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Japanese Civil Society, NGOs, and Spatialized Politics: Mobilizing Public Opinion and the War in Iraq

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Japanese Public Opinion and the War on Terrorism

Abstract

Japan in the postwar period has won respect for its economic growth but not trust for its intentions. In nominal terms, Japan’s percentage of the world’s GDP outstrips any other nation in the region, and the new triad of power—aid, trade, and investment—should put it in a strong potential leadership role, but in fact Japan has few followers. Doubts linger as those in policy-making positions as well as those at the fringes of policy-making send out mixed and conflicting signals regarding its intentions and values. Public policy does not exist without a public, and the debate over the nature and values of the public at large cannot be easily categorized although they are easily stereotyped.

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Notes

  1. Two recent works dealing with the concept of small Japanism are: Ide Sonroku, Ishibashi Tanzan to Shokoku Shugi (Ishibashi Tanzan and Small Countryism) (Tokyo: Iwanami Booklet, No. 510, 2000 )

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Authors
  1. Paul D. Scott
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of International Public Policy, Osaka University, Japan

    Robert D. Eldridge (associate professor of Japanese political and diplomatic history and U.S.-Japan relations) (associate professor of Japanese political and diplomatic history and U.S.-Japan relations)

  2. Department of Political Science and Sociology, Trondheim, Norway

    Paul Midford (associate professor, and director of the Japan Program) (associate professor, and director of the Japan Program)

  3. Norwegian University for Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

    Paul Midford (associate professor, and director of the Japan Program) (associate professor, and director of the Japan Program)

Copyright information

© 2008 Robert D. Eldridge and Paul Midford

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Cite this chapter

Scott, P.D. (2008). Japanese Civil Society, NGOs, and Spatialized Politics: Mobilizing Public Opinion and the War in Iraq. In: Eldridge, R.D., Midford, P. (eds) Japanese Public Opinion and the War on Terrorism. Palgrave Macmillan Series in International Political Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230613836_7

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