Temporal Identities and Security Policy in Postwar Japan

Description

Through a discourse analysis of Japanese parliamentary debates, this book explores how different understandings of Japan’s history have led to sharply divergent security policies in the postwar period, whilst providing an explanation for the much-debated security policy changes under Abe Shinzō. Analyzing the ways identities can be constructed through ‘temporal othering,’ as well as ‘spatial othering,’ this book examines the rise of a new form of identity in Japan since the end of the Cold War, one that is differentiated not from prewar and wartime Japan, but from postwar Japan. The champions of this identity, it argues, see the postwar past as a shameful period, characterized by self-imposed military restrictions, and thus the relentless chipping away of these limitations in recent years is indicative of how dominant this identity has become. Exploring how these military restrictions have shifted from being a symbol of pride to a symbol of shame, this book demonstrates the concrete ways in which the past can both enable and constrain policy. Temporal Identities and Security Policy in Postwar Japan will be invaluable to students and scholars of Japanese politics and foreign policy, as well as international relations more generally. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures Series editor’s preface Preface and acknowledgments List of abbreviations 1 Introduction and theory Abstract Postwar Japan: Exceptional or abnormal? Norm constructivism Relational constructivism Research question Temporal othering Multiple competing discourses and identities The Yoshida Doctrine discourse The neutralist discourse The normal nation discourse Theoretical concepts Contingency, discourse, and power Hegemony Dislocation and change Methodology Limiting the data The structure of the book Note References 2 Two competing security discourses, 1945–1960 Abstract The birth of the postwar Japanese ‘peace state’ Dislocation and discursive struggle for hegemony Yoshida Shigeru: The architect of ‘new’ Japan The Yoshida Doctrine as a discourse The neutralist discourse The Peace Issues Symposium Neutrality at the political level The neutralist discourse and the 1960 Security Treaty revision Antagonistic relations between the discourses Conclusion Notes References 3 Hypothetical enemies, 1960–1970 Abstract Historical background: The designation of hypothetical enemies in prewar Japan The hypothetical enemy taboo in the postwar period Hypothetical enemies vs. deterrence The effect of the hypothetical enemy taboo on security policy Othering the otherer: Temporal othering as benign or malign? Conclusion Notes References 4 The historic experiment: Refusing to become a great military power, 1970–1980 Abstract Entering a new decade of prosperity The ‘historical inevitability’ of turning economic power into military power Alleviating remilitarization fears Rich nation, weak army Identity and restrictions on security policy Restrictions on defense in the Cold War Making sense of the restrictions Conclusion Notes References 5 The emergence of the normal nation discourse, 1980–1990 Abstract Nakasone Yasuhiro and the normal nation discourse The Soviet Union as a hypothetical enemy The military great power revisited A new mode of temporal othering Conclusion Notes References 6 Discursive rise and fall, 1990–2000 Abstract Japan’s response to the Gulf War The dislocation of the ‘Gulf War trauma’ International contribution Ozawa Ichirō’s vision of a normal Japan The Ozawa Report Blueprint for a New Japan The aftermath of the Ozawa Report The demise of the neutralist discourse Embracing the international contribution narrative Conclusion Notes References 7 Japan as a responsible member of the international community, 2000–2010 Abstract Japan’s response to 9/11 Using the Preamble Becoming responsible Discrediting the Yoshida Doctrine The rise of spatial othering in the 2000s Spatial othering of North Korea Securitization of the North Korean threat Spatial othering of China in the 2000s The China opportunity The China threat Spatial othering: A symptom of temporal othering Conclusion Notes References 8 Breaking out of the postwar regime, 2010–2019 Abstract Strengthening the normal nation discourse under the Abe Doctrine Abe’s temporal othering of postwar Japan Security changes and collective self-defense The Diet debate: The opposition camp Collective self-defensewill destroy Japan’s pacifism and lead to war Spatiotemporal othering of the Abe camp The Diet debate: The Abe camp Rearticulating the ‘peace state’ The peace state and historical revisionism The peace state and the use of force A new peace state Temporal othering revisited Conclusion Notes References 9 Conclusion A lost opportunity? References Index