Japan’s Nationalist Turn
Recent tension between China and Japan over rival claims to uninhabited islets has highlighted the rightward drift of Japanese politics. But if a moderate, non-militarist form of nationalism is harnessed to produce political reform, the results could be good for Japan – and for the rest of the world.
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TOKYO – Japan has been in the news lately, owing to its dispute with China over six square kilometers of barren islets in the East China Sea that Japan calls the Senkakus and China calls the Diaoyu Islands. The rival claims date back to the late nineteenth century, but the recent flare-up, which led to widespread anti-Japanese demonstrations in China, started in September when Japan’s government purchased three of the tiny islets from their private Japanese owner.