Governing Insecurity in Japan: The Domestic Discourse and Policy Response(The University of Sheffield/Routledge Japanese Studies Series)

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.

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

About the Author :
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.