In Japanese language education in North America, implicit assumptions such as “learners are white” and “teachers are Japanese speakers of the standard Japanese language” have long been normalized. These assumptions not only marginalize diverse learner populations but also obscure the linguistic, cultural, and historical diversity of Japanese society, including the Ryukyuan and Okinawan communities, the Ainu, Zainichi Koreans, and speakers of regional varieties.

Drawing on my positionality as a Japanese language educator and a third-generation Zainichi Korean, this talk critically examines how “Japan” is represented in Japanese language textbooks and how historical contexts behind these images are selectively framed or erased. For example, while Shinto shrines are commonly portrayed as peaceful and culturally neutral spaces, the historical reality that large numbers of shrines were constructed in colonial territories and that shrine worship was enforced as part of Japan’s imperial assimilation policies (Nakajima 2010) is frequently absent from instructional materials.

The talk also addresses contemporary debates surrounding assessment practices grounded in notions of “correct” or “standard” pronunciation. Situating these practices within the historical context of the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake—when “tameshi kotoba (test words) (Yamamoto 2022)” were used to identify and ultimately lead to the killing of thousands of Koreans, as well as people from northeastern Japan, Okinawa, and deaf individuals—this talk argues that assessment methods based on standard-language ideologies of “correctness” require urgent reexamination.

Centering learners’ voices that have been overlooked, this keynote calls for a critical engagement with the non-neutrality of language education and teaching materials. It concludes by exploring pathways toward the decolonization and reconstructing of Japanese language education, inviting participants to reflect collectively on more ethical, inclusive, and socially responsible pedagogical futures.

北米の日本語教育においては、「学習者＝白人」「教師＝標準語話者の日本人」といった実態と必ずしも一致しないイメージが前提化されることがあり、その結果、多様な学習者の存在が不可視化されるだけでなく、琉球・沖縄の人々やアイヌ、在日コリアン、方言話者など、日本社会の多様性も見えにくくなっています。

日本語教師であり在日コリアン３世という自身の立場から日本語教育を考察すると、日本語教材に描かれる「日本像」や、その背後にある歴史的文脈の扱われ方には、いくつかの課題が見えてきます。例えば、多くの教材では神社が平和的な場所として描かれる一方で、神社が植民地に数多数建立され、皇民化政策の一環として参拝が強制された（Nakajima 2010）歴史は省かれています。

また、近年では「正しい発音」を基準とした学習者の発音を減点する評価方法に批判が集まっていますが、1923年の関東大震災時に「試し言葉」を用いて、結果として何千人もの朝鮮人だけでなく東北・沖縄出身者、聴覚障害者までが殺害された歴史的事例を踏まえても、標準語規範を基盤とする評価の是非は再考されるべきでしょう。

では、学習者たちは標準語規範に基づく評価方法や教材に描かれる「日本」をどのように受け止めているのでしょうか。本講演では、これまで見落とされてきた学習者の声に注目し、教育・教材の非中立性に向き合いながら、日本語教育の脱植民地化とその再構築の可能性を皆さんと一緒に考えていきたいと思います。