The author's main argument, if he has any, is that Japan's nationalism is definitely increasing, which is obvious from this fact and that fact, but don't worry, the US can take advantage of it in some fields while it should keep a cautious eye on it. Unfortunately, this article does not effectively analyze the situation. Instead, he constantly distorts facts, puts unrelated facts together and makes up a story that he hopes is right....
First of all, he starts by giving an example of Japan's reaction to the North Korean spy ship in 2001 to show "Japan's changed attitude toward military affairs." When a Japanese ship chased the NK spy ship, the Japanese certainly shot at and threatened it but according to the official report, the NKoreans destroyed their own ship with explosives before the Japanese caught them. Although nobody else witnessed the scene so you can doubt it if you want, but it is not accurate to say that it was "the first time Japan's navy had sunk a foreign vessel since the end of World War II," and it is rather ridiculous to repeatedly emphasize the significance of this incident. Based on this incident, the author claims that the Japanese no longer show any restraints on their nationalism, and continues by saying, "now Japan is planning to have nuclear weapons!" I do not see any connection between the Japan's reaction to the NK ship and the increasing nationalism in the first place, let alone the clear relationship between nationalism and a decision of going nuke.
In fact, the author does not have a clear idea about what he is talking about--nationalism. He defines nationalism as "the desire to see Japan assume a preeminent global role." Basically, the major problem of this article comes from this vagueness of the definition of nationalism; he attributes pretty much everything to the increasing "nationalism." I do not have time to list up all the misleading lines of argument that he gives, but some of them are downright obnoxious. For example, he sees the increasing expenditures on missile defense is a part of Japan's assertiveness. He believes Tokyo has nuclear ambition and backs this up with nothing but some information from Greenpeace. He also claims that Japan can openly discuss the option to go nuclear, "thanks to North Korea". He also sees Japan's efforts for economic reform as a manifestation of increasing nationalism.
He gives two main factors contributing to the increasing nationalism in Japan. One is a generation of more aggressive-minded people who did not experience WWII. He is right that the young generation has a different mind-set from their grandparents' when it comes to the SDF status and Article 9. However, I really doubt that even the youngest generation seriously considers the nuclear option. As for the attitude toward "nationalism," most people are very aware of "how popular nationalism can evolve into fascism" and scared of it partly by looking at recent US nationalism. The other factor he gives is China's growing economy. A small group of super-conservative people might have had their national pride hurt by it, but the majority is not "resentful" as he says, if "fearful." My observation is that people are not trying to compete with China, but just need to survive under a new situation, and try to find a way of taking advantage of China's growing economy.
Overall, this article does not give any new information to readers but confuses foreign people who are worried about Japanese growing nationalism. There is a new trend of nationalism in Japan but he does not effectively grasp it since his focus is too broad. It seems he thinks the textbook issue is just a trivial problem that "has obscured" the real factors, but it is known from historical facts that nationalism, national pride and national identity are all closely connected to education. I would rather like to read a detailed analysis of textbooks' changing narratives about historical issues.
Posted by sayaka at January 23, 2004 12:16 AM | TrackBack