Teaching Perspectives on Cross-Cultural Psychology and Japanese Society

Abstract

This article discusses educational aspects of cross-cultural psychology in relationship to Japanese society. After exploring the present status of cross-cultural psychology in Japan, the paper delineates the factual, theoretical, and methodological implications of cross-cultural psychology for the teaching of psychology in Japanese universities. It is argued that an area approach incorporating comparative research on Japanese society can add context, detail, historical perspective, new methodology, and interdisciplinary richness to classes otherwise relying on traditional journal articles and textbooks of cross-cultural psychology. Such an approach is deemed useful for cross-cultural psychology classes taking place both inside and outside Japan. The article concludes with an annotated bibliography of research on Japanese society.