2024 年 33 巻 2 号 p. 15-28
This paper examines the meaning and significance of studying and researching international development in and through Japan as a critical and self-reflective academic and pedagogical practice. This is achieved through the autoethnographic approach, which enables researchers to analyse and interpret the author's personal experience within the context of wider socio-cultural and political-economic structures. In order to gain insight into the emergence of individual experiences and their significance within a larger context, this paper presents and analyses a series of personal experiences of the author across three distinct time-spaces. The initial period under examination is that spent in Japan between the late 1990s and the early 2000s. The second period under consideration is that spent in the United Kingdom between the 2000s and the 2010s. The third period is that spent in South Korea and Japan between the mid-2010s and the present. The objective of analysing the experiences in the UK and South Korea is to highlight the necessity of examining the author's experience from both a Japanese and an international perspective. This allows for a more objective and reflective examination of the author's personal experience in Japan within the context of the international political economy, as well as the demonstration of the significance of studying and researching international development through Japan as method. While the author's personal experiences in diverse time-spaces cannot be directly compared to those of other international students, they can nevertheless contribute to a nuanced understanding of (both the positive and negative aspects of) studying international development in and through Japan.
