Rise of Nationalism in China and Japan: the Consequences on Domestic Politics and Sino-Japanese Relations

Abstract

Nationalism is once again gaining momentum in East Asia. Not only do the political leaders of China, Korea, and Japan explicitly claim their own nations legitimate rights based on nationalist sentiments, but also the mass citizens of each nations seem to give zealous support to the leaders that do make a nationalist stance. Today we are aware of the anti-Japanese, popular nationalism rising in China; nationalism based on Pro-Japanese stance and its history gaining force in Japan as well. Public mass protests, internet forum discussions, and political positions based on the rising nationalism are day by day prevailing in China and Japan. But then in order to correctly understand its political implications, we must ask ourselves the question: precisely what is the nationalism in China and Japan, and how does this popular social phenomenon affect political policies? For political scientists, it is never sufficient to just know that nationalism is a social trend present within a state system, but what is critical is to offer insights by trying to analyze and understand these phenomena scientifically. I wish to offer a scientific analysis and insight on the rise of nationalism in China and Japan, and how it transfers to the political domain in terms of political actions including governmental stance and policies.Ope