Cultural Norms and National Security: Police and Military in Postwar Japan

by Peter J. Katzenstein

Nonviolent state behavior in Japan, this book argues, results from the distinctive breadth with which the Japanese define security policy, making it inseparable from the quest for social stability through economic growth. While much of the literature on contemporary Japan has resisted emphasis on cultural uniqueness, Peter J. Katzenstein seeks to explain particular aspects of Japan's security policy in terms of legal and social norms that are collective, institutionalized, and sometimes the source of intense political conflict and change. Culture, thus specified, is amenable to empirical analysis, suggesting comparisons across policy domains and with other countries.

Katzenstein focuses on the traditional core agencies of law enforcement and national defense. The police and the military in postwar Japan are, he finds, reluctant to deploy physical violence to enforce state security. Police agents rarely use repression against domestic opponents of the state, and the Japanese public continues to support, by large majorities, constitutional limits on overseas deployment of the military.

Katzenstein traces the relationship between the United States and Japan since 1945 and then compares Japan with postwar Germany. He concludes by suggesting that while we may think of Japan's security policy as highly unusual, it is the definition of security used in the United States that is, in international terms, exceptional.

Genres: Japan, History

328 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1996

Reviews

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers a great summary and "cause-effect" explanations of many seemingly disparate historical and policy events during the post-war operation of police and military in Japan. This is an interesting approach, especially for someone who isn't a major in political sciences, like me.
I would certainly recommend this book for a person who seeks to really understand what politicians decisions and the Japanese norm of cooperation and social interaction in everyday life led to the establishment of contemporary SDF and a strong repulsion of war as a method of action. It also shows major difference even in police work, and illustrates the point of general "non-violence" used by Japanese police forces by stating several examples of police actions during terrorist actions, hostage situations and popular unrest.
The downside of the book is that you have to have genuine interest in domestic security policy of Japan, or you will get bored:), and have a little bit of prior knowledge how LDP functions.

[Kajuška]

skimmed for my bachelor's thesis and recording it to account for the time spent reading related material ✨️
anyways, interesting constructivist take on japanese security, the text was a bit repetitive at times but very written in a very approachable language