{"id":11660,"date":"2013-07-19T08:24:34","date_gmt":"2013-07-19T18:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=11660"},"modified":"2013-07-19T14:47:58","modified_gmt":"2013-07-20T00:47:58","slug":"scholar-morris-suzuki-on-the-rebranding-of-pm-abe-for-foreign-consumption-contrasted-with-his-reverse-postwar-political-reforms-goals-set-out-in-his-manifesto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=11660","title":{"rendered":"Scholar Morris-Suzuki on the rebranding of PM Abe for foreign consumption, contrasted with his “reverse postwar political reforms” goals set out in his manifesto"},"content":{"rendered":"

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On the eve of an election that will only further empower this man, Scholar Tessa Morris-Suzuki talks about the media machines to rebrand him as “not a nationalist”. \u00a0Hah. \u00a0And double hah after reading some actual scholarship on this man. \u00a0Read on and grit your teeth as election results come in. \u00a0Arudou Debito<\/p>\n

The Asia-Pacific Journal,\u00a0Volume 11, Issue 28, No. 1, July 15, 2013.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Re-Branding of Abe Nationalism: Global Perspectives<\/h3>\n

Tessa Morris-Suzuki<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2010, the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) launched a highly successful TV show called The Gruen Transfer. The title refers to the disorienting psychological effects produced on consumers by the architecture of shopping malls, whose dazzle and noise are deliberately designed to mesmerize: on entering, \u201cour eyes glaze over, our jaws slacken… we forget what we came for and become impulse buyers\u201d.1\u00a0<\/sup>The ABC\u2019s Gruen Transfer explored the weird, wonderful and disorienting effects produced by the advertising industry. Its most popular element was a segment called \u201cThe Pitch\u201d, in which representatives of two advertising agencies competed to sell the unsellable to the show\u2019s audience – creating gloriously sleek videos to market bottled air, promote the\u00a0virtues of banning religion<\/a>, or advocate generous pay raises for politicians.<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n

I have been reminded of The Gruen Transfer in recent months, as sections of the media in Japan, and even internationally, have gone into overdrive to sell an equally challenging message: the message that Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is not a nationalist.2\u00a0<\/sup>This particular pitch has been running for some time. It began with the inception of Abe\u2019s first short-lived prime ministership in 2006, when Japanese Foreign Affairs Deputy Press Secretary Taniguchi Tomohiko devoted considerable energy to persuading a US audience that Abe was \u201calmost the polar opposite\u201d of a nationalist.3\u00a0<\/sup>The right-of-centre Sankei Newspaper took up the challenge with enthusiasm: its Washington correspondent, Komori Yoshihisa, published numerous articles, including an opinion piece in the New York Times, which aimed to refute the \u201cnationalist\u201d tag. Far from being a hawkish nationalist, Komori argued, Abe had \u201cmerely been shaped by democracy\u201d, and his real aim was to bring Japan back from the \u201cpost-war extreme towards the center\u201d.4\u00a0<\/sup>But these pronouncements had only limited impact on international opinion, and by early 2007 one prominent Japanese marketing consultant was lamenting, in the pages of the Yomiuri newspaper, that the government needed a far more effective foreign media strategy to rescue Abe from the \u201chawk\u201d and \u201cnationalist\u201d labels.5<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The issue has resurfaced with renewed vigor since the advent of the second Abe regime in December 2012. In May 2013, a US Congressional Research Service paper describing Abe as a \u201cstrong nationalist\u201d evoked a surprisingly querulous response from pro-government media in Japan, and even from Prime Minister Abe himself. Abe hit back with a statement in parliament, expressing his unhappiness that \u201cthe ideas of our country\u201d were being misunderstood by foreigners. He went on to call for measures to \u201cactively collect and spread information so that we will be correctly understood\u201d.6<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

[…]<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Abe\u2019s core goal, inherited from Kishi, clearly set out in Towards a Beautiful Country, and echoed in the manifestos of groups like the Shinto Association of Spiritual Leadership, is to \u201cescape from the postwar regime\u201d: that is, to reverse the political reforms introduced to Japan during the allied occupation. In his view, these reforms undermine Japan\u2019s traditions, which are centred on the figure of the Emperor. What Abe\u2019s nationalist vision means in practice is best understood by examining his party\u2019s far-reaching proposals to rewrite the postwar Japanese constitution. The proposed changes include removing the reference to \u201crespect for the individual\u201d and making it constitutionally impossible for foreign permanent residents to be given national or local voting rights. Freedom of expression and freedom of association would not be protected where these \u201chave the purpose of harming the public interest or public order\u201d. The same formula would be used to limit the right of citizens to \u201clife, liberty and the pursuit of happiness\u201d. The revised constitution prepared by the Liberal Democratic Party contains no guidelines as to how, and by whom, \u201cpublic interest\u201d and \u201cpublic order\u201d would be defined, leaving an alarmingly large loophole for the repression of civic freedoms by the state. A new article would also be added to the constitution to give the state sweeping powers to declare prolonged states of emergency, during which constitutional rights could be suspended.22<\/sup>\u00a0With the prospect of an LDP super-majority in parliament for the next two to three years, there is a strong likelihood that the ruling party will push forward with an attempt to carry out these changes: changes so profound that they should probably be described, not as plans for constitutional revision, but rather as plans for a new constitution.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This artwork appeared in an exhibition entitled “the Constitution and Peace” which opened in a public art space in Fukui Prefecture in May. The work consists of several sections of the current constitution written out in attractive calligraphy and coloured ink on Japanese paper. Soon after the exhibition opened, it was removed on the orders of the company which manages the art space for the local government on the grounds that “its political content might offend the feelings of some viewers”.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The current popularity of the Abe administration in no way reflects public enthusiasm for these grand political designs. It is, instead, a response to the government\u2019s economic stimulus package, and to Abe\u2019s skill in making optimistic statements, which convey a sense of leadership to a population weary of political uncertainty and economic malaise. In the end, the Abe government\u2019s performance should and will be judged, not on any political labels, but on the impact that it has on Japanese society and on Japan\u2019s relations with its region and the world. It is possible that Abe may yet choose to focus on the vital tasks of creating a basis for a strong Japanese economic future and improving relations with Japan\u2019s neighbours, rather than pursuing the ideological agendas of anti-liberalism and \u201cescape from the postwar regime\u201d.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the meanwhile, though, those who care about the future of Japanese society should not allow the dazzle of verbal juggling to induce a political version of the Gruen Transfer. The prime minister\u2019s ideology may be re-branded for the global market, but the old adage remains: buyer beware.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

– See full article at: http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Tessa-Morris_Suzuki\/3966<\/a><\/p>\n

Tessa Morris-Suzuki is Professor of Japanese History in the Division of Pacific and Asian History, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, and a Japan Focus associate. Her most recent books are Exodus to North Korea: Shadows from Japan’s Cold War, Borderline Japan: Foreigners and Frontier Controls in the Postwar Era and To the Diamond Mountains: A Hundred-Year Journey Through China and Korea.<\/em><\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Morris-Suzuki: The current popularity of the Abe administration in no way reflects public enthusiasm for these grand political designs. It is, instead, a response to the government\u2019s economic stimulus package, and to Abe\u2019s skill in making optimistic statements, which convey a sense of leadership to a population weary of political uncertainty and economic malaise. In the end, the Abe government\u2019s performance should and will be judged, not on any political labels, but on the impact that it has on Japanese society and on Japan\u2019s relations with its region and the world. It is possible that Abe may yet choose to focus on the vital tasks of creating a basis for a strong Japanese economic future and improving relations with Japan\u2019s neighbours, rather than pursuing the ideological agendas of anti-liberalism and \u201cescape from the postwar regime\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the meanwhile, though, those who care about the future of Japanese society should not allow the dazzle of verbal juggling to induce a political version of the Gruen Transfer. The prime minister\u2019s ideology may be re-branded for the global market, but the old adage remains: buyer beware.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,50,26,4,14,13,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bad-social-science","category-gaiatsu","category-ironies-hypocrisies","category-japanese-government","category-japanese-politics","category-media","category-tangents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11660\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}