an environment where foreigners can work in their own way, so Japanese companies must actively consider how to work together with foreigners and help them maximize their abilities.

Nakajima: That being said, Japan is still very Galapagos-like. Even if a foreigner wants to work for a Japanese company, many companies only create materials in Japanese, and I have even heard that some companies require international students to take the same Japanese language exam at the hiring stage that Japanese students take. After all, they want people who can speak, read, and write Japanese at a high level. In this respect, the situation is considerably more difficult than in other countries in Asia, so ultimately, international students do not choose Japan.

I think this is a problem with the Japanese education system. There is a strong resistance to English. Although Japanese people study English in school, they almost never use it to communicate. If they had the experience of actually getting to know foreigners, this psychological barrier would not be so high. But as I mentioned earlier, foreigners are still an unfamiliar presence for most Japanese.

Shinohara: You’re right. Many people in Japan feel they face a language barrier. In fact, Japanese companies compete to hire APU’s international students because they are a rare talent who can speak Japanese. This is not a situation that can be called inclusive, however, as these students are evaluated based on whether or not they can adapt to Japan.

The power born from intermingling

——In this respect, it seems that the Expo is an experience where people of all ages can intermingle with a diverse group of people from all over the world.

Nakajima: Yes, I think so. Our members include "swizzle sticks,” or people whose job it is to intermingle and create an environment that engages a diverse group of people among the visitors to the pavilion and the participants in the workshops. I believe that by doing this, each person at the Expo can feel accepted. APU already has a diverse environment where you can have this kind of experience.

Shinohara: That’s right. Currently, half of the students at APU are Japanese, and the other half hail from 100 countries and regions around the world. Then, for the first year after enrollment, all students live together in the AP House student dormitory. Our faculty body is also half Japanese and half non-Japanese, and we offer classes in both English and Japanese. Thus, the university itself is a very diverse environment, made up of people from many different backgrounds.

——With so much diversity, aren’t there cases of miscommunication and communication failures?

Shinohara: Of course this can happen. Since everyone has lived in different environments until coming to APU, they often face difficulties with each other. There is a lot of group work in APU classes, and I receive complaints from students that some of their group members don't do any work or that they are not punctual. For example, even looking at the idea of meeting deadlines, it is really hard to achieve inclusion because of the different ideas and stances that people have on this matter.

The only way to overcome these differences is to let the students think for themselves, sometimes with the support of faculty members and teaching assistants. Everyone has to get their hands dirty and do the best they can each time.

Nakajima: President Yoneyama has said “mixing” alone is not enough. As Dr. Shinohara just mentioned, if you just mix students together, all you will get is dissatisfaction and distrust, and you will end up in a state of chaos. This is why APU teaches the concept of mutual respect. It is important to respect others and, first and foremost, to accept each other’s differences.

Shinohara: As an APU faculty member, what I personally place value on is to not reject others. When there is a difference of opinion, if you reject it outright, the other person will not be able to say what they want to say. It is also important that you do not let yourself get emotional. If you make something a matter of likes and dislikes, it cannot become a dialogue.

APU students experience a lot of failure in our mixed environment, where things don't always go their way. But as they learn how to accept others with different opinions without rejecting them and how to talk to each other without getting emotional, our Japanese students realize that they have been unintentionally imposing a uniform Japanese way of doing things on international students. Then, they get used to communicating with a diverse array of people and free themselves from preconceived notions of fear and difficulty.

Nakajima: I studied abroad for two years at New York University in the United States, which, like APU, was a highly diverse environment with students from all over the world. By being in that kind of environment, I learned how to listen attentively to others' opinions and developed the ability to find solutions through dialogue. Furthermore, I feel that communicating with a diverse array of people can lead to creative ideas.

Overcoming language barriers and helping each other out

——When I was walking around the campus a few days ago, I witnessed the exact moment when an international student joined a group of students who were speaking in Japanese, and the conversation immediately switched to English. I was impressed by how natural the interaction was.

Shinohara: For many of our students from overseas, English is not their mother tongue, so they are not completely native speakers. This may make it easier for Japanese students to communicate with others without feeling self-conscious about whether their English is a bit broken.

By the way, APU also has the Self-Access Learning Center, which provides out-of-class learning support. In the case of English, for example, advisors provide speaking practice and writing support to help students improve their English skills, and for Japanese, Japanese students help students from other countries to practice conversation. We also have a language partner system where students with different native languages teach each other their respective languages, and in addition to English and Japanese, we also offer classes in Asia Pacific languages (Chinese, Korean, Malay/Indonesian, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese).

In this way, students and faculty members at APU help each other in a relaxed manner that transcends language barriers, and I feel that one of the main characteristics of APU is that everyone is friendly and in close proximity to each other.

Nakajima: How wonderful! Another point that I find attractive is the opportunities that students have to connect with each other not only through language, but also through activities like music and dance.

Yesterday, I participated in a Multicultural Week*, a series of events that introduces the language and culture of several different countries and regions on a weekly basis. There I saw international students playing Japanese drums with Japanese students, and Japanese students dancing the haka, the dance of the indigenous Maori of New Zealand, while wearing traditional makeup and costumes. There was a diverse group of people intermingling with each other and I felt a sense of unity.

The performers were all smiles, and I was moved to see how music and dance can bring people’s hearts together in such a way, even when barriers cannot be easily overcome with just language.

Campus life at APU affords students with many opportunities like this, whether it is through dorm life or sports. I really think this is fascinating.

* Week-long events run by students on APU’s multicultural campus that introduce the cultures and traditional arts of one country or region. Events are held in both the spring (May-July) and fall (November-January) semesters. During the week, the cafeteria serves traditional dishes from the country or region in question, and students perform traditional dances and music.

Shinohara: I think one way to promote D&I is to raise issues about discrimination or prejudice that you think need to be addressed, but at APU, we can show everyone just how interesting the world is. I would like to explore more ways in which APU can play a role in promoting D&I throughout society, such as by opening our campus environment to a wider range of people of all ages and creating opportunities for them to have fun together.

The Beppu Model: A starting point for D&I innovation

——D&I is expected to evolve further under the new "Leap Beyond Global" concept proposed by President Yoneyama, who was appointed in 2024. What kind of future do you expect this will lead to?

Nakajima: To begin with, Beppu has a long history of promoting a universal environment where people with disabilities can work and live as part of the local community just like able-bodied people can, as evidenced by the work of Taiyo no Ie and Omron Taiyo. APU was founded in a place with this preexisting foundation, and in terms of D&I, Beppu has become a truly interesting city where people of diverse nationalities are also intermingling and living together. If this Beppu Model can be expanded to other realms like community development, education, and business, I expect that D&I will progress throughout Japan.

Shinohara: I also believe that the goal of D&I is not to help specific people or groups; rather, it is to make life more comfortable for everyone. It would be nice if we could realize an environment where everyone can demonstrate their talents by learning and working in an individually optimized way, rather than in a uniform manner.

Throughout history, innovation has come from the frontier. Therefore, it can be said that the opportunities now exist in Japan, a country known as a frontrunner in dealing with contemporary issues, especially in the rural areas where there are many issues to be addressed. I think the Beppu Model of D&I could be the starting point for new innovations in Japan.

Nakajima: The future of Japan is bright. At the Expo, as at APU, we would like to produce an experience that brings people together from all over the world to intermingle and co-create, making D&I enjoyable and, in turn, leading to wellbeing.

—— Thank you very much.

Toward a society where all kinds of people can shine while intermingling

Beppu is a city where people with disabilities and able-bodied people work together and where students from over 100 nationalities live and study together at APU. The D&I model from this small city could may transform Japanese society and education drastically. The diversity brought about by APU has refined and further enhanced the branding of Beppu, creating a "society where diverse lives can shine together," which is the goal of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. Expectations are high for the Beppu Model championed by APU to spread to other regions, universities, and companies, thereby promoting D&I initiatives and leading to the realization of a society that is comfortable for everyone to live in.

* This article was originally published on ReseMom on August 26, 2024.