Japan's Defence Industrial Policy Reform - Debates and Implications for International Cooperation

Setting the context, the initial two chapters delve into history and analyse the broad canvas of post-war Japan’s approach to security, especially looking at the anatomy of Article 9, defining the scope of engagement, terms for use of force; competing schools of thought in the security discourse, and assessing the evolving narratives and politics on right to collective self- defence within the US-. [...] The draft was next debated in the House of Representatives where the key deliberation was on the objective of the renunciation of the war clause and the issue of self-defence. [...] The phrase ‘aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order’ was incorporated at the beginning of the first sentence and the expression ‘in order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph’ was incorporated at the start of the next sentence. [...] CONTESTING PERSPECTIVES IN THE POST-WAR SECURITY CHURNING The security discourse in Japan has broadly developed on four axes since the 1950s, including interpreting the constitution’s pacifist clause; the status of the SDFs; the character of the security alliance with Washington; and the approach towards historical narrative. [...] In this regard, the next chapter in the monograph makes an attempt to understand the security policy shift by way of exploring the different layers of the collective self- defence debate; investigating the drivers that are shaping Japan’s policy choices; analysing the recent legislations and studying the new institutional designs; and exploring the competing lines of argument on security.