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Paper short abstract

This presentation examines the shaping of security awareness and youth defense attitudes through the lens of 1970s modernization reforms. Focusing on the civics area of social studies, it analyzes how structural tensions between pacifism and binding state educational guidelines continue to shape contemporary discourse in Japan.

Paper long abstract

Present-day Japan stands at a critical juncture, struggling to reconcile its postwar pacifist identity with escalating regional security threats. This tension vividly manifests in the educational sphere, exemplified by controversies such as the recent distribution of a children’s version of the Defense White Paper to elementary schools. Focusing on the reforms of the late 1960s and 1970s, the study examines how the "modernization of education" (kyōiku no gendaika) triggered a fundamental conflict within the civics area of social studies. That period institutionalized a structural tension between peace education, rooted in wartime memory, and the state-mandated emphasis on national security awareness. Central to the analysis is the dualistic definition of the citizen (kōmin), which sought to balance the role of the member of civil society (shimin) with that of the national subject (kokumin). Furthermore, the presentation evaluates how international initiatives, specifically the 1974 UNESCO Recommendation, provided a pedagogical framework to reconcile state-led security awareness with the discourse of global cooperation. By analyzing curriculum guidelines and textbook revisions concerning the Self-Defense Forces, the study demonstrates that contemporary controversies represent an extension of the 1970s project to redefine Japanese citizenship "beyond the postwar."