Demonstrating democracy: Citizen politics in Japan and Yasukuni Shrine, 2001-2006

This dissertation centers on the citizen mobilization by three social movement organizations that responded to Prime Minister Junichir o Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine during 2001-2006. Those visits initiated an outpouring of domestic citizen political mobilization over the "Yasukuni issues" (Yasukuni mondai ) not seen since the early 1970s, when citizens mobilized over the Yasukuni Law. Koizumi's open and public visits to Yasukuni Shrine presented an opportunity to (1) demonstrate how citizens' groups staked their position in advocacy or opposition; (2) explore how Japan's working democratic culture elaborates, articulates and expands the Japanese public sphere; (3) uncover how citizens' groups are able to contribute to reproducing and strengthening of democracy; and (4) envision alternative futures of citizen interaction over a contentious issue in a pluralistic political culture.;This research focuses on three domestic citizens' groups that are tethered together by a common thread: their belief that the very existence of the Yasukuni Shrine demands engagement. Those three groups are Nippon Kaigi (The Japan Conference), Heiwa Izokukai Zenkoku Renrakukai (Association of War Bereaved Families for Peace), and Yasukuni Kaitai Kikaku (The Yasukuni Dismantlement Project). Examination of these three groups begins with an investigation of the evolution of their respective organizational characteristics developed as well as specific tactics each has utilized to express their advocacy or opposition.;This dissertation focuses on the social component of Japan's democracy. To do so, this study examines how a democratic space is created and how that space allows for citizens to form associations and contest issues that they see in their self-interest. Furthermore, for the groups in this study, Yasukuni Shrine is not confined to the physical space it occupies in central Tokyo; rather, the perimeter of Yasukuni is extended to other issues of concern in twenty-first century Japan. In other words, it is not just about remembering the war, or reflecting on the past. Yasukuni Shrine lives on for these groups as a link to the fundamental policy and political preferences that define Japan, both current and futures.