A Study Of Neo-conservatism In Japan

“Neo-conservatism” was a political thought originated in the developed capitalist countries in the late 1970 s and early 1980 s.Margaret Thatcher(1979),Ronald Reagan(1981)and Nakasone Yasuhiro(1982),the three conservative political leaders came into power almost at the same time,and the announcement of the International Democrat Union(IDU)formed by the British Conservative Party,the American Republican Party and the Japans Liberal Democratic Party,indicated the formation of neo-conservatism in the three countries.It also opens up a worldwide political right-deviation process.For Japan,if Nakasone Yasuhiro is considered as the “founder” of Japan's neo-conservatism and Ozawa Ichiro is the "theoretical standard-bearer”,Abe Shinzo is a strong “practitioner” of neo-conservatism in Japan.The Japan's political right-deviation process which is initiated by Nakasone Yasuhiro and advanced by Abe Shinzo has not only profoundly affected the trend of Japan's political situation and Sino-Japanese relations,but also poses a potential threat to peace and security in the Asia-Pacific Region.Therefore,it is of great academic value and practical significance to systematically study the issues of neo-conservatism and political right-deviation in Japan.This dissertation is composed of six chapters:For Chapter 1,it mainly explains the background and origin of the topics,the research status quo at home and abroad,the research ideas and methods,the research value and significance,the innovation and the deficiency,and lays a foundation for the systematic research of the following five chapters.In Chapter 2,it focuses on the combing and discussion of political ideas and practices of Nakasone Yasuhiro's neo-conservatism and its influences on the political right-deviation.Three basic conclusions are made in this Chapter:(1)the neoconservatism in Europe and the United States is more reflected in the economic field.Japan's neo-conservatism is prominently reflected in the field of politics and diplomacy,and it is a kind of nationalism with strong Japanese characteristics.(2)Nakasone Yasuhiro became the founder of Japan's neo-conservatism is closely related to domestic factors such as the rise of right-wing forces,the establishment of “economic power" status,the rapidly increased military strength.It is also connected with international background such as the trend of multi-polarization development in international political systems,the strengthening of US-Japan Alliance,and the rapid rise of China.(3)Nakasone Yasuhiro's new conservative political philosophy took “total accounts after war” as the slogan,“seeking a political power” as the goal,“making amendment to the Peace Constitution” as the core,reinforce the ideological foundation of Japanese neo-conservatism;and the neo-conservative political practices are mainly carried out through the ways of visiting the Yasukuni Shrine by the public office,breakthrough the restriction of GNP1% for defense costs,strengthening the US-Japan Alliance,etc..No matter in terms of concept or practice,Nakasone Yasuhiro has sounded the horn of neo-conservatism,launched the process of the political right-deviation in Japan.He has established his position as the founder of Japan's neo-conservatism.In Chapter 3,it focuses on the combing and discussion of political ideas and practices of Ozawa Ichiro's neo-conservatism and its influence on the political right-deviation.Three basic conclusions are made in this Chapter:(1)“political right-deviation” is a general trend of Japanese political evolution since the WWII.Especially since 1993,its political right-deviation has reached unprecedented degree in breadth or depth,and even penetrated into the state organs and national consciousness level.We should have a clear understanding of this.(2)In the course of the evolution of neo-conservatism in Japan,Ozawa Ichiro is in the position of “connecting the preceding and the following” and serving as the link of “past and future”.The two major political ideas of “Conservative Two-party System” and “Common State Theory” follow Nakasone Yasuhiro's “upper” and “front” ideas,and promote Abe Shinzo's “down” and “post” theories.Although Ozawa Ichiro has never served as the Prime Minister of Japan,his influence on his thoughts should not be underestimated.(3)By putting forward two political ideas of “Conservative Two-party System” and “Common State Theory”,Ozawa Ichiro established his position as the standard-bearer of the neo-conservatism theory.He has put the two political ideas,especially the “Conservative Two-party System” into practice and made important progress.He also made himself as the “spiritual leader” in the process of right-deviation.Although Ozawa Ichiro has entered his personal political career in the declining stage,the two major political ideas has become the common political pursuit and goal for Japan's conservative forces,and will have a lasting and profound impact on the future direction of Japan's politics and trend of Sino-Japanese relations.We should also have a clear understanding of this.In Chapter 4,it focuses on the combing and discussion of political ideas and practice of Abe Shinzo's Neo-conservatism and its influence on the right-deviation.Three basic conclusions are made in this Chapter:(1)Different from Nakasone Yasuhiro and Ozawa Ichiro,Abe Shinzo's specialty is in practice.He is still in the Prime Minister's term and is expected to become the longest serving Prime Minister after the WWII.As a strong practitioner of neo-conservatism in Japan,He will become an iconic politician in the process of Japanese political right-deviation.(2)As a new generation of statesman,Abe Shinzo can become the key figure of Japanese neo-conservatism due to the influence of “political DNA”,as well as the historical background of his cabinet.The influence of his grandfather Kishi Nobusuke,the reversal of the total economic volume in China and Japan,and the implementation of the US's “Asia Pacific Rebalancing Strategy” are all factors which provide political space for Abe Shinzo to practice the neo-conservatism political philosophy stubbornly.(3)In view of the fact that Prime Minister Abe is expected to power until 2021,there is plenty of time for the implementation of the neo-conservative policy,especially the “Constitutional Amendment and Enhancing Military” policy,so we must pay close attention to the political trends of Abe Shinzo and his cabinet.Once the “Peace Constitution” was completely abandoned,Japan would like a runaway horse quickly to “be back before the war”.Nakasone Yasuhiro has praised Abe as “a young politician with a firm belief”.Nakanishi Teru,a right-wing Professor,called him a person “carrying Japanese historical mission”.The follow-up actions of Abe and his cabinet should be observed closely.In Chapter 5,it focuses on the comparison studies on the similarities and differences of neo-conservatism political ideas and practices between Nakasone Yasuhiro,Ozawa Ichiro and Abe Shinzo.Three basic conclusions are made in this Chapter:(1)Nakasone Yasuhiro,Ozawa Ichiro and Abe Shinzo who are three political strongmen,are not only played the role of “founder”,“standard-bearer” and “practitioner”,they are playing the key role in different stages of Japan's political right-deviation.If Nakasone and Ozawa focus on the theoretical construction of neo-conservatism,then Abe Shinzo lays particular emphasis on the policy and practice of neo-conservatism.(2)The similarities of theory and practice of three new conservative politicians are that they all take the establishment of political power and military power as the goal,all advocate Japan to become a “common country” by the “constitutional amendment”,all advocate constructing a “powerful Japan” through the expansion of military,and they all advocate strengthening the US-Japan Alliance.(3)Different ideas and practices of three new conservative politicians is as follows: Nakasone Yasuhiro and Ozawa Ichiro consider that “figurative Mikado system” is the most suitable for Japan,however,Abe Shinzo argues to restore the political position of the Mikado as the head of state as that of pre-war.As for the aim of the US-Japan Alliance,Nakasone Yasuhiro stressed threat from the(former)Soviet,but Ozawa Ichiro and Abe Shinzo stressed the threat from China.Nakasone Yasuhiro and Abe Shinzo are holding the wrong views of history,but Ozawa Ichiro advocated that “Japan should face up to history,and to apologize when necessary”.As for the practice of constitutional amendment,Nakasone's proposition is different before and after he came to power,but Ozawa Ichiro and Abe Shinzo always promotes the amendment to the Constitution.In Chapter 6,it focuses on the analysis and evaluation of the impact of Japan's neo-conservatism and political right deviation on Sino-Japanese relations.Three basic conclusions are made in this Chapter:(1)the wrong historical views of Japan's neo-conservatism politicians stem from the wrong viewpoints of the Japanese right-wing intellectuals,such as the conception of “history of self-defense war”,“history of liberation war” and “history of Anglo-American crimes”.The fallacy of war palinode propagandized by the Japanese right-wing intellectual elites must be timely responded.(2)Behind the support of “Taiwan independence” by Japan's neo-conservative politicians,there are hidden strategic plans to re-engage in Taiwan,block cross-strait unification and contain China's rise.To these plans,we should keep a high vigilance.(3)The neo-conservative politician in Japan made and upgraded the dispute of Diaoyu Islands,aimed at interrupting the process of China's modernization and plundering the vast amount of resources in the East China Sea.We should also have a clear understanding of this.There are two purposes of writing this dissertation: the first is to make up for the deficiencies of related researches in the field of vision,research contents and research methods through the systematic research of the neo-conservatism political ideas of Nakasone Yasuhiro,Ozawa Ichiro and Abe Shinzo.The second is to provide some references to the diplomatic decision-making in the current political trends through the comprehensive study of Japan's neo-conservatism and the political right-deviation process.It is also useful for the Party and the government to feel the pulse of Japan,correctly predict the future political direction and to keep the Sino-Japanese relations stable and healthy.