000			01622cam a2200205 4500
100	1		_aCANNON Brendon J.
700			_aROSSITER Ash
245			_aUnraveling Japan's aircraft carrier puzzle: _bleveraging carriers' symbolic value/ _cBrendon J. Cannon & Ash Rossiter
260			_c2022
520			_aJapan's decision to convert two helicopter-carrying ships into fixed-wing aircraft carriers has generated criticism on two fronts. Military analysts question the military sense of carriers in the age of long-range precision missiles, while other domestic critics decry the move as a flagrant breach of Japan's constitutional constraints on possessing senryoku (war potential) and one likely to provoke Japan's neighbors, most notably China. Against this backdrop of criticism, why did the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe take Japan back into the difficult business of carriers? This article argues that contrary to stated criticism, the carrier conversion program does provide Tokyo with tangible military benefits but these on their own are insufficient to explain the decision. Instead, we show the move is motivated in part by the desire to leverage carriers' symbolic value for political ends.
650			_aJAPAN
650			_aMILITARY
650			_aCHINA
650			_aSYMBOLIC WEAPONS
650			_aTERRITORIAL DEFENSE
773			_aAsian Security: _gVol 18, No. 1, 2022, pp. 20-37 (21A)
598			_aJAPAN, MILITARY, CHINA, POLITICS, DEFENCE, ASIAN, SECURITY
856			_uhttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14799855.2021.1982897 _zClick here for full text
945			_i69391.1001 _rY _sY
999			_c42456 _d42456