Racialized encounters in Japanese EFL classrooms: an autoethnography

Race surfaces in small, everyday moments in Japanese EFL classrooms, and my experiences in private eikaiwa (English conversation) schools make this especially clear. Drawing on autoethnographic reflections, I examine several classroom incidents to show how racial assumptions, institutional responses, and routine teaching practices intersect. Patterns of colorism, expectations about who an English teacher should be, and the emotional labor of navigating these encounters run throughout this analysis. These experiences point to gaps in institutional support for intercultural education and highlight the need for more reflective pedagogical practice. This study also raises questions for teacher preparation and curriculum design, and it suggests policy changes that could strengthen diverse representation in English language education in Japan.