Angry Chinese and Korean responses to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine, anti-Japanese actions by Chinese soccer fans at the Asia Cup, conflicting claims over remote islands and numerous other incidents demonstrate the perils of nationalism.
Official insouciance about the consequences of visits to Yasukuni, the spiritual pillar of wartime nationalism, contrasts with the government's outrage over Chinese abuse of Japan's soccer squad and its supporters. Clearly, the myths and ignorance that sustain nationalism do not bring out the best in people and raise concerns about peace and stability.
Brian McVeigh shifts our attention away from the flag-waving histrionics of militant patriotism to the everyday nationalism that permeates Japanese society. He is primarily concerned with what various forms of nationalism do to people and how these are domestically produced and consumed. Here Japan is examined from the perspective of the scholarly literature on nationalism in ways that demonstrate how "ordinary" it is. In doing so, McVeigh debunks common myths about the racial and cultural homogeneity of the Japanese that are often invoked to nurture a sense of uniqueness impervious to comparative analysis.