Norms and Japan

As raised in Chapter 1, the aim of this book is to examine the oft-described ‘soft’ side of Japan’s participation in PKOs by looking at ideational factors, namely norms, in order to trace the external and internal pressures on the Japanese government and its consequent policy response. Having outlined in Chapter 1 the main approaches to understanding Japan’s international relations in general, and its participation in PKOs specifically, this chapter continues the discussion of norms as introduced to some degree in the Liberal paradigm, but chiefly in the Constructivist paradigm.