This book examines Japan’s changing pacifism and security identity in an application of analytical eclecticism. Four theoretical perspectives of Japan’s security identity (pacifist state, UN peacekeeper, normal state, US ally) are examined as case studies. This book attempts to reveal Japan’s ‘core security identity’ as a ‘global pacifist state’.

Daisuke Akimoto is Assistant Professor at the Soka University Peace Research Institute in Japan. He holds a PhD (Asian Studies and International Relations) from the University of Western Sydney, an MA (Peace and Conflict Studies) from the University of Sydney, and a BA (Humanities) from the Soka University Japan. His research and teaching interests include Japanese studies, Japanese politics, international relations, and peace research.

Contents: Japan as a ‘Pacifist State’: Security Policy 1945-1990 – Japan as a ‘UN Peace-Keeper’ in Cambodia – Japan as a ‘UN Peace-Builder’ in East Timor – Japan as a ‘US Ally’ in Response to the War on Terror – Japan as a ‘Global Pacifist State’: The Future of the Peace Constitution and Japan’s Core Security Identity.