UN CENTRISM IN JAPAN Understanding the Background of the Political and Social Movements Supporting the United Nations HIROSHI YASUI A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Political Science and International Studies College of Social Sciences The University of Birmingham July 2010 Abstract Although academic literature predominantly discusses UN centrism as Japan’s foreign policy, this thesis stipulates it as a popular norm supported by the Japanese public. The thesis employs the constructivist approach in understanding UN centrism as a domestic norm. Following the analytical methods employed in existing studies on norm diffusion, it identifies UN centrism is Japan’s interpretation of the international UN norms seen through the lens of its post-war domestic pacifist norm. Building on existing literature on civil society and Japanese studies, it analyses how civil movements supporting UNESCO and UNICEF have worked their way through Japanese society, traditional social behaviours and customs to diffuse the norm. The success of the civil movements has not been in spite of Japan’s weak civil society but because its characteristics have worked in their favour. The UN centrism norm at its core urges individuals to construct peace and international cooperation through the UN. The norm continues to develop, and today it has become a norm which not only urges ordinary Japanese to think about creating and maintaining peace through the UN, but also to make personal financial contributions to support UN humanitarian activities and even dictates where they should visit for their next holiday. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people to whom I am obliged to express my gratitude in completing this thesis. Firstly, I am indebted to my supervisor Dr Julie Gilson who has supervised me patiently and tolerantly. Without her encompassing guidance, I would not have finished writing this thesis. I am grateful to my previous supervisors Professor Kumiko Haba (Aoyama Gakuin University), and Emeritus Professor Yutaka Fukuda (Hosei University), who have academically supported me since my undergraduate days. I very much appreciate Professor Atsushi Sugita (Hosei University) for regularly commenting on my research. I would like express my gratitude to the former and current Directors of the Research Center for International Japanese Studies, the Hosei University, Professor Tsutomu Hoshino and Professor Shin Abiko. I have been fortunate to be a Visiting Research Fellow there since 2006. Also thanks goes to Professor Wang Min at the Center has always invited me to its stimulating seminars. The Center has enabled me to undertake my research at Hosei University, Tokyo. I am thankful to the directors and academics at the London Office of Hosei University who have encouraged me to continue to research when I faced difficulties: Professor Chimaki Hirabayashi, Professor Haruo Nishino, Professor Choichi Yamamoto, Professor Hideki Esho and Professor Tadashi Okanouchi. I would like to extend my thanks to Professor Fumihiko Hirano (Nihon University) for giving me many opportunities to lecture on my research at the Nihon University and at academic associations. I have always been comforted with his warm words from Japan through Skype. I am also grateful to Professor Hiroshi Yakubo (Komazawa Women’s University) who was a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Conflict Research (INCORE), United Nations University in Northern Ireland, in which I was also a Research Intern and Class Coordinator for the Summer School of 2003 and 2004. My thesis is inspired by my experience at INCORE and discussions with Professor Yakubo. 3 On the Civil UNESCO movements, I have interviewed Professor Yuji Suzuki (the former President, World Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centers and Associations), Professor Noboru Noguchi (Executive Secretary, The National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan), Professor Noriaki Sagara (the Vice Chairperson, UNESCO Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding), Mr Goro Fujiwara (the Chairman of Sendai UNESCO association), Mr Iku Ito (the Chairman of Kobe UNESCO association) and Ms Yoshiko Nagato (the Chairman of Utsunomiya UNESCO association). On the civil UNICEF movements, I interviewed Mr Hiromasa Nakai (the Chief of Information & Public Affairs, Japan Committee for UNICEF). I would like to thank them for their important and useful information. Since 2005, I have been lecturing at the Extension Centre, Waseda University. I wish to acknowledge my students, most of them my elders, who provide interesting perspectives on my research and at times teach me on the survival skills in life as masters of life. Finally, my thanks to my family, Yuki, Kikyo and Kai. Apologies for the time I have spent in front of the computer instead of with them. I am indebted to my parents, Takeshi and Chizuko, for their kind years of support. 4 Contents Abbreviation........................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 1 THESIS INTRODUCTION............................................................... 14 1.1 The United Nations and UN centred foreign policy ....................................14 1.2 UN centrism as a domestic norm in Japan..................................................16 1.3 UN centrism norm in academic literature ....................................................18 1.4 UN centrism as a foreign policy..................................................................21 1.4.1 UN as a source of Japan’s security .......................................................21 1.4.2 Role of UN centrism as a camouflage for US-Japan alliance ................23 1.4.3 UN centrism as proactive diplomacy.....................................................28 1.4.4 Military contributions to the UN peacekeeping operations....................33 1.4.5 Public opinion in favour of the UN..........................................................39 1.5 Civil UN associations...................................................................................41 1.5.1 Civil UNESCO movement ......................................................................44 1.5.2 Civil UNICEF movement .......................................................................48 1.5.3 Civil society ............................................................................................50 1.6 Structure of the thesis ................................................................................52 PART 1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND .......................................................... 55 CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: CONSTRUCTIVISM, NORMS, PACIFISM, CIVIL SOCIETY AND JAPANESE STUDIES .................................. 55 2.1 Introduction: Alternative approaches in analysing UN centrism .................55 2.1.1 Realism ..................................................................................................56 2.1.2 Liberalism...............................................................................................59 2.1.3 Constructivism .......................................................................................61 2.2 Theory on norms ........................................................................................63 5 2.2.1 Definitions and typology of norms..........................................................63 2.2.2 Norm development: Diffusion and the norm life cycle............................67 2.2.3 Acceptance of an international norm by a nation...................................72 2.2.4 UN centrism norm as Japan’s interpretation of the international UN norms 74 2.2.5 Domestic norms in Japan: Case studies................................................78 2.3 Theories on pacifism: A norm supporting the UN centrism ........................83 2.3.1 Definitions on pacifism: Absolute pacifism and pacific-ism...................83 2.3.2 Positive and negative peace ..................................................................85 2.3.3 Theoretical analysis of the pacifism in Japan ........................................86 2.4 Civil society theory: Political and social structures .....................................88 2.4.1 Civil society and the state in early modern Europe................................90 2.4.2 Civil society and the state: Beyond the oppositional relationship ..........94 2.4.3 Associationalism ....................................................................................98 2.4.4 Civil society theories in Japan..............................................................102 2.5 Socio-cultural background: Japanese Studies .........................................111 2.6 Conclusion.................................................................................................113 CHAPTER 3 PEACE FOR STATUS QUO: THE DOMESTIC PACIFIST NORM 115 3.1 Introduction................................................................................................115 3.2 The post-war pacifists: the ‘community of remorse’ (kaikon ky!d!tai) ......116 3.3 The Pacifist Constitution: Backbone of the pacifist norm .........................120 3.4 Shift from absolute pacifism to pacific-ism ...............................................126 3.4.1 Absolute pacifism................................................................................126 3.4.2 Shift to pacific-ism...............................................................................128 6 3.5 Freedom from hunger: Core of Japan’s pacifism .....................................132