Dear SSJ-Forum member,
The Department of East Asian Studies - Japanese Studies at the
University of Vienna would like to draw your attention to the upcoming
hybrid u:japan lecture:

Karin Narita:
"Defending culture, defining politics: Conservatism and the ideological
politics of rearmament in postwar Japan"

Date and time: Thursday, April 25, 2024, 18:00~19:30 (CEST, UTC +2h)

Location: Onsite @ Campus of the University of Vienna Department of East
Asian Studies, Japanese Studies room JAP 1 (2K-EG-21), University Campus
Hof 2.4, Spitalgasse 2, 1090 Vienna, Austria
https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/index.php?id=23548#c646040

Online: Join the lecture via Zoom (no registration necessary):
https://univienna.zoom.us/j/65303003813?pwd=Z21VYytYbG5NWHdUbitqS01kWVozdz09
Meeting-ID: 653 0300 3813 | PW: 996419

Abstract: Japan has long been known for its commitment to a pacifist
foreign policy as stipulated in Article 9 of the post-World War II
constitution. Despite some opposition, for much of Japan's postwar
history there has been a mainstream foreign policy consensus to maintain
a security treaty with the United States and limit rearmament. In the
years since the end of the Cold War, however, there has been a concerted
movement urging constitutional revision in order to legalize
militarisation. This project has been driven by younger, more radical
conservatives at odds with the moderate conservative establishment.
This talk by Karin Narita (University of Sheffield, UK) examines the
rise of a hawkish foreign policy ideology in post-World War II Japan and
traces the intellectual underpinnings of this movement. These ideas can
be traced to the (re)emergence of a reactionary and culturally
traditionalist conservatism which styled itself as the 'New Right'
(Shin-Uyoku) at the height of Japan's postwar economic power. This
intellectual movement located the source of social malaise in Japan's
political and cultural reliance on the US. What ensued was a hawkish
position regarding the role of the Japanese state in international
politics, vis-à-vis the pacifist consensus.
First, drawing on the discourse of conservative political commentators
and ideologues, Karin Narita demonstrates that the arguments for state
power, sovereignty, and rearmament are entrenched in a culturally
particularistic logic. Second, she shows the alliances and divergence
among varying ideological factions and their interlocutors that make up
the politics of rearmament on the Japanese Right.

For more information on the speaker, the lecture and future events at
u:japan, please follow the link below:
https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/

We look forward to your participation!
Christopher Kummer, Florian Purkarthofer, Elisabeth Semmler, Astrid
Unger and Ralf Windhab

PS: If you missed a lecture or want to review, head to our recorded
lectures section:
https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/records/

u:japan lectures
Department of East Asian Studies / Japanese Studies at the University of
Vienna
E-mail: ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at

Kindly sponsored by the Toshiba International Foundation:
https://www.toshibafoundation.com/