Rethinking Japanese Public Opinion and Security: From Pacifism to Realism? (Studies in Asian Security)

273 Pages·2011·3.281 MB·English

by  Paul Midford

Rethinking Japanese Public Opinion and Security
series editors
Muthiah Alagappa
East-West Center
Amitav Acharya Alastair Iain Johnston
American University Harvard University
David Leheny T. V. Paul
Princeton University McGill University
Randall Schweller
Ohio State University
international board
Rajesh M. Basrur Stephan M. Haggard
Nanyang Technological University University of California, San Diego
Barry Buzan G. John Ikenberry
London School of Economics Princeton University
Victor D. Cha Takashi Inoguchi
Georgetown University Chuo University
Thomas J. Christensen Brian L. Job
Princeton University University of British Columbia
Stephen P. Cohen Miles Kahler
The Brookings Institution University of California, San Diego
Chu Yun-han Peter J. Katzenstein
Academia Sinica Cornell University
Rosemary Foot Khong Yuen Foong
University of Oxford University of Oxford
Aaron L. Friedberg Byung-Kook Kim
Princeton University Korea University
Sumit Ganguly Michael Mastanduno
Indiana University, Bloomington Dartmouth College
Avery Goldstein Mike Mochizuki
University of Pennsylvania George Washington University
Michael J. Green Katherine H. S. Moon
Georgetown University; Wellesley College
Center for Strategic and
Qin Yaqing
International Studies
China Foreign Affairs University
Christian Reus-Smit Etel Solingen
Australian National University University of California, Irvine
Varun Sahni Rizal Sukma
Jawaharlal Nehru University CSIS, Jakarta
Wu Xinbo
Fudan University
Studies in Asian Security
a series sponsored by the east-west center
Muthiah Alagappa, Chief Editor
Distinguished Senior Fellow, East-West Center
The Studies in Asian Security book series promotes analysis, understanding,
and explanation of the dynamics of domestic, transnational, and international
security challenges in Asia. The peer-reviewed publications in the Series
analyze contemporary security issues and problems to clarify debates in the
scholarly community, provide new insights and perspectives, and identify new
research and policy directions. Security is defined broadly to include the tra-
ditional political and military dimensions as well as nontraditional dimensions
that affect the survival and well being of political communities. Asia, too, is
defined broadly to include Northeast, Southeast, South, and Central Asia.
Designed to encourage original and rigorous scholarship, books in the
Studies in Asian Security series seek to engage scholars, educators, and prac-
titioners. Wide-ranging in scope and method, the Series is receptive to all
paradigms, programs, and traditions, and to an extensive array of methodolo-
gies now employed in the social sciences.
* * *
The East-West Center promotes better relations and understanding among
the people and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific through
cooperative study, research, and dialogue. Established by the U.S. Congress in
1960, the Center serves as a resource for information and analysis on criti-
cal issues of common concern, bringing people together to exchange views,
build expertise, and develop policy options. The Center is an independent,
public, nonprofit organization with funding from the U.S. government, and
additional support provided by private agencies, individuals, foundations, cor-
porations, and governments in the region.

Rethinking Japanese
Public Opinion and Security
from pacifism to realism?
Paul Midford
sponsored by the east-west center
Stanford University Press • Stanford, California
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
© 2011 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All
rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written
permission of Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Midford, Paul.
Rethinking Japanese public opinion and security : from pacifism to realism? /
Paul Midford.
p. cm. — (Studies in Asian security)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8047-7216-7 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8047-7217-4
(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. National security—Japan—Public opinion. 2. Japan—Military policy—
Public opinion. 3. Public opinion—Japan. I. Title. II. Series: Studies in
Asian security.
UA845.M455 2011
355'.033052—dc22
2010029234
Typeset by Thompson Type in 10.5/13.5 Bembo
To the memory of my father,
Dr. Thomas Arthur Midford

Contents
List of Illustrations xi
Preface xiii
List of Abbreviations xvii
A Note on Japanese Transliteration and Names xviii
1 Introduction 1
2 Public Attitudes, Opinion, and the Conditions for Policy Influence 9
3 Views on the Utility of Military Force and America’s Use of Force 30
4 Reassessing Public Opinion during the Cold War 49
5 The First Gulf War 68
6 International Peacekeeping and the U.S. Alliance in the 1990s 82
7 Japanese Public Opinion and Responses to 9-11
and the Afghan Invasion 110
8 The Iraq War and the SDF 125
9 Reversing Course: An Iraq Syndrome in Japan 146
10 Conclusions 171
Notes 193
Index 237