Peace, a Contested Identity: Japan’s Constitutional Revision and Grassroots Peace Movements

Abstract

This article provides an ethnographic account of peace in contemporary Japanese society, focusing on the ongoing political agenda—the revision of Japan’s Constitution. For the Japanese people, pacifism is a culturally embedded concept that has defined their social and political lives during the post‐World War II era. It has shaped Japanese individual and group identities, social relations, and practices. This article explores the ways in which peace represents a set of contested identities constructed through politics at the state level as well as through everyday life at the individual level. Peace is not a fixed concept nor can it be defined only by the state or authorities. The dynamic pr..