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    Security Paradigms and Social Movements: The Changing Nature of Japanese Peace Activism
    Ogawa, A (Brill Academic Publishers, 2018)
    In 2014, Japan’s cabinet approved a significant change to national security policy. Previously barred from using military force, except in cases of self-defence, a constitutional reinterpretation by the cabinet allowed “collective self-defence”—using force to defend itself and its allies. The decision was controversial, considering post-war pacifism is firmly entrenched in Japanese national identity. I analyse how national security has been portrayed in the policymaking process for reinterpreting the Constitution. Meanwhile, since the early 2010s, Japanese society has been rocked by demonstrations opposing this. I explore the rise of a new youth activist movement in response to the proposed legislation. In particular, I argue that new ideologies and strategies appealed to young people in the organising of various protests, focusing on how they interpret the national security discourse and locating these social movements in Japanese postwar peace activism.
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    Demanding a safer tomorrow: Japan’s anti-nuclear rallies in the summer of 2012 (Respond to this article at http://www. therai. org. uk/at/debate)
    Ogawa, A (Wiley Online Library, 2013)
    Should Japan continue to generate nuclear power? This was a question raised multiple times during the summer of 2012, almost a year and a half after the great earthquake and the start of the radiation leak from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. At that time, one of the major issues faced by Japanese politicians was how to deal with the government’s energy policy. Nuclear production has significantly contributed to furthering Japan’s economic prosperity: over the past 50 years, Japan has developed the third largest commercial nuclear programme in the world, exceeded only by the United States and France. Before Fukushima, nearly 30 percent of Japan’s electricity was provided by nuclear power, generated by its 54 nuclear reactors. With another 14 nuclear plants in the pipeline, Japan would have succeeded in meeting over half of the country’s energy demands through nuclear power by 2030 under Japan’s Basic Energy Plan, which was revised by the national government in June 2010.
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