Introduction

In this chapter, nationalism and globalization are examined with specific reference to Japan. Here, nationalism is defined as a political principle holding that the political and national unit should be congruent, as a sentiment about that principle, and as a theory of political legitimacy requiring that ethnic boundaries should not cut across political ones (Gellner 1993). Globalization is defined as “the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring miles away and vice versa” (Giddens 1987, p. 64). Japan poses a challenge when examining this subject because it was one of the non-Western countries that made use of nationalism in building its modern, territorial sovereign state and constructing a modern, industrial national economy under the slogan of fukoku kyohei (a rich country and a strong army) (Samuels 1996). While nationalism cements integration within a state by differentiating the inside and the outside, globalization works in the opposite direction. Globalization tends to fracture the national body politic and the national economy by linking some components within with counterparts outside. If Japan was highly successful in mobilizing its populace with nationalist appeals, it should be interesting to consider how Japan may be able to adapt successfully to the forces of globalization with an equal amount of adeptness and adroitness. Before moving on to this subject, it is necessary to give a historical portrayal of Japanese nationalism and how the modern Japanese nation was created and has been maintained till today.

Origins of the Ancient Japanese State

The ancient Japanese state was born and shaped under Chinese influence (Okada, 1994). When the centre of continental East Asia experienced disorder and disintegration, local rulers could claim a modicum of freedom and independence (Yoshida 1998). It was around the seventh century (the time of the Sui and early Tang dynasties in China) when the first ancient Japanese state was recorded in an official Chinese historical document and thus legitimized. Subsequently, the ancient Japanese state, presumably unified with the help of such legitimization, continued to rely on international legitimization by the Chinese imperial state within the Sino-centric order based on the tributary system (Fairbank 1968; Inoguchi 1979; Basabi 1983).