Session: Session 2 / Grand Ballroom 1
Date/Time: April 22, 2014 / 14:30-15:45

Moderator:
Martin Fackler, The New York Times

Speakers:
Brad Glosserman, Pacific Forum CSIS
Miyake Kuni, Ritsumeikan University
Park Cheol-Hee, Seoul National University
Yamaguchi Noboru, National Defense Academy of Japan

Panel Description
Since the end of the Second World War, Japan has re-invented itself as an anti-militarist, peace-loving, economic super-state. However, more than two decades of economic stagnation, coinciding with the rise of China, has begun to shake Japan’s confidence in its post-war identity. There are increasing calls for becoming a “normal nation” by revising the Peace Constitution and rearming itself. Japan’s top politicians dabble in historical revisionism. Why is Japan moving in this direction? What are the implications of a “normal” Japan for the region and the world?