Critical race theory (CRT) and the framework of microaggressions has been used to analyze concepts such as majority power, discrimination, and the marginalization of minority groups. This study focuses on the application of CRT and microaggressions analysis to examine issues of ethnic discrimination in contemporary Japan. Within Japanese society and its ethnic hierarchy the minority group known as “Zainichi” Koreans are struggling with prejudice and challenging their status as a marginalized group. Even the Japanese term Zainichi, meaning “living in Japan,” reflects their separation from mainstream Japanese society. Koreans are the largest ethnic minority in contemporary Japan as a direct result of Japan’s colonization of Korean Peninsula from 1910-1945. Japan tends to be perceived as homogenous country; however looking deeper, a diverse ethnic presence can be seen. There is a strong ethnic hierarchy in Japan and constant underlying ethnic discrimination that targets minority groups. What issues do ethnic minorities face living in Japan, and why? This paper illuminates the Zainichi Korean struggle, how ethnic microagressions occur within Japanese society, and how CRT can be effectively applied to this case and potentially, other circumstances of discrimination based on ethnic difference.

This paper is a means of exploring how neoliberal education reforms have been implemented and what issues remain in education development as a product of those reforms. To examine neoliberal education reforms, this paper explores how international organizations such as the World Bank and international discourses in the international community influence education development and require developing countries to implement neoliberal reforms. I look to the work of Martin Carnoy (1995) "Structural adjustment and the changing face of education," which categorizes the responses to neoliberal education reforms: competitiveness-driven reform, equity-driven reform, and financial-driven reform, as the theoretical framework. Chilean higher education reforms are analyzed as a case study. The paper concludes that neoliberal education reforms expanded the number of higher education institutions and achieve efficiency and effectiveness in higher education; however, public universities have lost their autonomy and access inequity and quality assurance of higher education have been remained.