Wilhelm Vosse - Governing Insecurity in Japan: The Domestic Discourse and Policy Response

Since the end of the Cold War, Japans security environment has changed significantly. On the global stage, while the United States is still Japans 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 program and the rise of China. Moreover, Japan has been confronted with new, non-traditional security threats such as international terrorism, the spread of infectious diseases and global environmental threats. On the domestic level, demographic change, neo-liberal economic reforms and globalization all pose a challenge to the sustainability of the current Japanese lifestyle and have led to a heightened sense of insecurity among many Japanese.

Focusing on the domestic Japanese discourse on security, this book expands the standard discussions on security that mostly focus on military security and security in international relations, to include perspectives from domestic security, economic and livelihood security, as well as sociological discussions of risk and risk management. The chapters cover issues such as Japans growing perception of regional and global insecurity; the changing role of military force; the perceived risk of Chinese foreign investment; societal, cultural and labor insecurity and how it is affected by demographic changes and migration; as well as food insecurity and its challenges on health and public policy. In turn, each chapter asks how the Japanese public perceives these insecurities; how these perceptions influence the public discourse; who the main stakeholders of this discourse are; and how this affects statesociety relations and decisions on government policy in Japan.

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

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.

Sheffield Centre for Japanese Studies/Routledge series

Celebrating 50 Years of Japanese Studies at the University of Sheffield, 19632013

Series editor: Glenn D. Hook

Professor of Japanese Studies, University of Sheffield

This series, published by Routledge in association with the Centre for Japanese Studies at the University of Sheffield, both makes available original research on a wide range of subjects dealing with Japan and provides introductory overviews of key topics in Japanese Studies.

The Internationalization of Japan
Edited by Glenn D. Hook and Michael Weiner

Race and Migration in Imperial Japan
Michael Weiner

Japan and the Pacific Free Trade Area
Pekka Korhonen

Greater China and Japan
Prospects for an economic partnership?
Robert Taylor

The Steel Industry in Japan
A comparison with the UK
Hasegawa Harukiyo

Race, Resistance and the Ainu of Japan
Richard Siddle

Japans Minorities
The illusion of homogeneity
Edited by Michael Weiner

Japanese Business Management
Restructuring for low growth and globalization
Edited by Hasegawa Harukiyo and Glenn D. Hook

Japan and Asia Pacific Integration
Pacific romances 19681996
Pekka Korhonen

Japans Economic Power and Security
Japan and North Korea
Christopher W. Hughes

Japans Contested Constitution
Documents and analysis
Glenn D. Hook and Gavan McCormack

Japans International Relations
Politics, economics and security
Glenn D. Hook, Julie Gilson, Christopher W. Hughes and Hugo Dobson

Japanese Education Reform
Nakasones legacy
Christopher P. Hood

The Political Economy of Japanese Globalisation
Glenn D. Hook and Hasegawa Harukiyo

Japan and Okinawa
Structure and subjectivity
Edited by Glenn D. Hook and Richard Siddle

Japan and Britain in the Contemporary World
Responses to common issues Edited by Hugo Dobson and Glenn D. Hook

Japan and United Nations Peacekeeping
New pressures, new responses
Hugo Dobson

Japanese Capitalism and Modernity in a Global Era
Re-fabricating lifetime employment relations
Peter C. D. Matanle

Nikkeiren and Japanese Capitalism
John Crump

Production Networks in Asia and Europe
Skill formation and technology transfer in the automobile industry
Edited by Rogier Busser and Yuri Sadoi

Japan and the G7/8
19752002
Hugo Dobson

The Political Economy of Reproduction in Japan
Between nation-state and everyday life
Hiroko Takeda

Grassroots Pacifism in Post-War Japan
The rebirth of a nation
Mari Yamamoto

Interfirm Networks in the Japanese Electronics Industry
Ralph Paprzycki

Globalisation and Women in the Japanese Workforce
Beverley Bishop

Contested Governance in Japan
Sites and issues
Edited by Glenn D. Hook

Japans International Relations
Politics, economics and security Second edition
Glenn D. Hook, Julie Gilson, Christopher W. Hughes and Hugo Dobson

Japans Changing Role in Humanitarian Crises
Yukiko Nishikawa

Japans Subnational Governments in International Affairs
Purnendra Jain

Japan and East Asian Monetary Regionalism
Towards a proactive leadership role?
Shigeko Hayashi

Japans Relations with China
Facing a rising power
Lam Peng-Er

Representing the Other in Modern Japanese Literature
A critical approach
Edited by Rachael Hutchinson and Mark Williams

Myth, Protest and Struggle in Okinawa
Miyume Tanji

Nationalisms in Japan
Edited by Naoko Shimazu

Japans Security Policy and the ASEAN Regional Forum
The search for multilateral security in the Asia-Pacific
Takeshi Yuzawa

Global Governance and Japan
The institutional architecture
Edited by Glenn D. Hook and Hugo Dobson

Japans Middle East Security Policy
Theory and cases
Yukiko Miyagi

Japans Minorities
The illusion of homogeneity Second edition
Edited by Michael Weiner

Japan and Britain at War and Peace
Edited by Nobuko Kosuge and Hugo Dobson

Japans National Identity and Foreign Policy
Russia as Japans other
Alexander Bukh

Japanese Cinema and Otherness
Nationalism, multiculturalism and the problem of Japanesenesss
Mika Ko

Asian Regionalism and Japan
The politics of membership in regional diplomatic, financial and trade groups
Shintaro Hamanaka

Decoding Boundaries in Contemporary Japan
The Koizumi administration and beyond
Edited by Glenn D. Hook

Japans International Relations
Politics, economy and security Third edition
Glenn D. Hook, Julie Gilson, Christopher W. Hughes and Hugo Dobson