Japan's pursuit of human security: humanitarian agenda or political pragmatism?

This article introduces the concept of human security, as it relates broadly to security studies and as it relates to the case of Japan. It examines the principal criteria by which human security may be measured and introduces the inherent tensions in domestic/international and state/sub-state dimensions of this novel form of security as it pertains to Japan. The article subsequently goes on to examine in practice how the Japanese government has created a 'safe umbrella of "human security"' in order to strengthen its participation in contemporary global society.