Dear colleagues,

It is my pleasure to inform you about the June meeting of the Kansai Modern Japan Group. The lecture is in English, the comments and discussion either in English or Japanese, all interested are welcome.

Please take note of the fact that our Osaka venue has shifted from the third Eki-mae biru to the second Ekimae biru.

Here are the data:

SPEAKER: Paul Midford (NTNU, Trondheim)
TITLE: Rethinking Japanese Public Opinion and Security:
>From Pacifism to Realism?
DISCUSSANT: tba
DATE: Tuesday 21 June
TIME: 18:30
PLACE: Osaka City University Bunka Koryu Sentaa on the 6th floor of Osaka Eki-mae Biru (Building) 2. It is the middle of the 3 eki-mae buildings. The Center is located in southeast corner. You can find a map at http://www.osaka-cu.ac.jp/info/commons/access-umeda.htm
l It is within walking distance from (in order of proximity) JR Kita Shinchi Station, Yotsubashi-sen Nishi-Umeda Station, Tanimachi-sen Higashi-Umeda Station, Hanshin Umeda station, JR Osaka Station, Midosuji-sen Umeda Station and Hankyu Umeda Station.

Our next meeting will be in Kyoto on Wednesday 13 July.
Markus Abe Nornes will speak on calligraphy in Japanese cinema.
Those willing to present at one of our monthly meetings, please send an abstract of the presentation you propose to dick.stegewerns@xs4all.nl

I look forward to welcoming many of you next week.

Best regards,

Dick Stegewerns
Kyoto University & Oslo University

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ABSTRACT:

Rethinking Japanese Public Opinion and Security: From Pacifism to Realism?

This presentation engages claims that since 9/11 Japanese public opinion has turned sharply away from pacifism and toward supporting normalization of Japan's military power, in which Japanese troops would fight alongside their American counterparts in global conflicts. Midford argues that Japanese public opinion has never embraced pacifism. It has, instead, contained significant elements of realism, in that it has acknowledged the utility of military power for defending national territory and independence, but has seen offensive military power as ineffective for promoting other goals - such as suppressing terrorist networks and WMD proliferation, or promoting democracy overseas. Gradually, these realist attitudes have become more evident as the Japanese state has convinced its public that Tokyo and its military can be trusted with territorial defense, and even with noncombat humanitarian and reconstruction missions overseas. On this basis, we should re-conceptualize Japanese public opinion as attitudinal defensive realism. Finally, this presentation considers the evolution of public opinion toward security under DPJ rule.

Paul Midford is Associate Professor of Political Science at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. He specializes in Japanese foreign and defense policies, especially toward Asia, and the impact of public opinion and domestic politics on policy.
Midford is co-editor with Robert Eldridge of 'Japanese Public Opinion and the War on Terrorism' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). His latest book 'Rethinking Japanese Public Opinion and Security: From Realism to Pacifism?' was recently published by Stanford University Press.