Belief in Conspiracy Theories and Socio-Political Identity in Japan
(2020) Annual Conference of the American Political Science Association (APSA) (10.September.2020)
Files
No attached file found for this publication.
Details
- Authors
- Abstract
- Conspiracy theories have emerged as an important factor in the recent rise of populism in many countries, with belief in a range of conspiracies functioning as both a consequence and an enabler of lack of trust in media and experts (or in science more generally), a justification for the authoritarian tendencies of preferred leaders, and a provider of a sense of community and belonging for certain groups of citizens. While Japan has largely escaped some of the more pernicious global conspiracy theories, such as anti-vaccine conspiracies and climate change denial, other conspiracies can easily be found being expounded in Japan – including, for example, claims of a “cover-up” of the true impact of the Fukushima disaster, belief in an anti-Japanese agenda being pursued by political and media figures who are secretly of Korean or Chinese descent, or assertions of untoward and outsized influence on Japan’s governance by shadowy interest groups. The degree of prevalence of these and other conspiracy theories and the extent to which they are associated with specific social and political identities remains a largely unstudied aspect of politics and public opinion in Japan, but has a significant bearing on our understanding of political identity and of the likely future developments in terms of populism and polarisation in the country. This study presents results and analysis of a large-scale survey carried out in Japan in 2019, during which respondents were asked about their views on a range of conspiracy theories – both popular international conspiracies and local Japanese conspiracies – alongside standard survey batteries measuring their political leanings, trust in a range of institutions and actors, and responses to populist statements. From this survey data we are able to construct a detailed picture of which theories enjoy popularity among different segments of the population, including a finding which shows highly contrasting attitudes to conspiracy theories among supporters of the LDP government and supporters of the opposition. Taken in context of the influence conspiracy theories are now understood to have had on the formation of populist and extremist movements in other developed nations, our findings suggest an urgent need to deepen our understanding of how these ideas are being transmitted and taken up among Japanese citizens.
- Affiliations
Citations
Hino, A., Fahey A., R., & Camatarri, S. (2020). Belief in Conspiracy Theories and Socio-Political Identity in Japan. Annual Conference of the American Political Science Association (APSA). https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/237286