Jan 15, 2026
An English-language article authored by Professor Akinori Seki, President of the Asia Association of Education and Exchange (AAEE), has been published in Bangladesh's leading English daily newspaper, New Age.
In the article, Professor Seki reflects on more than a decade of educational exchange between Japan and Bangladesh, dating back to 2011, and examines the essence of learning in multicultural engagement. He argues that genuine intercultural learning does not begin with teaching others, but rather with listening attentively to people whose historical and cultural backgrounds differ from one's own.
According to Professor Seki, encounters with others provide an opportunity to view one's own culture from the outside, prompting a re-examination of assumptions that often go unquestioned in everyday life. He emphasizes that this shift in perspective is indispensable in increasingly multicultural societies.
The article also addresses the challenges facing Japan in the context of multicultural coexistence. By referring to examples such as Islamic burial practices, Professor Seki cautions against framing cultural differences as issues to be "managed" or "controlled." Instead, he proposes understanding such differences as opportunities for ethical growth, grounded in the imagination of others' dignity and the practice of respect.
Looking toward the future, Professor Seki suggests that societies will not be shaped by how effectively they preserve comfort, but by how courageously they engage with difference. He further underscores that trust across cultures is not built through isolated encounters, but through the steady accumulation of sincere, everyday dialogue.
Concluding his discussion, Professor Seki calls for a vision of society in which people of diverse backgrounds do not merely live side by side, but learn from one another and work together to build a shared future grounded in hope.
The New Age article is available here:
Print edition or text version.
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