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Paper short abstract

This paper examines the pedagogical potential of rural Japan in higher education. What can courses about rural Japan teach both Japanese and non-Japanese students about contemporary Japanese society in general?

Paper long abstract

Rural studies on Japan have seen a boom across disciplines, yet pedagogical aspects remain largely unexplored. This paper examines the pedagogical potential of rural Japan in higher education. What can courses about rural Japan teach both Japanese and non-Japanese students about contemporary Japanese society in general? I will discuss several examples of courses on rural Japan that I have taught over twelve years both in the classroom as well as fieldwork workshops outside of campus that entailed diverse modes of engagement with local communities. Given the recent emergence of concepts such as kankei jinkō (relationship population) and cosmopolitan rurality (Traphagan 2020) that redefine rurality as open, fluid and hybrid, I explore what role “ruralities” (Manzenreiter et al. 2020) may play in expanding students’ learning experiences and understanding of contemporary Japanese society. I will introduce various teaching formats including experiential learning, walking while learning, and collaborative learning. In fact, I make an argument for emphasizing blended learning formats outside of the classroom more in future learning.