Japan’s Contribution to International Peace: Restrictions and Advantages

Abstract

Japan is said to be a peace-loving country. In fact, the State’s history indicates that Japan and its politicians have surely sought positive ways to dispatch Japan’s SDF personnel to UN or international operations for the pursuit of UN-centred policy, despite the State’s constitutional constraints. For example, Japan created or amended several laws including the PKO Law in 1992 as well as the JDR Law in 1987 and the Anti-Terrorism Law in 2001. Therefore, one can identify the evolving process of Japan’s contribution to international peace. However, at the time of writing, Japan’s contribution to UN peacekeeping is token. This article points out several restrictions and advantages for Japan to dispatch forces to overseas operations. The restrictions include legal, diplomatic, and situational ones. The advantages include ones due to the State’s record in the UN, due to the state’s diverse and comprehensive approaches to international peace, and those due to the current situation of international peace and security. Japan should take advantage of its middle-power status for its contribution to international peace. Keywords: Japan; International peace; The UN; Middle power