ABSTRACT
Is Japan a small nation? This question cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” The political system of the Edo period can be defined as a federation of small countries or nations having as its two heads the imperial court and shogunate. The Meiji Revolution has dismantled this system and reconstructed it into a centralised nation-state having the emperor as its pivot. Behind this transformation, Japanese political leaders and people have had a perception of seeing themselves as a “small nation,” facing the threat of Western powers. With this rapid modernisation, the nation followed the example of the Western powers and feigned to be something greater. In this process, Japan itself has become an imperial nation-state, oppressing “small nations” within its territory and outside. Meanwhile, there has been a handful people resisting this tendency and advocating the concept of small nation. This chapter tries to identify and describe this genealogy. It will also argue that the experience of the “core location,” which can also be found in Japan, has something “universal.”
