ABSTRACT
Since the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan made a comeback to power in the general election of 2012, the general situation of politics and economy in Japan has increasingly leaned right and conservative. Under neo-liberal economic policies, severe rationalization has led to forced dismissals and a rising number of temporary workers, swelling the ranks of “internet-café refugees” and homeless. Militaristic security policies continue to force Okinawa to bear the burden of the vast majority of US bases in Japan and furthermore to construct new bases in Okinawa despite Okinawan popular will of “No More Bases”. In line with these disappointments, democratic reformists have gradually lost momentum while the voices of conservatives and nationalists have grown louder. To challenge these realities, contemporary critical geography in Japan needs to suggest radical ways of imagining and producing alternative realities. Focusing on recent developments in critical geography in Japan, this chapter considers how geography matters in contemporary Japanese society, while also searching for potential means of constructing alternative realities.
