1st Edition
Civil Defense in Japan Issues and Challenges
In 2004, Japan instituted a system to protect citizens against military attacks and terrorism for the first time after World War II. Faced with the Tokyo subway attack (1995), the 9/11 terrorist attacks (2001), and the changing security environment in East Asia, the Japanese government was forced to implement the most extensive reform of its domestic crisis management ["kiki-kanri"] system in the postwar era.
Japan’s civil defense system is now called civil protection ["kokumin-hogo"]. Two world wars in the 20th century led to the development of national institutions based on civil defense in Western democratic countries (including the United States and Canada). As times have changed, most countries have adopted a comprehensive crisis (or emergency) management system, integrating civil defense and disaster management (against natural and technological hazards). However, Japan continues to take a different path. Why has a comprehensive crisis management system yet to be formed? How do complex and fragmented institutions work? This book examines the institutions and policies of civil protection (i.e., Japan's civil defense) and further analyzes their effectiveness and issues. Furthermore, it also examines the trade-offs resulting from the coexistence of two independent institutions: civil protection and natural disaster management.
A valuable read for scholars of Japan’s public administration and security/ defense policy, as well as for those researching and comparing disaster-preparedness across countries.
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
Editors
List of Contributors
List of Japanese Laws and Acts
Introduction: Questioning Japan's Outdated Safety Myths
Yasuhiro Takeda
Chapter 1. A Guide to Japan's Crisis Management System: History, Laws, and Policies
Jun Ito
Chapter 2. Decentralization and Integration in Civil Protection Governance
Yusuke Kawashima
Chapter 3. Local Governments' Crisis Management Systems: Conflicts over Cooperation
Ken Kato
Chapter 4. An Overview of and Issues in Legislative Management Regarding Civil Protection in Armed Attack Situations
Hironobu Nakabayashi
Chapter 5. The Civil Protection Trap: Why Government-led Evacuation Plans for War and Terrorism are Impractical
Naofumi Miyasaka
Chapter 6. The Realities of Civil Protection Training in Local Governments
Yusuke Kawashima, Jun Ito, and Daisuke Hakiai
Chapter 7. A Response to the Civil Protection Plans of Japan's Municipalities for the Problems of the Remote Islands
Koji Furukawa
Chapter 8. The Private Sector Response to Ballistic Missile Attacks
Takashi Ashizawa
Chapter 9. Two Approaches to Responding to Destructive Cyber Attacks on Critical Infrastructure in Japan: Addressing Cyber Crises as "Service Failures" or "Armed Attacks"
Takahisa Kawaguchi
Chapter 10. Pitfalls in Japan's Civil Protection Framework: A Reconsideration Based on a Red Team Attack Scenario Policy Simulation
Tomoaki Honda
Chapter 11. Japan's Changing Approach to Dealing with Rumors in the Aftermath of Natural Disasters and War
Masahiro Hayashi
Conclusion
Yasuhiro Takeda
References
Index
Biography
Yasuhiro Takeda is a professor in the Department of International Relations at Tokyo International University, Japan, and an Emeritus Professor at the National Defense Academy, Japan.
Jun Ito is an associate professor in the Department of Global Liberal Arts, Faculty of International Communication at Aichi University, Japan.
Yusuke Kawashima is an associate professor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Ibaraki University, Japan.
