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Lecture

Explaining Japan’s security policies: Threat or norms?

Add to calendar 2025-05-06 14:00 2025-05-06 15:30 Europe/Rome Explaining Japan’s security policies: Threat or norms? Sala Belvedere Villa Schifanoia YYYY-MM-DD
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Scheduled dates

May 06 2025

14:00 - 15:30 CEST

Sala Belvedere, Villa Schifanoia

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Join Chikako Ueki as she analyses whether Japan’s shift in security strategy stems from threat perceptions or changes in pacifist norms.

What shapes Japan’s security policy—threat perceptions or norms? Scholars have long debated why Japan's security policies have remained restrained. Some argue that it is due to a lack of perceived threat, while others point to the influence of pacifist norms.

This talk traces the evolution of Japan’s threat perception towards China and argues that the 2022 shift in Japan’s security strategy can be attributed to a reassessment of China as a threat. By 2021, Japanese policymakers perceived that China possessed both the capabilities and intentions to harm Japan’s core national interests. At the same time, Japan acknowledged that many of its means were no longer effective in curbing China’s aggressive behavior. This realisation led to the formation of a full threat perception. In response, Japan changed its security strategy to balance the perceived threat. The alternative explanation, based on shifts in norms, is less compelling. There is little evidence to suggest a shift in Japan’s pacifist norm or that such a shift influenced the security strategy. Although political figures such as Shinzo Abe have attempted to reshape Japan’s identity from an isolationist pacifism to a more proactive, internationalist stance accepting of the use of force, the Japanese public remains opposed to the use of force.

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