日本尋求正常化國家政策之研究：小泉與後小泉時期分析(2001年-2011年)

Abstract

It was the end of World War II. Allies of WWII had determined the three major principles in dealing with Japan: maintaining the country’s constitutional monarchy, the government, the emperor, stripping the country of war powers and army buildup, and ending the country’s feudal era. The goal was to disarm the country’s military might, promoting democracy, and inaugurating a new constitution in the postwar era. Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution is a clause in the National Constitution of Japan that prohibits an act of war by the state; but also forbids Japan from maintaining an army, navy or air force; it also bans settlement of international disputes through the use of force. The Constitution is called, the Peace Constitution. The Yoshida Doctrine defined postwar Japan as an “economic development-centric, military buildup-secondary” country, shaping it into an international economic mover and shaker. The Cold War was officially concluded in 1989. The Gulf War broke out in 1991. Yet Japan was unscathed these international conflicts, as result of the Peace Constitution. The Constitution, however, led to heated debates regarding Japans’ national security being conditioned, and that whether Japan was a “normal country.” Between April, 2001 and September, 2011, Japan witnessed six premiers in office, from Junichiro Koizumi to Naoto Kan. During which, the U.S suffered the September 11 terror attacks, the Japan Self-Defense Forces was deployed to Iraq, the Act on Related Incidents was completed, the Japan Defense Agency was upgraded to become the Ministry of Defense; a referendum was held, and the Aerospace Act promulgated. The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of frequent changes of national leaders on a normal country, the continuation of the nation’s policy, and how the changes effect policymaking differences. The study compares policymaking differences of a normal country between the Koizumi and post-Koizumi eras. It will compare constitutional issues, national defense, and foreign diplomacy confronting Japan between times while Koizumi was in office and the post-Koizumi era. These issues serve as the dependent variables. Policymaking continuation and different policies will be highlighted after the comparison. Next, the U.S-Japan alliance, the security dilemma in northeast Asia, the manifestation of soft power and leadership visions will be used as independent variables to address policy continuation of a normal country and what policy differences might be resulted. The effects of the independent variables will be used to track the changes in dependent variables. After comparison, the study found that normal country policies in both the Koizumi and post-Koizumi eras were consistent in Constitution and self defense; but there was a difference in foreign policy. The U.S-Japan Alliance and the security dilemma in northeast Asia were the primary factors affecting policy continuation in the Koizumi and post-Koizumi eras. Soft power and leadership visions effected policy differences between the Koizumi and post-Koizumi eras. Other studies found that self defense is the most crucial policy for a normal country. The strengths of the normal country policies completed during post-Koizumi era had waned from the time while Koizumi was in office, but this iconic former premier had managed to build a foundation for Japan as a normal country, steering it steadily toward becoming a powerful yet normal nation.