Manga and militarism: rehabilitating military violence in Japan.
There is an impasse in Japan's security debate. Realists emphasise defence build-up programmes and policy reforms that are cumulatively developing Japan's autonomous security capabilities to argue Japan is remilitarising; and normative constructivists emphasise a 'culture of antimilitarism' to argue...
| Publicado en: | Pacific Review Vol. 38; no. 6; pp. 1110 - 1139 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Nov2025
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=188876001&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 188876001 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 09512748 5C0 jtl: Pacific Review issn: 09512748 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Nov2025 vid: 38 iid: 6 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 188876001 10.1080/09512748.2025.2484343 ppf: 1110 ppct: 29 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 1.5MB tig: atl: Manga and militarism: rehabilitating military violence in Japan. aug: au: Warrack, Max affil: Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick Coventry, United Kingdom su: Manga (Art) Militarism Military policy Violence Military personnel Military culture Japanese civilization Japan sug: subj: Japan Manga (Art) Militarism Military policy Violence Military personnel Military culture Japanese civilization keyword: International security manga militarism new Durkheim popular culture and politics ab: There is an impasse in Japan's security debate. Realists emphasise defence build-up programmes and policy reforms that are cumulatively developing Japan's autonomous security capabilities to argue Japan is remilitarising; and normative constructivists emphasise a 'culture of antimilitarism' to argue it is not really remilitarising. This article explores a route through this impasse by flipping the premise on which it rests: that Japan's culture resists remilitarisation. It investigates manga (Japanese comics) that positively portray the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) enacting violence. Through a content analysis of these manga, it identifies three patterns of violence: constrained, frantic, and dominant, that frame JSDF violence as a legitimate tool of statecraft. They represent an interpretive challenge to the antimilitarist societal consensus; one this article outlines using Jeffrey Alexander's New Durkheimian conceptualisation of civil society. The article traces the industry-origins of these manga and illustrates (pun intended) how they disrupt the 'culture of antimilitarism'. The article outlines a process of 'cultural remilitarisation' connected to Japan's most prominent medium, presenting a cultural explanation for Japan's post-Cold War security trajectory; and introducing nuance to a key premise of the Japan security debate: Japan's culture can support and encourage, as well as resist, remilitarisation. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Pacific Review is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Pacific Review holder: Taylor & Francis Ltd dt: @attributes: year: 2025 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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