The Political Mechanism of Hibaku Nationalism

The LDP's Approach to the Issues of Nuclear Weapons and Hibakusha in Post-war Japan

Abstract

In post-war Japan, there was a rise in nationalistic sentiments among the Japanese to protest nuclear weapons as “the only nation to be bombed with atomic weapons.” This hibaku（nuclear-bombed）nationalism, was formed by both the Japanese people and the national government, dominated by the Liberal Democratic Party（LDP）. This article examines the political mechanism by which the Japanese government developed hibaku nationalism by examining the LPD's measures regarding nuclear weapons and the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. First, this article explores the LDP's reactions to a nationwide movement to ban nuclear weapons from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s. The LDP agreed that Japanese people should call for the abolition of nuclear weapons unless they raised “domestic political issues,” such as the Japan-U. S. Security Arrangement. Second, the article explains the governmental policy for the victims of the atomic bombings, focusing on a law-making process under the coalition government of the LDP, the Socialist Party of Japan（SPJ）, and the New Party Sakigake in 1994. The LDP and the national government provided special aid for the survivors of the bombing as victims of nuclear weapons, but denied the wartime responsibility of the government to avoid its spillover effects: compensation for other war victims inside and outside Japan and its impact on Japanese defense policy. In conclusion, this article points out that the hibaku nationalism produced by the LDP tried to keep its distance from the Japanese military, security, and foreign policy. It also suggests that the LDP formed nationalism through its conflict with social movements and other political parties, such as the SPJ.