The historical construction of Japanese national identity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53897/RevPortes.2024.02.07Keywords:
Japan, identity, Constructivism, Hua-Yi distinction, HistoryAbstract
Using the relational identity perspective of critical constructivism, it is proposed that Japan's national identity (i.e., the official narrative represented in Nihonjinron) has been a political construction made by decision-making leaders, and has been established on selectively replicating foreign entities, with the aim of providing order and legitimation to the authorities while pursuing a nationalist narrative. In the Edo period with China, in the imperial phase with the West, and in the post-war era with the United States; It is observed that there continually exists a “teacher” o center (Hua) who exerts great influence over the country, and that Japanese leaders seek to selectively replicate, while maintaining a particular notion of identity. The great temporal extension of the research is defended, arguing the nature of the objective as well as the importance of a broad and different view other than modern State-centrism in International Relations.
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