Monday 18 January 2010
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Political Change and National Identity in the UK and Japan
Daiwa Foundation Japan House
the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation in association with the Japan Society 主催
This first seminar in the 2010 series, ‘States in Change: National Identity in the UK and Japan’, explored the impact of political change or its prospect on society, its values and aspirations. The Democratic Party of Japan’s recent election victory has overturned over fifty years of nearly unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party. Does this major political upheaval represent a rejection of the past or does it point to a profound change in Japanese society and its expectations of government? The prospect of political change in the UK is similarly dominating the headlines some thirteen years since the Labour Party was returned to power. Here, too, national identity and politics are intertwined and electoral choices may influence the future nature of British society.
Summary
The backdrop to the seminar was set through an examination of national identity which in the case of the UK could be said to encompass Morris Dancing, cricket or multicultural London while in the case of Japan could include Noh Theatre, manga, anime or heavy industry, to name just a few areas. In the context of this seminar it can also be seen to incorporate politics.
Japan and the UK are often perceived as having much in common, being islands off large continents and sharing a similar sense of culture and national identity, yet stark differences do exist. Japan is a single nation whereas the UK comprises four different nationalities, for example, and while China has been the strong influence in Asia, the UK has not had to deal with a similarly dominant power in Europe.
While the political system in post-war Japan has been one of one-party dominance, the UK has periodically experienced single-party ascendancy but also various changes of government. Japan’s general election in August 2009 resulted in spectacular change and some pundits in the UK are saying that the forthcoming UK elections, which must be held by 3 June 2010, may similarly result in a change of government. There are various uncertainties which will affect the UK results including the level of turnout, which can have a tremendous impact, and the plethora of parties which exist in the UK in addition to the Labour and Conservative Parties. It is interesting to note that both main parties are calling for a revival of Englishness in opposition to the increasing popularity of the various ‘nationalist’ parties.
The Chair, Professor Arthur Stockwin, thanked the speakers for their fascinating presentations and remarked that the issue of national identity will stay with us for years to come.
The questions and comments which followed the seminar were lively and covered such issues as the importance of the European Union in the context of the upcoming general election in the UK, the success of the Democratic Party of Japan in last year’s elections, immigration and national identity, the UK’s and Japan’s role in international affairs, the effects of devolution on the unity of the UK and the potential of the new Japanese government to effect change.
コントリビューターについて
Mr Shingo Yamagami
Mr Shingo Yamagami is a Minister (Political) of the Embassy of Japan in London. He graduated from Tokyo University and joined MOFA in 1984. During most of his career he has been dealing with Japan’s relations with the USA and China, which includes the Embassy in Washington (1987-90), the Second North American Division of MOFA, the China and Mongolian Division as Deputy Director (1996-98) and the Consulate-General in Hong Kong (1998-2000). He has wide experience in treaty affairs including his roles as Assistant Director (1990-93) and then Director of the Treaties Division (2004-07). He was Deputy Director at WTO desk of MOFA (1993-96) and Counsellor at the Permanent Mission in Geneva (2000-03).
Professor Andrew Gamble
Professor Andrew Gamble is Professor and Head of the Department of Politics and International Studies and Fellow of Queen’s College at the University of Cambridge. He joined the Department in 2007. Prior to that he was Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield, where he was a founding member and subsequently the Director of the Political Economy Research Centre, as well as Pro Vice Chancellor. He is a joint Editor of The Political Quarterly, also a Fellow of the British Academy and the Academy of Social Sciences. He was awarded a Major Research Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust in 2004, and in 2005 received the Sir Isaiah Berlin Prize for Lifetime Contribution to Political Studies from the UK Political Studies Association.
Professor J A A Stockwin
J A A Stockwin (Chair) is Emeritus Fellow of St. Antony’s College and the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies, University of Oxford. His recent publications include: Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Japan (2003) and Collected Writings of J.A.A. Stockwin (2004). Professor Stockwin is General Editor of the Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies series. In 2004, he received The Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese Government in recognition of his tireless efforts to promote Japanese Studies in the UK.