From Sword to Chrysanthemum: Japan's Culture of Anti-militarism

Berger, Thomas U.

doi:10.2307/2539024

Cited by 175 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Nevertheless, the domestic and international arenas had changed substantially, and so had the outlook of many members of Japan's hegemonic class. A new consensus on Japan's identity and future direction was therefore required (Berger 1993;Katzenstein 1996). The international arena was dominated by the United States, but Japanese elites bent every sinew to maximise the economic benefits whilst minimising the political and military costs of alliance with the US.…”

Section: The Forging Of a Post-war Historic Bloc Via Pacifism Anti-cmentioning

confidence: 99%

US Hegemony and the Origins of Japanese Nuclear Power: The Politics of Consent

Kelly

2013

New Political Economy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:This paper deploys the Gramscian concepts of hegemony and consent in order to explore the process whereby nuclear power was brought to Japan. The core argument is that nuclear power was brought to Japan as a consequence of US hegemony. Rather than a simple manifestation of one state exerting material "power over" another, bringing nuclear power to Japan involved a series of compromises worked out within and between state and civil society in both Japan and the US. Ideologies of nationalism, imperialism and modernity underpinned the process, coalescing in post-war debates about the future trajectory of Japanese society, Japan's Cold War alliance with the US and the role of nuclear power in both. Consent to nuclear power was secured through the generation of a psychological state in the public mind combining the fear of nuclear attack and the hope of unlimited consumption in a nuclearfuelled post-modern world.Key Words: United States; Japan; Atomic; Nuclear; Gramsci; Hegemony; Consent; World Order; Techno-nationalism In the aftermath of the radiation leak at the Fukushima power plant academic work is beginning to emerge seeking to understand why it happened and with what consequences (Carpenter 2012; Kingston 2012). In seeking to contribute to this literature, this paper examines why nuclear power was introduced to Japan in the first place and how it was made possible. Unpacking the process whereby nuclear power was introduced to a country regularly beset by earthquakes and tidal waves reveals a complex politics involving not only commercial but strategic and cultural issues and dynamics as well. Understanding how these elements are connected, how they overlap and meld into one another provides an opportunity to reflect upon the theories, methods and concepts appropriate to the study of (international) political economy.The central argument of the paper is that nuclear power was brought to Japan primarily as a consequence of US hegemony. Following Gramsci, hegemony is understood to involve both the use 2 of coercion and the construction of consensus within and between social groups, including states.

show abstract

Section: The Forging Of a Post-war Historic Bloc Via Pacifism Anti-cmentioning

confidence: 99%

US Hegemony and the Origins of Japanese Nuclear Power: The Politics of Consent

Kelly

2013

New Political Economy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…When defense spending is less than others, the general public does not necessarily see the issue as less important than others. Although the importance of issues does change over time, the Japanese public has quite consistently ascribed the importance of defense spending to their country-specific historical past (Berger, 1993). In post-WWII Japan, the profound distrust of its own military has been continuously reflected in public opinion.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Democratic Representation in Japanese Defense Spending: Does Public Sentiment Really Matter?

Takao¹

2011

ASS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Japan's level of defense spending relative to the size of its economy has been anomalously low among the major industrialized countries. Much of the literature on Japan's national security suggests that antimilitarist public sentiment constraints Japanese defense budgeting. A substantial amount of research is methodologically descriptive and the policy impact of Japanese public opinion is largely presumed but not closely tested. This study tested the relationship between Japanese public opinion and defense spending. In the process of testing, the existing measurement theory, which has accounted for cases in Western Europe and the Unites States, has been found inadequate to explain the Japanese causal link. With the introduction of alternative measurements, this study found that Japanese public opinion does uniquely constrain defense budget decisions. Keywords: Defense spending, Democratic control, Representation, Public preferences, Public opinionFor decades, scholars have been puzzled over Japan's reluctance to become a military power commensurate to its economic capacity. Constructivist scholars emphasize that Japan's post-World War II antimilitarist norms have constrained Japanese national security policy (Beger, 1993;Chai, 1997; Katzenstein & Okawara, 1993). Realist scholars argue that the structural and material forces will outweigh antimilitarist norms (Layne, 1993; Waltz 1993) or utility-driven Japan is riding on the back of the United States for military security (Lind, 2004). Is there any evidence that the structural and material forces have always underlain Japan's antimilitarist norms or have these norms trumped the immediate utility of material forces?This article contributes to the debate by examining the budgetary effects of public opinion, which can be seen as an indicator of antimilitarist norms. It has found that both material calculations and normative considerations significantly affect defense budget decisions, implying that the two modes of influence are not mutually exclusive. It can be assumed that decision-makers routinely reason about both material forces and normative choices. A significant breakthrough for the debate would be to offer evidence as to the ways in which antimilitarist norms interact with material calculations.The study in this article argues that the domestic variable of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)-tied spending (which reflects a widely shared expectation of antimilitarism) and its compliance mechanisms (which serve as the one percent of GDP ceiling) permit a reliable prediction of changes in representative defense budgeting. In its defense spending, the Japanese state is thus weakly autonomous from society. As constructivists suggest, domestic norms and other social structures may be considered as capable of constraining Japan's defense budgeting. This article claims that norms do not have the independent causal effect on defense spending but rather require institutional motives and material factors for policy makers to comply with norms. Greater attention to ...

show abstract

“…The security identity approach examines the way norms of anti-militarism have been embedded in domestic political institutions and political discourses, and thus, the way this anti-militarist identity has produced a greater amount of continuity between the Cold War and post-cold war world than realists are willing to admit (Berger, 1993(Berger, , 1996(Berger, , 1998(Berger, , 2007Katzenstein, 1996;Oros, 2008). The security identity literature examines the way anti-militarist ideas, formed under the aegis of US extended deterrence through the 1950s and 1960s, and embedded through the Yoshida consensus, has formed an anti-militarist security identity.…”

Section: Prior Approaches To Japanese Defense Policy and Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political Strategy, Leadership, and Policy Entrepreneurship in Japanese Defense Policy and Politics: A Comparison of Three Prime Ministerships

Clausen¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

From Sword to Chrysanthemum: Japan's Culture of Anti-militarism

Cited by 175 publications

References 34 publications

US Hegemony and the Origins of Japanese Nuclear Power: The Politics of Consent

US Hegemony and the Origins of Japanese Nuclear Power: The Politics of Consent

Democratic Representation in Japanese Defense Spending: Does Public Sentiment Really Matter?

Political Strategy, Leadership, and Policy Entrepreneurship in Japanese Defense Policy and Politics: A Comparison of Three Prime Ministerships

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About