1st Edition

Governing Insecurity in Japan The Domestic Discourse and Policy Response

    198 Pages 9 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    198 Pages 9 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Since the end of the Cold War, Japan's security environment has changed significantly. While, on the global level, the United States is still Japan's most important security partner, the nature of the partnership has changed as a result of shifting demands from the United States, new international challenges such as the North Korean nuclear programme and the rapid rise of China. At the same time, Japan has been confronted with new, ‘non-traditional’ security threats such as international terrorism, the spread of infectious diseases, and global environmental problems. On the domestic level, demographic change, labour migration, economic decline, workplace insecurity, and a weakening impact of policy initiatives challenge the sustainability of the lifestyle of many Japanese and have led to a heightened sense of insecurity among the Japanese public.

    This book focuses on the domestic discourse on insecurity in Japan and goes beyond military security. The chapters cover issues such as Japan’s growing perception of regional and global insecurity; the changing role of military forces; the perceived risk of Chinese foreign investment; societal, cultural and labour insecurity and how it is affected by demographic changes and migration; as well as food insecurity and its challenges to health and public policy. Each chapter asks how the Japanese public perceives these insecurities; how these perceptions influence the public discourse, the main stakeholders of this discourse, and how this affects state-society relations and government policies.

    Governing Insecurity in Japan provides new insights into Japanese and international discourses on security and insecurity, and the ways in which security is conceptualized in Japan. As such, it will be of interest to students and scholars working on Japanese politics, security studies and international relations.

    Introduction, Wilhelm Vosse, Reinhard Drifte, Verena Blechinger-Talcott  Part I: Societal and Individual Dimension 1. Threat Perception and Japan’s Anti-Militarism, Wilhelm Vosse 2. Threats Foreign and Domestic: How the Japanese Public Balances Between the Two, Paul Midford 3. Friend and Foe: Juxtaposing Japan’s Migration Discourses, Gabriele Vogt 4. Can tabukayosei be a Public Philosophy of Integration? A Political-theoretical Perspective on Immigration and Security in Japan, Takashi Kibe 5. Securitizing Food in Japan: Global Crises, Domestic Problems and a Neoliberal State, Hiroko Takeda  Part II: International and Economic Dimension 6. Indispensable Future Workforce or Internal Security Threat? Securing Japan’s Future and Immigration, David Chiavacci 7. Feelings of Insecurity: Japanese Reactions to Chinese Investments in Japan, Reinhard Drifte 8. Effective for Peace? JSDF Peacekeeping Operations since 1992, Garren Mulloy

    Biography

    Wilhelm Vosse is Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the International Christian University, Japan.

    Reinhard Drifte is Emeritus Professor of Japanese Politics at Newcastle University, UK.

    Verena Blechinger-Talcott is Professor in the Department of Japanese Studies at Berlin Free University, Germany.

    "Governing Insecurity in Japan is for those seeking a broader overview of the security challenges Japanese perceive themselves to be facing in the twenty-first century...Governing Insecurity in Japan provides a great breadth of consideration of how Japanese in the 21st century view their and Japan’s security...the volume collectively makes an important and lasting contribution." - Andrew L. Oros, Washington College, Pacific Affairs: Volume 88, No. 4 – December 2015