UC Irvine UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Where Power Projection Ends: Constraints and Restraints on Japanese Militarism Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/47r756z6 Author Le, Tom Phuong Publication Date 2015 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE Where Power Projection Ends: Constraints and Restraints on Japanese Militarism DISSERTATION submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Political Science by Tom Phuong Le Dissertation Committee: Associate Professor Robert Uriu, Chair Professor Patrick Morgan Professor Cecelia Lynch 2015 © 2015 Tom Phuong Le DEDICATION To my darling, Erika together, every step of the way. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES iv LIST OF TABLES v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vi CURRICULUM VITAE x ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION xiii CHAPTER 1: Introduction 1 CHAPTER 2: What is “Normal”? A New Approach to Militarism 19 CHAPTER 3: Social-structural and Technical Constraints 72 CHAPTER 4: Political and Normative Restraints 127 CHAPTER 5: A New Mission: Militarism, Peace, and Security 203 REFERENCES 248 APPENDIX A: Peace Museums in Japan 264 APPENDIX B: The Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation (shortened) 265- 266 iii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1.1 Conventional Understanding of Militarism 11 Figure 3.1 World Values Survey: Willingness to Fight for Country 81 Figure 3.2 Conscription in East Asia 85 Figure 3.3 Population of Japan 1920-2060 (Projections) 90 Figure 3.4 Population Pyramid of Japan (Projections) 91 Figure 3.5 The Impact of Demographics on Japanese Security 102 Figure 3.6 UN and Japan PKO Mission Totals 1990-2014 109 Figure 3.7 UN PKO Contributions: Country Rank 1990-2014 110 Figure 4.1 Museums in Japan 180 Figure 4.2 Annual Student and Foreign Visitors 1970-2014 187 Figure 4.3 Annual School trips 1970-2014 188 Figure 4.4 East Asia Defense Expenditures (share of GDP) 192 Figure 4.5 Defense Expenditures (share of government spending) 193 Figure 4.6 Military Expenditures in East Asia 194 Figure 4.7 Year-to-year Military Expenditure (growth/decline) 195 Figure 4.8 Share of Defense Spending in East Asia 196 iv LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1.1 Constraints and Restraints on Japanese Militarism 5 Table 3.1 Military Forces Size in East Asia 79 Table 3.2 Percentage of Income from 2010 Military Contracts 115 (top 20) Table 3.3 Japan’s Non-Export Principles 118 Table 4.1 Key Characteristics of Japanese Antimilitarism 145 Table 5.1 Concrete Examples of “Proactive Contribution to Peace” in the 222 National Security Strategy v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In pursuing a doctorate in political science and writing this dissertation, I have been able to surround myself with incredible individuals, to who I am deeply indebted. First and foremost, I thank the members of my dissertation committee for their guidance, feedback, and friendship during my years at the University of California, Irvine. The chair of my doctoral dissertation, Robert Uriu, has provided me with constant support to navigate the rough waters of graduate school. He has given me with the freedom to pursue anything and the opportunities to ensure that my work results in something. Patrick Morgan has given me so much of his time, and his time is worth so much. In every conversation we’ve had - and we have had many - I learned something new about conducting research, being a professional academic, and basketball. Of everyone I know, Cecelia Lynch is who I strive to be the most. She is the very definition of professional and has provided me with honest critiques and unending support to overcome my limitations. Other members of UCI’s faculty and staff have been just as helpful. Serk Bae Suh, Sara Goodman, Etel Solingen, and Sandra Loughlin have provided me valuable feedback on my research and helped me secure grants and fellowships. Matthew Beckmann, Louis DeSipio, Marek Kaminski, Kevin Olson, Mark Petracca, and Keith Topper, as Graduate Directors and Department Chairs provided me with generous financial support to conduct fieldwork and attend conferences. Adam Cook, Natalie Cook, and Gillian Cummings have provided me with quick and thorough administrative support. I would like to thank Hiroshima City University for hosting me during my fieldwork in Japan. Tatsuya Nishida, my advisor at HCU, helped me secure a Fulbright Fellowship and several interviews critical to the dissertation, for which I am vi very grateful. Bo Jacobs and Yoshiaki Furuzawa were always there to help me with whatever I needed. My cohorts at UCI, Karl Kruse, Heidi Haddad, Arturo Jimenez, Alfredo Carlos, Joshua Gellers, Sierra Powell, Alex Lee, Dirk Horn, Graham Odell, Julian Tyler, Robert Nyenhuis, John Cuffe, Philip McDougall, Cecilia Kim, Kiki Liu, and Dan Jessie provided insightful feedback, sent useful articles, challenged my assumptions, offered solutions, and gave me their amazing friendship. Beijie Tang, Wilfred Wan, and Neil Chaturvedi went above and beyond and helped me in every step of completing the dissertation and landing a tenure-track position. Outside of UCI, I want to thank Soul Park, Peter Harris, Leonard Kosinski, Masaaki Higashijima, and Aurélie Deganello for proofreading my dissertation, helping me obtain data, and conduct fieldwork. I would also like to thank my fellow Young Leaders at Pacific Forum CSIS, Rachel Iancone, Sean Quirk, Kent Boydston, and Akira Igata for their comments, suggestions, and help obtaining research materials. While conducting fieldwork throughout Japan, my friends Ikuko Kanno, Genny Ki, Kyle Reykalin, and Hidemi Chen kindly took me into their homes. With their support, I was able to make the most of my research funds and opportunities. As difficult as it can be pursuing a PhD as a first-generation college student, at no point over the past few years have I ever felt alone or unsupported. These amazing talented individuals have been with me the entire time and it has been ridiculously fun ride together. I also would like to thank the many politicians, activists, journalists, civil servants, and academics who gave me great interviews for the dissertation. Tomoko Watanabe (ANT- Hiroshima) and Yasuko Okane (International Peace Promotion Department, The City of Hiroshima) were particularly helpful in securing interviews and obtaining unique data. vii This dissertation would not have been possible without the generous financial support of the Center for Asian Studies and the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies at UCI. Outside of UCI, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and Pacific Forum CSIS, under the leadership of Brad Glosserman and Ralph Cossa, have funded several conference trips where I was able to gather valuable data and network with professionals in my field. Julia Cunico has been a great Director of the Young Leaders Program and provided amazing administrative support. I thank the Japan Student Services Organization for awarding me a scholarship to study at Hiroshima City University. Lastly, I thank the Fulbright US Student Program for funding 16-months of fieldwork in Japan. Director Matthew Sussman, Miyuki Ito, and the rest of the staff at JUSEC provided me with great administrative and personal support during my entire time abroad - I am grateful for their help and friendship. I thank my family. My parents, Nga and Chi, did all they could to secure me an education that was taken away from them by the Vietnam War. From the very beginning, they instilled in me a love of scholarship and the work ethic to see it through. Takahisa and Hidemi Hongo and Masataka and Emi Yamada have been fantastic in-laws who have supported much of my research in Japan. My siblings, Tony, Timothy, and Stephanie held the fort down at home to ensure I could focus on my studies – if I ever needed anything, they took care of it. My grandparents, Ted and Clara Jo Braybrook and Dick and Irene Mansfield instilled in me the interest in studying war and militarism through their service to the country in WWII and the Korean War, but more importantly reminded me that regardless of what I do, to do it with dignity and ethics. Above all, I thank my darling wife Erika. She has been so understanding and has sacrificed so much to allow me to pursue my dream. Not only has she actively helped my work, viii proofreading my dissertation, securing interviews, translating documents, and developing ideas, she has taught me to be a better and more caring person through her every day actions. Everything she does is with grace, passion, and purpose, qualities that I hope are reflected in this dissertation. The past few years have been amazing and I am so confident that with Erika, the rest of the journey will be even better. ix CURRICULUM VITAE Tom Phuong Le University of California, Irvine – Department of Political Science Mailing Address: 464 Springfield Street, Claremont, CA 91711 Email: [email protected] Education Ph.D. University of California, Irvine – Political Science, 2015 Research Fields: 1) International Relations, 2) Comparative Politics Dissertation: Where Power Projection Ends: Constraints and Restraints on Japanese Militarism Committee: Robert Uriu (chair), Patrick Morgan, and Cecelia Lynch Hiroshima City University, Hiroshima, Japan - Junior Associate Research Fellow, 2013 - 2015 M.A. University of California, Irvine – Political Science, Fall 2011 B.A. University of California, Davis – Political Science and History Track II (Research and Writing emphasis), Spring 2006 Additional Training and Education 1) Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR), Syracuse University, Summer 2012 2) Hiroshima and Peace Program, Peace Studies, Hiroshima City University, Hiroshima, Japan, Summer 2012 3) Educational Abroad Program, International Studies, Meiji Gakuin University, Yokohama, Japan, Spring 2005 4) UC Washington Program, Washington D.C., Winter 2005 Publications Book Chapters 1) Uriu, R.