ABSTRACT
The end of the cold war and the start of coalition governments in the 1990s have brought to the forefront of domestic as well as international concern the recurring question of Japan’s global role. Although half a century now has passed since the defeat of militarism in 1945, this question still continues to be raised, both inside and outside Japan. True, the spectacular economic development of the nation especially over the past forty years has lifted the vast majority of Japanese people out of the poverty experienced under militarism, at the same time as the government’s export-oriented growth strategy has built up an awareness of the nation’s economic role in the world, with ubiquitous made-in-Japans giving ‘economic superpower’ a concrete meaning to most of us. But the question of Japan’s military role is different: fears of a ‘revival of militarism’, both at home and in other parts of Asia, and international concern over Japan’s possible challenge to the United States as a military as well as an economic rival in the twenty-first century, highlight the continuing ambivalence. This suggests the need to investigate the impact of militarization and demilitarization on Japanese defence and security policies in the post-1945 era. For such an investigation will contribute to a deeper understanding of Japan’s political and military roles in the world, which are not as well understood as its economic role.
