Beyond Kikokushijo: Teaching English in Japan After Growing Up Between Languages and Cultures. 
Edited by Aiko Minematsu, Risa Ikeda, and Maki Yazaki (Life and Education in Japan Series)
Available for order from 10th September, 2026

Book launch! Meet the authors and get a chance to win a free copy of the book.
Date & Time: Sunday, September 20, 2026, 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Venue: Vision Center Ichigaya (Tokyo) 1202 (Floor 12)
Format: Hybrid (In-person or Online)
Fee: No charge. This is a free event.
Registration form: https://forms.gle/B84z8vyBPoHN5QMfA
Flyer designed and created by Yuzuki Miyagi @yudu.kn10
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Beyond Kikokushijo: Teaching English in Japan After Growing Up Between Languages and Cultures is written by English language teachers working in Japan whose lives and professional identities extend beyond familiar labels such as native speaker, non-native speaker, Japanese teachers of English, and kikokushijo (meaning “returnee student” in Japanese). Through a series of deeply personal narratives, the contributors explore the complexities of growing up across languages and cultures, navigating educational systems, and finding their place within the English language teaching profession in Japan. Their stories reveal not only the challenges of living between worlds, but also the unique strengths, insights, and pedagogical approaches that emerge from multilingual and transnational experiences.
 
More than a collection of individual stories, this volume is the product of two years of collaborative reflection and dialogue within the TOMATO (Teachers Of Multilingual And Transnational Orientation) group. The authors' collective journey demonstrates the transformative power of sharing lived experiences, challenging entrenched assumptions, and building supportive professional communities. This book is relevant to teachers, teacher educators, researchers, school leaders, students, and anyone interested in language learning, teacher identity, transnationalism, and multilingualism in education. The narratives invite readers to reconsider who language teachers are, how professional knowledge is formed, and how multilingual and transnational experiences can enrich the understanding of language teaching and learning.

Endorsements

“Teaching English was considered the prerogative of a monolingual Japanese English teacher until relatively recently. Japanese teachers knew how to teach grammar and English to Japanese translation, which were essential in passing entrance examinations. It was actually only from the beginning of this century (cf. Prime Minister's Commission on Japan's Goals in the 21st Century) that Japanese teachers became required to teach English in English, and, for the first time, kikokushijo became valued not only for their proficiency in English, but also for the diversity of experiences they had acquired while living and studying abroad. Beyond Kikokushijo: Teaching English in Japan After Growing Up Between Languages and Cultures is a testimony of the variety of experiences the authors lived through and the invaluable contributions they are now providing their students in this era of diversity.”
—Kensaku Yoshida, Professor Emeritus, Sophia University

“Beyond Kikokushijo is the game changer! Through amazing stories, we see how a culturally complex upbringing can impact children and shape their adult lives both personally and professionally. But it is more. These stories are also a wake-up call. In them we face the truth that at a time when culturally fluid childhoods are becoming the ‘new normal’ for many,  the simplistic terms by which we have easily identified ourselves and others in the past are no longer adequate for the present and future. Time for new language!”
—Ruth E. Van Reken, co-author of Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds and co-founder of Families in Global Transition

“Beyond Kikokushijo beautifully illustrates that teachers' lived experiences are not simply background to their practice—they are a powerful source of pedagogical insight, professional agency, and collective knowledge-making. This is an important book for anyone seeking to understand the richness and complexity of multilingual and transnational language teaching.”
—Erin Kearney, Professor, State University of New York at Buffalo 

“One can imagine how the writing and publishing of this book is itself a form of knowledge-making and professional development enterprise. The authors would have gained valuable knowledge on how to narrate their stories in strategic ways to facilitate theorization, and on how to navigate the scholarly and publishing networks to find a space for their own experiences and insights. This book portends the beginnings of larger changes, where such resistant narratives and trans knowledge might democratize academic scholarship and publishing to make spaces for minoritized communities. This is an example worthy of emulation by other minoritized professionals and communities toward critical scholarship and pedagogy!” (Foreword, p.15)
—Suresh Canagarajah, Evan Pugh University Professor, Pennsylvania State University

Upcoming events and presentations

The official launch will take place as a free hybrid event in Tokyo:
Some of the contributing authors and editors will present at the Association of Sophian Teachers of English (ASTE) meeting on October 17, 2026.

Satomi Hosoi and Aiko Minematsu will run a workshop for secondary school teachers based on their chapter at the Association of Sophian Teachers of English (ASTE) meeting on January 23, 2027. 

Contents

  • Foreword. On the Power of Trans Identities by Suresh Canagarajah​​

Part 1: Introduction and Overview
  • Chapter 1. Introduction: Why “Beyond Kikokushijo”? by Maki Yazaki
  • Chapter 2. Transnational and Multilingual Language Teachers: Why Their Stories Matter by Aiko Minematsu

Part 2: Teacher Narratives
  • Chapter 3. Pedagogical Grammar Under Pressure: Narratives of Two Kikokushijo Teachers by Satomi Hosoi and Aiko Minematsu
  • Chapter 4. Transnational Teachers in Japanese Secondary Schools: Three Stories by Melvin Lai, Daisuke Miyahira, and Miyuki Akamatsu  
  • Chapter 5. Neither, Both, and Becoming a Teacher: The Unseen Hard Work Behind ‘Having It Easy’ by Sachiko Nakagome
  • Chapter 6. Educational Ecosystems in Classrooms: What Makes Good Soil for Multilingual and Transcultural Empowerment? by Maki Yazaki
  • Chapter 7. When Personal Becomes Pedagogical: Integrating Lived Experience Into Teaching Practice by Sumire Hayashi​

Part 3: Collective Narrative and Reflections
  • Chapter 8. Work-Related Struggles as Transnational and Multilingual Language Teachers by Risa Ikeda
  • Chapter 9. Collective Reflections by Contributing Authors and Editors

Publication details

Publication date: September 20, 2026
Series: Life and Education in Japan
Series editors: Melodie Cook and Anne Howard
ISBN (Print): 9798171867911 
​ISBN (ebook): 9798235451360
DOI: https://doi.org/10.47908/47
Ebook, $19.99 [Available from Smashwords, Amazon Kindle, Apple, Kobo, other ebook stores, and e-libraries]
Print book, approx. 250 pages, $29.99 [Will be available from Amazon and other online booksellers]
Audio book, $9.99 [Will be available to purchase in our online store https://payhip.com/CandlinMynard]