Professor Lisa Fairbrother

Department of English Studies

This study focuses on issues of equity and inclusion when applying for services online in Japan. Despite the benefits of the rapid development of digitalization, it has been shown that new technologies may have biases embedded in their programming (Rattansi, 2007), which, in some cases, can lead to the denial of access to goods and services, raising serious concerns about issues of equity and exclusion, particularly in linguistically diverse communities. One form that this can take in Japan is the(mis)representation of names originating from different language systems in online digital forms, which can lead to a number of problems when people with ‘non-Japanese’ names attempt to apply for certain services. In the worst cases this can lead to the complete denial of services.

The data used in this study comes from the online comments of Japanese residents with ‘non-Japanese’ names and the experiences they describe, supplemented with follow-up contact. I first outlined the different types of name-related issues, including 1) restrictions based on the types of characters and written scripts used, 2) restrictions on the length of permissible names, 3) restrictions based on name order and spacing, and 4) inconsistencies of name representation among different institutions and businesses. I used Language Management Theory (Fairbrother, Nekvapil & Sloboda 2018), a model used in language planning and policy research, as my analytical framework, to examine how these problems are dealt with. I argued that the burden of trying to gain equal access is unfairly left to the individual, and that ultimately, legislation will be needed to rectify the situation, particularly if immigration to Japan continues to increase. Although my examples were limited to the Japanese context, technology-based issues of equity and inclusion have the potential to arise anywhere, and they highlight the necessity to involve applied linguists at all levels in the development of technology.

Fairbrother, L., Nekvapil, J., & Sloboda, M. (2018). The language management approach: A focus on methodology. Berlin: Peter Lang.

Rattansi, A. (2007). Racism: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Paper presented at the 21^st World Congress of the International Applied Linguistics Association (AILA), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 11-16 August, 2024.