Japanese Public Opinion and the War on Terrorism: Implications for Japan's Security Strategy

Japan has actively contributed to the Bush administration's war on terrorism, going far beyond the financial support it provided during the first Gulf War in 1991 and testing the limits of postwar constitutional prohibitions on the deployment of military forces overseas. This has led some observers to suggest that Japan might be positioning itself to become a more active supporter of U.S. global strategy, a "Britain of Asia." This study challenges this view and finds that less has changed in Japan's overseas deployments than is often claim. This study identifies public opinion as a reason for the modest expansion of Japan's overseas deployments since 9/11 and bring to bear a wealth of data to back up this conclusion.
          
          The Policy Studies series is published by the East-West Center. Available exclusively from ISEAS for distribution in Asia.