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Calling someone a "nationalist" is a very serious indictment. How well does
"国家主義" translate as "nationalism"?

For example, is this sentence so extreme as to imply something like:  
"田中さんは国家主義のある人です。"  
" _Mr. Tanaka wants to re-build the Imperial Japanese Empire._ "?

What about the difference between 国家主義 and ナショナリズム? The latter is not easily
said nor "spelled" in Japanese. What is the difference between the two?
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word-choice nuances
Is 国家主義 considered as abhorrent as "nationalism" is?
Even for me (as native Japanese), it's very difficult question. But I also
find this kind of interesting, so I will try to answer your question.

In regular conversation, we (at least I) don't mind if you translate "国家主義 =
nationalism".

Regarding of Wikipedia,
[国家主義](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9B%BD%E5%AE%B6%E4%B8%BB%E7%BE%A9)
considers the country (or the government) is the first in everything, but
[ナショナリズム](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%8A%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A7%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AA%E3%82%BA%E3%83%A0)
is the word for activities of concert, freedom, and departure...etc.

Wikipedia binds the
[国家主義](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9B%BD%E5%AE%B6%E4%B8%BB%E7%BE%A9)
page to the [statism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statism) page, not the
[nationalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalism) page.

It's my understanding that 国家主義 (statism) is part of nationalism.
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The root of this answer lies in the word "nation," which has several
translations into Japanese. When you look up "nation" in a J-E dictionary,
several words come up: 国家 (state), 国民 (citizen[s]), 民族 (slightly outdated
translation: ethnic group, e.g. "Hebrew nation"). On Wikipedia, "nation"
corresponds to 国民. There is no word for "citizen-ism" based on this 国民 because
that doesn't really make sense logically.

Statism 国家主義 implies mostly the belief that the state being the supreme force
for order, so it's somewhat akin to the "statism" which you hear libertarians
and separatists complain about. It doesn't have the implication of
"nationalism" in the sense of imperialism and supremacism, but it does include
criticizing political activities which would subordinate local identities to
citizen identity.

The old translation of "nation" is 民族 "ethnic group", and a word exists 民族主義
for "ethnicism" (e.g. Zionism, pan-Slavism), but this was never a major
partisan force in Japan so it is not used in a critical sense.

The word "nationalism" as used in a left-critical sense doesn't seem to
correspond to anything in the Japanese language, so it is best to use the
foreign loan word, ナショナリズム. This is the proper translation of "nationalism"
according to Wikipedia etc. Now, whether this foreign loanword actually
corresponds to anything a politician actually believes in real life is another
question.
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How can we be asking whether "国家主義" means "nationalism", when the meaning of
nationalism itself is very fluid? You have provided one context sentence to
fix your particular meaning of nationalism: "wanting to re-build the Imperial
Japanese Empire". But that can surely be described specifically as as
"imperialism" and "militarism". Is "nationalism" equivalent to "imperialism"
and "militarism"? It is true that in times of large scale political change, we
are likely to see "nationalism" and "imperialism" and "militarism" appearing
more often (along with several other ism's as well). So there is correlation,
but correlation does not imply causation.

We are now living in the age of Globalism, a term that includes a range of
phenomena extending from higher ideals such as global cooperation on climate
change, global peace, elimination of disease and hunger, all the way down to
the race to the bottom in workers wages and working conditions, sweeping of
industrial pollution under foreign carpets, and under-utilization of human
potential in advanced nations.

We now see Nationalism rising in response to the darker side of Globalism.
Maybe, instead of reacting violently against either, we need to find a way to
let the better parts of Nationalism and Globalism coexist, while leaving the
worst of both behind.

We shouldn't be in any rush to define "国家主義" as something a priori bad. It's
one the many natural ～主義 in our social gut which when holistically well
balanced keeps us healthy, but when not makes us sick.

Edit: According to Wikipedia, "nationalism can be positive or negative".

_Nationalism is a complex, multidimensional concept involving a shared
communal identification with one's nation. It is a political ideology oriented
towards gaining and maintaining self-governance, or full sovereignty, over a
territory of historical significance to the group (such as its homeland).
Nationalism therefore holds that a nation should govern itself, free from
unwanted outside interference, and is linked to the concept of self-
determination. Nationalism is further oriented towards developing and
maintaining a national identity based on shared characteristics such as
culture, language, race, religion, political goals and/or a belief in a common
ancestry. Nationalism therefore seeks to preserve the nation's culture. It
often also involves a sense of pride in the nation's achievements, and is
closely linked to the concept of patriotism. In these terms, nationalism can
be positive or negative._
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