Abstract
Mochizuki and Porter question whether the victory in the July 2013 national election – which finally established a stable government in Japan for the first time in almost a decade – emboldens Prime Minister Abe to pursue his nationalist agenda. Despite the recent resurgence of constitutional and historical revisionism in Japan that has alarmed neighboring countries, Mochizuki and Porter argue that Abe and the LDP’s return to power does not reflect a rise of nationalism among the Japanese, who still embrace the anti-war language of the Japanese constitution’s Article 9. They conclude that the United States should not only welcome Japan’s new “moderate realism” – measured expansion of its security and military role in the region – but also do more to encourage the process of historical reconciliation in Northeast Asia.
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