Cultural Nationalism in Japan: A Social Psychological Study of National Ideology in a Non-Western Country
Minoru Karasawa (Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences, Nagoya University)
Studies across countries have revealed that nationalism and patriotism can be distinguished both conceptually and empirically. My own studies have repeatedly revealed a 4-factor structure of Japanese national attitudes, including Cultural Nationalism (Cul-NAT), Patriotism (PAT), National Chauvinism (Chau-NAT), and Internationalism (INT). Cul-NAT is a distinctive component of Japanese national identity, whereas the remaining factors have commonly been found in many other countries. Cul-NAT is typically associated with conservative, and INT with liberal ideology, respectively, whereas PAT and Chau-NAT show less consistent ideological patterns in Japan. Furthermore, Cul-NAT appears to facilitate disgust and perceived threat associated with “culture mixing,” and consequently, less tolerant attitude toward immigrants, whereas INT shows a reverse pattern. Overall, these results imply that cultural aspects of national ideology may play an important role in this era of globalization. Validities and limitations will be discussed concerning to what extent we can apply concepts such as “ideology” and “nationalism,” which essentially originate in Western societies, to different cultural contexts.
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