Why Did the Japanese Choose War: How to See through the “Pretexts for War”

This paper critically reviews Kato Yoko’s Why Did the Japanese Choose War, aiming to assess the book’s explanatory power and limitations from a social-psychological perspective. Through a close reading of Kato’s historical narrative and comparative analysis with existing scholarship (e.g., Maruyama Masao, Iriye Akira), this review argues that while Kato’s social-psychological approach offers a valuable new lens, it suffers from underdefined key concepts, insufficient critical engagement with the limits of her own framework (e.g., the roles of coercion, colonial subjects, and institutional power), and a lack of concrete methodological exemplification. The paper concludes that Kato’s book makes an important contribution to understanding how societies normalize war, but its analytical claims require sharper articulation and empirical grounding. As a critical review essay, this paper also suggests specific directions for refining the book’s argument and extending its relevance to contemporary debates on Japanese security politics.