Nam Kichŏng ends his manuscript on Japan’s post–Pacific War military resurrection as a “base state” (K. kiji-kukka; J. kichi-kokka), militarized in time for the Korean War and continuing in the present, by identifying Prime Minister Abe Shinzō’s “success” in pushing Japan toward a “normal country” (chŏngsang kukka), one equipped with its own military, as “Japan’s failure which is East Asia’s failure” (451–53).1 Abe eventually failed to “normalize” his nation through revising the 1947 “peace” constitution but may have triggered the end of the “truce” forged at the time between South and North Korea, and increased the likelihood of the recurrence of a war in the Korean Peninsula. Abe’s “success” must therefore be seen as a failure for both Japan and East Asia (456). Fortunately, the prime minister’s aggressive rhetoric did not instigate a war. Nam’s purpose, however, is to trace the development of Japan’s efforts...
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