Translating global norms: the localisation of women, peace and security (WPS) in Japan

In contrast to Japan’s otherwise poor record on gender equality, Japan’s former Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yōko took a surprising step in 2023 of placing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda at the heart of the country’s foreign policy. Yet this momentum was short-lived and we argue that it can be explained by the mechanisms that we discover in this research. Moving beyond existing meta-level studies that have pointed to problems in the implementation of the WPS agenda in Japan, this paper examines the specifics of how WPS norms are incorporated into the country’s national action plan (NAP). Drawing on interviews with experts and policymakers and employing constructivist ideas of norm localisation, norm breeding, and parasitising, we show which factors and local narratives shape norm adaptation processes and highlight the discovered strategies. These mechanisms are responsible for making meaningful pro-gender norm diffusion difficult, even in politically favourable times.