Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami - 3.11 and Public Opinion of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF): Trending Toward Normalization? Disaster Leading to Improvement in Civil-Military Relations in Japan

This report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. When the largest earthquake ever recorded in Japan's modern history struck on the afternoon of March 11, 2011 (3.11), the resulting tsunami and nuclear disaster contributed to the crisis quickly spinning out of control. While the central government's reaction was lambasted by the media and the public, the positive reception of the Japanese Self-Defense Force's (SDF) response efforts represented a possible shift in the place and perception of the organization. This research seeks to find what lasting effect, if any, 3.11 had on public opinion toward the SDF. It also investigates whether any such potential shift has an observable impact on Japan's recent moves toward apparent normalization. It analyzes the events and trends during and following 3.11 as well as those surrounding comparable disasters in Japan's past. Several modern case studies from disasters in Chile, Indonesia, and China are also analyzed to see if 3.11 can serve as a useful marker for determining shifts in civil-military relations in Japan and perhaps beyond. Findings reveal that 3.11 caused enduring positive trends in the SDF's popularity even several years after the crisis as well as a recruitment surge in the years following. While overall changes in hard numbers and statistics were ultimately noteworthy yet modest, 3.11 and several of the case studies most importantly revealed an underlying and perhaps unmeasurable tectonic improvement in the relationship between the public and the SDF.

The normalization of the Japanese military has been a topic heavily scrutinized by scholars throughout post-World War II history, by American policymakers concerned with bilateral military operations and Mutual Defense Treaty implementation, and by regional neighbors wary of Japanese remilitarization. The general scholarly consensus is that despite the conflict between pacifism and defense with which the Japanese people and government constantly seem to grapple, there has been an ongoing move toward remilitarization and so-called normalization. While the trend appears gradual, drastic shifts in this direction might be punctuated by events outside the government's control and subsequent response. The study of an event on the order of magnitude of 3.11 might yield an effective litmus test on the Japanese government's reactionary attitude toward normalization. More importantly, this research potentially reveals the scope of the impact that domestic disaster relief operations can have for a military seeking to improve its standing with the general public at home, particularly among democracies and developing democracies.

The uniqueness of Japan's security status quo within Asia cannot be overemphasized, and perhaps contributes to the belief that any and every move toward normalization seems drastic. Constitutional restrictions on the military in Japan post-WWII and follow-on policy established through the Yoshida Doctrine ensured that Japan's baseline for violent conflict was much different than most, if not all, other contemporary examples. The actions and effectiveness of the SDF within Japan are scrutinized much more heavily than those of many peer military forces; therefore, it is useful to examine the direction of public opinion swings in response to military operations, even military operations other than war (MOOTW) such as Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR).