For most Japanese IR scholars, Nagai Yônosuke is known as the most representative realist in Post-War Japan. Given the hegemony of idealism in the discursive space in 1950’s Japan, it is not an exaggeration to say that his appearance as a conservative realist in 1960’s was a historical event. In the studies concerned with political science in Post-War Japan, however, Nagai is usually depicted as a pioneer in behaviorism inspired by contemporary American political science. This article intends to synthesize these two aspects which were hitherto separately discussed, and by doing so resituate his works in the intellectual history of Post-War Japan.
Chapter I examines Nagai’s works before his debut as an international political scientist. Influenced by his brother, Nagai in his teens was concerned with the philosophical trend of logical positivism. During the Pacific War, however, fascinated by German romanticism, he went further to accept anti-Semitic theory on conspiracy. Given this experience, after the war, he began to be engaged in research on political consciousness with the theoretical framework of sociological psychology and had soon established himself as a promising political scientist. Nagai’s behaviorism owed heavily to Maruyama Masao’s work,
The World of Politics, published in 1952. Based on Lasswell’s works, Maruyama had there presented his behavioristic model of political power and suggested the importance of the activities of voluntary associations as a remedy for political apathy in mass society. In 1950’s, Nagai as well as Maruyama regarded his behaviorism as a progressive venture to establish democracy in Post-War Japan. However, Nagai was not a blind advocate of behaviorism. Reviewing Weldon’s work,
the Vocabulary of Politics, which was founded in logical positivism, he criticized the scientific assumption of American behaviorism and its inclination to social engineering. Nagai did not even conceal himself from his sympathy with Hans J. Morgenthau’s criticism to social engineering. Thus Nagai’s ambivalent attitude toward American political science was a prologue to his subsequent conversion to conservative realism in 1960’s.
Chapter II investigates Nagai’s works on international politics in 1960’s focusing on the relationship between his concern in 1950’s. and 1960’s His first article on international politics, “American concept of war and the challenge of Mao Zedong” founded its theoretical framework on his behavioristic political science including key concepts such as “situation”, “institution” and “organization”. His criticism to American concept of war was apparently based on his antipathy to social engineering which had already appeared in late 1950’s. Nagai was misunderstood by his contemporaries as an epigone of American scientific strategic studies. Discussing Nagai’s ambivalence toward scientific approach, this chapter explains the reason why such misunderstandings had occurred
Chapter III depicts how Nagai viewed the political turmoil in 1968. As an expert in the study of mass society, Nagai was sensitive to the impact of rapid economic development commencing in early 1960’s upon contemporary Japanese politics. Nevertheless, he did not advocate the end of ideology. He rather appreciated the importance of utopian ideas in the post-industrial society. In his article “Why dose socialism exist in America?”, Nagai criticized the stagnant institutionalized American liberalism and appreciated utopian idealists including Riesman and Fromm. Therefore, while adopting conservative realist critique in discussing American foreign policies, Nagai took sides with “utopian socialists” in reviewing American domestic politics. His dual strategy took its root in his consistent criticism to the institutionalized American liberalism.
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