Dismantling the Final Barrier: Transforming Japan into a “Normal Country” in the Post‐Cold‐War Era

Abstract

Since the end of the Cold War, Japan has embraced a more active security policy. While some scholars interpret the change within the context of Japan's long-standing antimilitaristic security identity, others forewarn a fundamental shift with the potential to reorient Japan's national security policy. This article views that Japan has not stopped moving toward being a normal country, albeit with a slight limp, since the end of the Cold War and the speed of such movement has accelerated since the late 1990s. What, then, have been the main underlying conditions that accelerated such movement? How did changes in these conditions bring about the speedy shift in Japanese security policy? I seek to answer these questions through examining four critical periods that have exhibited significant transformations of Japan's security policy. The findings will help us to understand the shift in Japanese security norm since the end of the Cold War and its implications for East Asian security.