ABSTRACT
This chapter examines why nationalism seems to be on the rise in Asia and beyond at a time when globalization is also becoming more salient, by focusing on the political dynamics that propelled both changes in Japan in the post-Cold War era. The more open and liberal type of nationalism that appeared in Japan in the 1980s to the mid-1990s was followed by an abrupt revisionist backlash in the late 1990s. This illiberal, authoritarian turn in contemporary nationalism was confirmed and accelerated during the premiership of Koizumi Jun’ichiro (2001-2006), when further neoliberal reforms were simultaneously implemented. This chapter, thus, makes the argument that the New Right transformation of Japanese politics-the combined ascendancy of economic liberalism and political illiberalism-is the driving force of contemporary nationalism in Japan.
