The Narrative Construction of Japan's Security Policy

Despite being the world’s third largest economy and among the top-10 spenders on defence, and having adopted an increasingly muscular international stance, Japan’s security policy receives surprisingly little attention.

Moreover, the prevailing view that China’s rise and North Korea’s behaviour caused Japanese remilitarisation is overly simplistic.

Drawing on 25-years of research and 25 peer-reviewed journal articles on the topic, I plan to write a book analysing how dominant narratives have shaped Japanese security policy and how certain events and actors have been widely portrayed as watershed events or threats.

I will also examine how some actors and narrators became broadly viewed as security experts, while others were seen as amateurs or even traitors.

My book fills a gap in the literature and the editors of a Stanford University Press book series have invited me to submit a book proposal, which they are currently reviewing.

The book contributes theoretically by establishing how narratives intersect with emotions, reinforcing or undermining a sense of ontological security.

Empirically, it contributes by providing a more complex and nuanced analysis of Japan’s security policy, moving away from the binary view either that it is constrained by pacifism or that remilitarisation has changed Japan beyond recognition.

I plan to write the proposed book during a sabbatical spent at Waseda University and Cornell University, and apply for funding to cover all related costs.