Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Japanese Higher Education: A Policy Triangle Analysis

ABSTRACT This study examines the implementation of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in Japanese higher education through a systematic review of DEI‐related governmental policies and projects, institutional declarations and organizational arrangements of university DEI centres. Drawing on the Policy Triangle Framework, the analysis reveals that DEI in Japan has increasingly gained prominence in policy rhetoric and institutional branding, driven by global policy diffusion and national governmental agendas. However, DEI implementation remains constrained by structural characteristics of Japanese higher education governance, notably top‐down agenda setting combined with soft, non‐coercive implementation mechanisms. Consequently, DEI initiatives tend to prioritize visibility, numerical targets and project‐based activities over substantive structural reforms addressing systemic inequalities, positioning DEI as a pragmatic institutional survival strategy rather than a transformative agenda. The study contributes to the literature by illustrating how global DEI discourses are selectively localized within the Japanese context, highlighting both the utility and limitations of applying Western‐origin frameworks in non‐Western contexts.