ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book sets out to investigate which others Japanese identity has been constructed in relation to in postwar security-related discourses and how this identity concept has influenced Japanese security policy. It demonstrates that peace has always been a highly contested signifier in postwar Japan. The book shows that the normal nation discourse has evolved since the days of Ozawa. Many scholars have at various times highlighted postwar Japan’s role as a model country for other countries to emulate. The book also shows that the Yoshida Doctrine discourse operated with an introverted perspective of peace. The understanding of Japan’s past abstention from military power as something abnormal, moreover, incentivizes the establishment of a ‘more normal’ balance between economic power and military power.
