Otto van Bismarck quipped that the crafting of laws, like sausage making, does not bear watching. Certainly both can be messy and disillusioning, but David Leheny, in probing the discourse surrounding some recent laws in Japan, demonstrates just how important and revealing it is to examine the process. This engaging study examines how domestic anxieties and international norms, ranging from child abuse and counterterrorism, are instrumentalized by policymakers to achieve long-standing agendas.
Gaiatsu, foreign pressure, is depicted frequently in terms of the United States forcing Japan to adopt some policy that Washington thinks best. In the theater of gaiatsu, Japan reluctantly goes along because it has little choice in the matter. Leheny shows us how Japanese policymakers artfully manipulate and orchestrate gaiatsu to force through legislative initiatives that are often only remotely connected to the putative gaiatsu.
In the domestic policy arena, gaiatsu is the wild card, enabling advocates to trump opposition. By justifying such initiatives in terms of international norms and expectations while playing on and seemingly addressing popular anxieties, political actors have enjoyed great success in advancing their agenda by stealth. It is the classic magicians' technique of distracting the audience's attention.