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The Global Rightist Turn, Nationalism and Japan
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2025
Abstract
This article looks at contemporary Japanese nationalism in the context of growing far-right movements within democratic societies around the world, notably in Europe and North America, and the general rejection of the “happy globalization” narrative that has shaped the international order since the end of the Cold War. Japan, which witnessed the birth of the “borderless world” metaphor in the 1990s, is now contributing in its own way to the early twenty-first century worldwide longing for strong borders and an aggressive military posture. The rise of ultra-conservatism in democratic societies cannot be reduced to a “Western problem”; by taking into account the political transformation of a country such as Japan it is possible to consider a truly global phenomenon with far-reaching consequences.
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References
Notes
1 As David Greenberg noted in Politico in the wake of Donald Trump's election, for months commentators have focused mainly on the man himself, pictured as “a clown, a showman, an opportunist, a faux conservative, a political naïf, and an egomaniac,” but the set of ideas derived from his statements still needed to be located in the political trajectory of the United States: David Greenberg, “An Intellectual History of Trumpism”, Politico, 11 December 2016. While this might take time, at least lexicological definitions have been suggested such as those found in the Collins English Dictionary: “1. The policies advocated by Donald Trump, especially those involving a rejection of the current political establishment and the vigorous pursuit of American national interests 2. A controversial or outrageous statement attributed to Donald Trump”
2 Comparative discussion of both definition and description of these trends is just starting. See for example Carlos de la Torre (ed.), The Promise and Perils of Populism. Global Perspectives, Lexington, University Press of Kentucky, 2015.
3 See Jonathan Haidt, «How Nationalism Beats Globalism», The American Interest, vol. XII, n°.1, September/October 2016.
4 For an early acknowledgement of that trend see Kosuke Mizuno and Pasuk Phongpaichit (eds.), Populism in Asia, Singapore, NUS Press with Kyoto University, 2009.
5 See Uesugi Satoshi, « Nihon ni okeru ‘shūkyō uyoku’ no taitō to ‘tsukuru kai’ ‘nippon kaigi’ », Sensô Sekinin Kenkyû 39, 2003; David McNeill, « Nippon Kaigi and the Radical Conservative Project to Take Back Japan», Asia-Pacific Journal Japan Focus, December 14, 2015 (Volume 13, Issue 50, Number4); Mizohata Sachie, « Nippon Kaigi: Empire, Contradiction, and Japan's Future », Asia-Pacific Journal Japan Focus, November 1, 2016 (Volume 14, Issue 21, Number4).
6 See inter alia William Callahan, «Beyond Cosmopolitanism and Nationalism: Diasporic Chinese and Neo-Nationalism in China and Thailand», International Organization, Vol. 57, No. 3, Summer 2003; Suh Sung, «Japanese Neo-Nationalism and an Idea of an East Asian Community,» Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, volume 6, issue 4, 2006; Nicola Liscutin, ‘Surfing the neo-nationalist wave: a case study of Manga Kenkanryū‘ (2009) in Chris Berry, Nicola Liscutin, and Jonathan Mackintosh (eds) Cultural Studies and Cultural Industries in Northeast Asia: What a Difference a Region Makes, 2009; Jeff Kingston (ed.), Asian Nationalisms Reconsidered, London, Routledge, 2015 and Jeff Kingston (ed.) Nationalism in Japan, Asia-Pacific Journal Japan Focus, Special Feature, October 15, 2016 (Volume 14, Issue 20, Number 3).
7 Kenichi Ohmae, Borderless World, London, Harper Collins, 1990.
8 Cf. Michael Billig, Banal Nationalism, London, Sage, 1995; Kayama Rika, Puchi Nashonarizumu Shōkōgun: Wakamono-tachi no Nipponshugi, Tokyo, Chūō kōron shinsha, 2002; Yuki Honda, « Review: Focusing in on Contemporary Japan's ‘Youth’ Nationalism », Social Science Japan Journal, Vol. 10, n°. 2, October 2007.
9 For contextualization of the Japanese experience with immigration, see Roger Goodman, Ceri Peach, Ayumi Takenaka and Paul White (eds), Global Japan. The Experience of Japan's New Immigrants and Overseas Communities, London, Routledge, 2003.
10 See David McNeill, «History Redux. Japan's Textbook Battle Reignites», JPRI Working Paper n°107, June 2005; Yoshiko Nozaki and Mark Selden, “Japanese Textbook Controversies, Nationalism, and Historical Memory: Intra- and Inter-national Conflicts,” The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol 24-5-09, June 15, 2009 and Koide Reiko, “ Critical New Stage in Japan's Textbook Controversy,” The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 12, Issue 13, No. 1, March 31, 2014.
11 See for example Kamila Szczepanska, The Politics of War Memory in Japan. Progressive Civil Society and Contestation of Memory of the Asia-Pacific War, London, Routledge, 2014.
12 For an analysis of the workings of this specific networking, see Yoojin Koo, “The Tsukurukai's Networking with Politicians: Conservative Diet Members Groups in Japanese Interest Group Politics”, Journal of East Asian Studies, n°12, April 2014.
13 William Callahan, «National Insecurities. Humiliation, Salvation and Chinese Nationalism», Alternatives, n°29, 2004.
14 It is worth noting for example that it was only after Mao's death that a memorial for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre was established, in 1985. Similar memorials, linked to the Second World War, were created much earlier – the French memorial for Jewish victims of the Holocaust was inaugurated in 1956.
15 For an analysis of the normative legacy of the Tokyo Trial, in the management of post-war former Yugoslavia see Neil Boister and Robert Cryer, The Tokyo International Military Tribunal. A Reappraisal, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008.
16 The post-war exploitation of the Tokyo trial's dissenting voices (in particular the Indian judge Radhabinod Pal) and of scholarly works on the shortcomings of the trial (notably Richard Minear's Victor's Justice) by the Japanese neo-nationalist current is significant in that regard. See Nariaki Nakazoto, Neonationalist Mythology in Postwar Japan: Pal's Dissenting Judgment at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, Lanham, Lexington Books, 2016.
17 Ōe Kenzaburō Okinawa nōtō, Tokyo, Iwanami shinsho, 1970.
18 Sono Ayako, Aru shinwa-no haikei, Tokyo, Bungei Shunjū, 1973.
19 Whereas critical thinking about Japan's role in the Pacific War within the American intellectual and academic community and civil society is decades old, the US Administration and Congress's expression of disapproval towards Japanese revisionism is relatively recent and became clearer as historical revisionism grew to the point of being integrated into Japan's official political discourse. But as a Congressional report issued in early 2017 shows, the US position has been an exercise in compromise that could again be reshaped by the Trump Administration. See Congressional Research Service, “Japan-US Relations: Issues for Congress,” February 16, 2017.
20 See Asan Special Forum, «Introduction: Five Pivots to Asia», Asan Forum, January-February 2015, vol. 3, n° 1.
21 Hamashita Takeshi, Chokō shisutēu to kindai ajia, Tokyo, Iwanami Shoten, 1997.
22 See Sven Saaler and Christopher W. A. Szpilman, Pan-Asianism. A Documentary History, 2 volumes, Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield, 2011.
23 Benedict Anderson went as far as to argue that the East/West division is not relevant to characterize different forms of nationalism. See his “Western Nationalism and Eastern Nationalism. Is There a Difference that Matters?”, New Left Review, 9, May-June 2001.
24 Hasegawa Tsuyoshi and Togo Kazuhiko (eds.), East Asia's Haunted Present. Historical Memories and the Resurgence of Nationalism, Westport, Praeger, 2008.
25 It was not until the 1990s and the war in the former Yugoslavia that the United Nations acknowledged the issue of war crimes against women as well as gender-related mass violence. Security Council Resolution 1325 adopted in 2000 is the first to provide a legal framework to prevent sexual violence during conflicts.
26 See Yang Hyunah, “Re-membering the Korean Military Comfort Women”, in Elaine Kim & Choi Chungmoo (eds), Dangerous Women. Gender and Korean nationalism, New York, Routledge, 1998.
27 Hasegawa Tsuyoshi and Togo Kazuhiko (eds.), East Asia's Haunted Present, op. cit.
28 See for example John Hemmings, « Japan-UK Ties and the Quiet Revolution in Japanese Foreign Policy, ISN ETH Zürich, 6 February 2015; Barney Frank, « It's Time to Rearm Germany and Japan », Politico. EU, 22 October 2015.
29 See his best-seller: Ozawa Ichirō, Nihon Kaizō Keikaku, Tokyo, Kodansha, 1993 (translated in English as Blueprint For a New Japan, New York, Kodansha International, 1994)
30 Among others, see the report « Freedom of the Press 2017 » published by Freedom House, which states that « press freedom in the United States and across the world is at its lowest point in 13 years. »
31 David McNeill, “False Dawn: The Decline of Watchdog Journalism in Japan », The Asia-Pacific Journal Japan Focus, October 15, 2016, (Volume 14, Issue 20, Number 2); Jeff Kingston (ed), Press Freedom in Contemporary Japan, London, Routledge, 2017.
32 Valerie Strauss, « Why Americans should care that Hungary is trying to shut down a leading university, » The Washington Post, 24 April 2017.
33 The Abe's government decision in June 2015 to considerably reduce funding for humanities and social sciences triggered a strong protest from the Japanese academic community (see Sawa Takemitsu, the president of Shiga University's testimony: “Humanities under attack,” The Japan Times, 23 August 2015) which in turn engendered some support abroad (see the French Conference of University Presidents' declaration of support: “Les SHS, enjeux de développement économique, sociétal et culturel, » 8 October 2015) This was generally described in the media as a problem confined to Japan (see among others ”Alarm Over Huge Cuts to Humanities and Social Sciences at Japanese Universities, » Time magazine, 16 September 2015).