Japan's Postwar Military and Civil Society: Contesting a Better Life (SOAS Studies in Modern and Contemporary Japan)

"Japan's so-called 'peace constitution' renounces war as a sovereign right of the nation, and bans the nation from possessing any war potential. Yet Japan also maintains a large, world-class military organization, namely the Self-Defence Forces (SDF). In this book, Tomoyuki Sasaki explores how the SDF enlisted popular support from civil society and how civil society responded to the growth of the SDF. Japan's Postwar Military and Civil Society details the interactions between the SDF and civil society over four decades, from the launch of rearmament in 1950. These interactions include recruitment, civil engineering, disaster relief, anti-SDF litigation, state financial support for communities with bases, and a fear-mongering campaign against the Soviet Union. By examining these wide-range issues, the book demonstrates how the militarization of society advanced as the SDF consolidated its ideological and socio-economic ties with civil society and its role as a defender of popular welfare. While postwar Japan is often depicted as a peaceful society, this book challenges such a view, and illuminates the prominent presence of the military in people's everyday lives."--Bloomsbury Publishing. Cover page 1 Halftitle page 2 Series page 3 Title page 4 Copyright page 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of Tables and Maps 10 Abbreviations 11 Maps 12 Acknowledgments 14 INTRODUCTION Militarization in Democracy 16 The Peace Constitution and rearmament 16 Militarization as a useful concept 21 The SDF in Hokkaido and the US forces in Okinawa 24 Democracy as a background 26 Organization of the book 30 1 A Promised Opportunity: The Self-Defense Forces in the Labor Market 34 Absorbing surplus population 35 Recruitment since the 1960s: old and new trends 47 Building a network 50 The volunteer army in capitalism 55 Conclusion 64 2 Becoming an Army for the People: The Self-Defense Forces in Hokkaido Communities 66 The idea of an army for the people 67 Colonial Hokkaido 72 Building and rescuing Hokkaido 75 Becoming service members 85 Settling service members in Hokkaido 89 Conclusion 97 3 Peace in Dispute: Anti-Military Litigation and the Constitutionality of the Self-Defense Forces 100 The Eniwa case 101 Conceptualizing the right to live in peace 106 The Naganuma case 111 The aft ermath: the ruling reversed 118 Conclusion 121 4 Overcoming Crises: The Emergence of the Defense Facilities Administration Agency 122 The Defense Facilities Administration Agency as a mediator 123 The New Improvement Law 128 Military town Chitose 134 Toward “harmony” and the institutionalization of objection 141 Conclusion 146 5 “The Threat from the North”: Fear-Mongering and the Making of Military Base Hokkaido 148 Formation of the northern threat 149 Reinforcing defense autonomy, silencing Hokkaido 155 A right-wing turn in national politics 161 Military base Hokkaido 165 Conclusion 170 CONCLUSION Where is Militarization Headed? 172 Notes 180 Bibliography 200 Index 218 Tomoyuki Sasaki. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 185-202) And Index.