Becoming right-wing citizens in contemporary Japan

Abstract

This article explicates the process through which individuals become right-wing citizens in contemporary Japan. By incorporating insights from the sociology of emotion, this article complements the existing analyses that emphasize the cognitive process that makes individuals resonate with right-wing ideologies and frames. Drawing on original and secondary interview data with 46 right-wing citizens and ethnographic observations of activities by right-wing groups, it explores how such feelings as shock, fear, anger, and affective bonds shape the mechanism of political conversion along with the cognitive process and ideological socialization. In particular, short-run emotions can motivate individuals to take part in political activism through which they learn about how they should (not) feel in particular situations. Participation in right-wing activism re-shapes short-run emotions into long-run emotions that tend to sustain their commitment by justifying symbolic boundaries between “us” and “them.”.