Sigal Ben-Rafael Galanti is senior lecturer of political science and Japanese studies at Beit Berl College. Nissim Otmazgin is senior lecturer of modern Japanese history and politics at the Department of Asian Studies, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Alon Levkowitz is lecturer and coordinator of the Asian Studies Program at Bar-Ilan University.

Japan's Multilayered Democracy

Galanti Sigal Ben-Rafael Otmazgin Nissim Levkowitz Alon

Heftet / 2016 / Engelsk

Galanti Sigal Ben-Rafael Otmazgin Nissim Levkowitz Alon

Heftet / 2016 / Engelsk

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This is a truly fascinating book, adopting a multilayered and interdisciplinary approach to the comprehensive study of Japanese democracy. This book encompasses a lengthy time span, dating from the late 19th century to the present day, and readers will be able to understand and appreciate how Japanese democracy changed over this time. This book is a must read, not only for specialists of Japanese studies but also for graduate students and undergraduate students alike, who are interested in Japan, Japanese studies, or democracy in general.

- Yoneyuki Sugita, Osaka University,

Japan’s Multilayered Democracy offers a variety of innovative perspectives on Japan’s democracy. The book rejects parsimony but strives instead for a “holistic” approach, searching for and shedding a new light on issues, incidents, angles, and contexts which have not been given due attention in the prevailing mono-causal documentations of Japan. Readers will enjoy some chapters as presenting fresh details of forgotten but important cases and others as providing nuanced and highly original interpretations. Addressing to the wide range of academic disciplines, the book is sure to form a multilayered platform upon which many debates about modern Japan will take place in the near future.

- Masaru Kohno, Waseda University,

Japan can claim one of the oldest parliamentary systems in the non-Western world, yet democracy proved fragile in the prewar era and less than robust in the decades since 1945. Written from a variety of perspectives, these essays probe the measure, problems, and promise of democracy in modern Japan.

- Sheldon Garon, Princeton University,

This book introduces a multilayered approach to the study of democracy, combining specific knowledge of Japan with theoretical insights from the literature on democratization. It examines different aspects of Japanese democracy—historical, institutional, and sociocultural—to provide a conscious understanding of the nature and practice of democracy, both in Japan and beyond. The book's chapters give testimony to the dynamic nature and continuity of Japanese democracy and analyze its strengths and weaknesses. The central argument of this book is that Japan’s democratization should be seen as a multilayered experience shaped by the gradual process of absorbing democratic ideas, forming democratic institutions, and practicing democratic behaviors and rituals at various levels of society. As the case of Japan shows, democracy is neither a structured formula nor only a set of democratic laws and institutions, but a continuous, gradual process.

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This book unveils the layers of Japan's democracy, and the essays suggest a widening of disciplinary perspectives. The editors employ an assortment of disciplines—history, anthropology, sociology, political science, law, and cultural studies—to explore the complex interrelationships between history, institutions, and sociocultural practices.

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Chapter 1: “Introduction: Japan as a Multilayered Democracy,” Nissim Otmazgin, Sigal Ben-Rafael Galanti, and Alon Levkowitz Part I: Pre-war Sources of Japanese Democracy Chapter 2: "11 February 1889: Japan's First Constitution," Lionel Babicz Chapter 3: "Is Taishō Demokurashī the Same as Taishō Democracy?" Kiichi Tachibana Chapter 4: "The making of private and public space in Meiji Japan," Kurt Radtke Part II: Democratic Institutions and State Transformation Chapter 5: "The Postwar Emperor in Democratized Japan," Ben-Ami Shillony Chapter 6: "Japan's Remilitarization Debate and the Projection of Democracy," Sigal Ben-Rafael Galanti Chapter 7: "Normalization, Democracy and the Armed Forces: the Transformation of the Japanese Military," Ben-Ari Eyal Chapter 8: "Japan's Labor Tribunal System: A New Paradigm for Democratic Justice?," Wered Ben-Sade Part III: Political Culture and Civil Society Chapter 9: "Americanization and Democratization: Cultural Aspects of Japanese Democracy," Nissim Otmazgin Chapter 10: "Democracy and Liberalism in Postwar Japan: the Legacies of the 1960s Student Uprising," Michal Daliot-Bul Chapter 11: "Televised Democracy? How Politicians Handle Questions during Broadcast Talk Shows," Ofer Feldman Chapter 12: "Pink Democracy: Dynamic Gender in Japan’s Women's Politics,” Ayala Klemperer-Markman Chapter 13: "Is Democracy under Threat? Some Thoughts Concerning Japan and Elsewhere," J.A.A. Stockwin

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