[kobejean]

I've lived in Japan most of my life and while there is some truth to what you say, I think the notion that Japanese are ultranationalists or that they think all other cultures are inferior to Japan's is plain wrong.

One thing is that nationalism is taboo in Japan. While Japan doesn't reflect on its war past as strongly as Germany, there is still a strong sense of guilt and any nationalistic sentiment reminds them of war times and is perceived as creepy. Also a survey showed that Japanese don't have as much confidence in their technology and economy compared to what other countries think about Japan. I think this is largely because the Japanese are more aware of Japan's decline than people from other countries who's impression of Japan might be from the 90s, at the peak of Japan's economy. Also humility is a strong part of Japanese culture.

That said, Japanese will love it when foreigners talk about their convenience stores, or any other praises about Japanese culture. I also agree that foreign media outlets fetishize Japan when Japan is just a normal country just like any other. Foreign media often write stories about Japan having a family renting business for example, and that particular story turns out to be completely made up. They also write stories that exaggerate Japanese politeness. Then on the other hand there are stories that exaggerate Japan's ultranationalism which is a very fringe movement. Foreign media just write whatever drives clicks and so Japan gets depicted as more unusual than it really is. Also Japanese aren't so aware of what is written about them and even when they are, they don't react strongly so as to force Journalists to correct their stories.

[suction]

How is nationalism a taboo when basically all prime ministers since WW2 got into office on the nationalist or even ultranationalist ticket? Shinzo Abe is the most recent example - how many times was he elected, three or four I think. So your premise is wrong, I think you might have mistaken the façade the Japanese show to the world as the real thing. True, they won't tell you they think Japan is above all others because that would be rude, but they sure as hell believe it.

[kobebeef]

Well you are right that the LDP, the conservative party, has been elected basically every time in post war Japan. I disagree that it is based on nationalism though.

LDP gained power with the help of the CIA when the US was worried about the Soviet Union and wanted to rearm Japan (the LDP wants to rearm Japan). The majority of Japanese public has even up to this day been opposed to getting rid of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution which outlaws Japan from going to war, which is why Japan's constitution remains as the oldest unamended constitution in the world despite the LDP's efforts to amend it. I think there's a big gap between how the LDP's right wing members (its worth noting that the LDP is a large multi faction party with a wide range of political ideology) and the Japanese public largely because many LDP members are relatives of people responsible for WW2 and so they have revisionist view of the war. The Japanese public on the other hand are Pacifists because of Pacifist education. Teacher's unions were largely socialist/communist especially the early days and strongly against imperialism. Also pacifism is a part of Japanese identity because of the constitution that prohibits war, much like how gun ownership is a part of American identity.

The LDP has been in power so long that it is really the only party that has experience running the country. Japan has had brief success in electing opposition parts two times, but both times, a major earthquake occurred (1995, 2011) and the Japanese public wanted the LDP back for stability. I think that the LDP remains in power today because Japanese want stability and harmony.

I will say that pacifism is waning, but this has less to do with a sort of make Japan greater again nationalism and more to do with North Korean missiles being fired towards Japan. Again Japanese want stability and harmony so slowly opening up to the possibility of constitutional revision is largely a factor of wanting stability. This also means the Japanese absolutely hate the fringe ultra nationalists who blast their hatred on their mega phone vans. I will say though, the desire for stability and harmony also helps the nationalists because the left (besides the communist party) sees protests as divisive and unfortunately pushback against the right is rather weak.

[presentation]

If anything most of my Japanese friends seem convinced that Japan is in freefall and that the rest of the world is somehow more civilized.

[suction]

They are probably politically members of the left-of-center minority, have lived abroad, or both.

[kobebeef]

Do you speak or understand any Japanese yourself? If you ever tune into channels like ABEMA Prime and look at their political discussion of Japan's future you'd see everyone from left to right on the political spectrum all share a very bleak view of Japan.