What role does identity play in foreign policy? How might identity impact on Japan's relations with South Korea? This book takes identity theorizing in International Relations theory a step further by attempting to account for a resilient collective identity that informs policy makers throughout time and space.

Identity has become an explicit focus of International Relations theory in the past two to three decades, with one case attracting and puzzling many early identity scholars: Japan. These constructivist scholars typically ascribed Japan a ‘pacifist’ or ‘antimilitarist’ identity – an identity which they believed was constructed through the adherence to ‘peaceful norms’ and ‘antimilitarist culture’. Due to the alleged resilience of such adherences, little change in Japan’s identity and its international relations was predicted. However, in recent years, Japan’s foreign and security policies have begun to change, in spite of these seemingly stable norms and culture. This book seeks to address these changes through a pioneering engagement with recent developments in identity theory. In particular, most chapters theorize identity as a product of processes of differentiation. Through detailed case analysis, they argue that Japan’s identity is produced and reproduced, but also transformed, through the drawing of boundaries between ‘self’ and ‘other’. In particular, they stress the role of emotions and identity entrepreneurs as catalysts for identity change. With the current balance between resilience and change, contributors emphasize that more drastic foreign and security policy transformations might loom just beyond the horizon. This book was originally published as a special issue of The Pacific Review.

Grounded in extensive empirical research, Danger, Development and Legitimacy in East Asian Maritime Politics addresses the major issues of geopolitics in the region that have been and will continue to shape the international politics of the Asia-Pacific for years to come. Covering the nation-states of China, Japan and South Korea, it includes an examination of the key island disputes, as well as analysis of the North Korea–South Korea clashes in the Yellow Sea, controversies in Japan’s relations with both Koreas and the so-called ‘history disputes’, including recognition of World War II atrocities across the region. In doing so, this book explores a range of themes from the ecological environment to the globalized nature of shipping and therein links the East Asian maritime sphere directly to the dynamics and developments in the domestic politics of each country. Thus, it serves to demonstrate how several controversial debates in the international politics of the Asia-Pacific are ultimately and inextricably intertwined. A timely contribution that furthers our understanding of contemporary politics of the Asia-Pacific, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Asian politics, international relations and the Asia-Pacific region in general.

This book explores the ways in which memory sites contribute to the dynamics of identity-based conflicts, fueling fears and sharpening divisions, or promoting commonalities and reducing violence. Through an analysis of the dynamics of identity-based conflicts, the book shows how memory sites become intertwined with the transformations of social boundaries and perceptions of relative deprivation, outgroup threat, collective axiology, and power relations. It posits that these two sets of factors – the functioning of collective memory as an ideological construct and the transformation of conflictual social relations – define the role and influence of memory sites in the dynamics of identity-based conflicts. Through multiple case studies representing different dynamics – dealing with fascist and communist pasts in Italy, post-colonial relations between South Korea and Japan, ethnic conflict in Kosovo, and tribal acknowledgment for Native American Nations – the book discusses how memory sites contribute to competition over ownership, fights for legitimacy, claims of entitlements, and negative portrayals of the Other. In doing so, it outlines four major functions of memory sites – enhancing, ascribing, interacting, and legitimizing – and shows how they contribute to and shape the structure and dynamics of conflict. Concentrating on the linkages between memory sites, violence prevention, and reconciliation, the book proposes solutions for promoting peace, including the focus on plurality of heritage, recognition of fluidity of meanings, and resistance to singular interpretations and manipulations by identity entrepreneurs. This volume will be of much interest to students of peace and conflict studies, memory studies, and International Relations in general.

Combining practical and theoretical approaches, this book addresses the political, legal and economic implications of maritime disputes in East Asia. The maritime disputes in East Asia have multiplied over the past few years, in parallel with the economic growth of the countries in the region, the rise of nationalist movements, fears and sometimes fantasies regarding the emergence of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a global power, increasing military expenses, as well as speculations regarding the potential resources in various disputed islands. These disputes, however, are not new and some have been the subject of contention and the cause of friction for decades, if not centuries in a few cases. Offering a robust analysis, this volume explores disputes through the different lenses of political science, international law, history and geography, and introduces new approaches in particular to the four important disputes concerning Dokdo/Takeshima, Senkaku/Diaoyu, Paracels and Spratlys. Utilising a comparative approach, this book identifies transnational trends that occur in the different cases and, therefore, at the regional level, and aims to understand whether the resurgence of maritime disputes in East Asia may be studied on a case by case basis, or should be analysed as a regional phenomenon with common characteristics. This book will be of interest to students of Asian Politics, Maritime Security, International Security, Geopolitics and International Relations in general.

Japan is a mix of the old and the new, traditional and modern, and old fashion and innovative. It has traveled the road to a modern destination without totally losing sight of its traditions and values. Although some in Japan lament the passing of old ways, Japan has held on to a reasonable amount of its traditions and values. This is easier to find in its arts and crafts and its literature and films as well as in its social habits. This book will introduce the broad sweep of people, events, and trends, including the successes and failures, of postwar Japan. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Postwar Japan contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 500 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Japan.