Paper short abstract:

The paper presents results gathered from discourse analysis which was applied on environment related public statements made by prominent Japanese right-wing organizations. The research seeks to detect changes in the discourse over time and compare characteristics among the organizations.

Paper long abstract:

Although it can be argued that green conservatism has a long history in Japan especially due to linkages to Shintoism and such concepts as "forest culture", it has not attracted much academic attention. Instead, environmentalism in Japan has been analyzed mostly by taking for granted that it originates mainly from progressive left-wing movements. Because of this there are few attempts to grasp what kind of environmental protection discourse exists among Japanese right-wing groups and how it has been evolving in the recent years. This paper seeks to fill this gap by conducting discourse analysis of environment related public statements made by prominent right-wing representing organizations, such as Nippon Kaigi, Japan Innovation Party, Komeito, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and others. The research seeks to detect changes in the discourse over time and compare characteristics among the organizations. The time frame covers the period from 2011 - the year that not only revitalized environmental discourse in Japan mainly because of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster but also marked the transition of Japan's mainstream politics which soon resulted in LDP's return to power.