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Japan’s Arduous Rejuvenation as a Global Power: Democratic Resilience and the US-China Challenge
by Victor TeoThis open access book assesses the profound impact of Japan’s aspirations to become a great power on Japanese security, democracy and foreign relations. Rather than viewing the process of normalization and rejuvenation as two decades of remilitarization in face of rapidly changing strategic environment and domestic political circumstances, this volume contextualizes Japan’s contemporary international relations against the longer grain of Japanese historical interactions. It demonstrates that policies and statecraft in the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s era are a continuation of a long, unbroken and arduous effort by successive generations of leaders to preserve Japanese autonomy, enhance security and advance Japanese national interests. Arguing against the notion that Japan cannot work with China as long as the US-Japan alliance is in place, the book suggests that Tokyo could forge constructive relations with Beijing by engaging China in joint projects in and outside of the Asia-Pacific in issue areas such as infrastructure development or in the provision of international public goods. It also submits that an improvement in Japan-China relations would enhance rather than detract Japan-US relations and that Tokyo will find that her new found autonomy in the US-Japan alliance would not only accord her more political respect and strategic latitude, but also allow her to ameliorate the excesses of American foreign policy adventurism, paving for her to become a truly normal great power.
Japan’s Asian Diplomacy: Power Transition, Domestic Politics, and Diffusion of Ideas (Critical Studies of the Asia-Pacific)
by Hidetaka YoshimatsuThis book provides a comprehensive analysis of Japan’s Asian diplomacy under Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. Under the Kantei-centred policymaking system, Shinzō Abe has implemented assertive foreign policies with a slogan of ‘diplomacy taking a panoramic perspective of the world’. The analyses in the book cover the traditional and emerging fields of national security and international political economy. While its empirical examination is based on field-specific research, it also incorporates the analysis of Japan’s bilateral relations with China, the US, India, and others. In addition, the book provides a solid, theory-driven analysis of Japan’s external policy and relations. In an independent chapter, this work sets up integrative theoretical frameworks for empirical analyses by relying on key concepts drawn from the three international relations theories of realism, liberalism and constructivism. Going forward, research in this book also explores the development of key regional affairs. Maritime security and space security are two of major security-related affairs, in which the states in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific have to engage, including the development of the TPP (TPP-11) and RCEP, as well as infrastructure development and development cooperation, which are crucial in relation to China’s initiatives in the BRI and AIIB. Lastly, the book provides valuable references to regionalism in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific by analyzing regional integration/cooperation through free trade agreements and the development of regional connectivity. This includes the evolution of cooperation and conflict within key regional frameworks such as the East Asia Summit and APEC, as well as key regional visions such as the Free and Open Indo-Pacific. It also takes into account the possible influence of ideational factors such as norms, principles, and rules on the development of regional cooperation.
Japan's Border Issues: Pitfalls and Prospects (Routledge Contemporary Japan Series)
by Akihiro IwashitaJapan was sometimes described as a country of "peace" during the Cold War period, in contrast to the continental border conflicts taking place at the time, such as the China-Soviet rivalry. However, as the maritime frontier was "rediscovered" and defined by the regional powers and legal refinements of the 1970s, the process of states seeking a secure maritime zone has accelerated and maritime rivalries have become as intense as inland rivalries. This book examines the territorial disputes souring relations between Japan and its three neighbours: Russia, South Korea and China. It combines an empirical study with theoretical advancements in comparative research to understand the Cold War and post-Cold War border issues related to Japan, particularly the Northern Territories/South Kurils dispute with Russia; Takeshima/Dokto with Korea; and Senkaku/Diaoyu with China and Taiwan. Based on the history of negotiations with the Soviet Union and Russia over the course of fifty years, the study offers a series of practical suggestions to enable these disputes to be separated from arguments over their history and resolved on the basis of the principle of mutual advantage for those affected by them. This book provides not only the key to resolving these three disputes affecting East Asia, but the framework in which to seek the resolution of other territorial issues worldwide. Explaining the history and possible outcomes of Japan’s territorial disputes with Russia, South Korea and China whilst providing concrete steps for resolving entrenched territorial disputes, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of International Relations, Japanese Politics and International Law.
Japan's Changing Generations: Are Young People Creating a New Society? (Japan Anthropology Workshop Ser.)
by Gordon Mathews Bruce WhiteThis book argues that 'the generation gap' in Japan is something more than young people resisting the adult social order before entering and conforming to that order. Rather, it signifies something more fundamental: the emergence of a new Japan, which may be quite different from the Japan of postwar decades. It argues that while young people in Japan in their teens, twenties and early thirties are not engaged in overt social or political resistance, they are turning against the existing Japanese social order, whose legitimacy has been undermined by the past decade of economic downturn. The book shows how young people in Japan are thinking about their bodies and identities, their social relationships, and their employment and parenting, in new and generationally contextual ways, that may help to create a future Japan quite different from Japan of the recent past.
Japan's China Policy: A Relational Power Analysis (European Institute of Japanese Studies East Asian Economics and Business Series)
by Linus HagströmJapan's China Policy understands Japan's foreign policy in terms of power - one of the most central concepts of political analysis. It contributes a fresh understanding to the subject by developing relational power as an analytical framework and by applying it to significant issues in Japan's China policy: the negotiations for a bilateral investment protection treaty and the disputed Pinnacle (Senkaku/Diaoyu) Islands. Hagström demonstrates that Japan exerted power over China in such divergent empirical settings for the most part by using civilian instruments positively, defensively and through non-action. Given that Japan's foreign policy is often portrayed rather enigmatically in terms of power, the unique contribution of Japan's China Policy is to demonstrate how to analyze power aspects of Japan's foreign policy in a more coherent fashion. This revealing approach to Japan's foreign policy will be of huge interest to anyone studying Japanese politics, foreign policy or international relations.
Japan's Civil-Military Diplomacy: The Banks of the Rubicon (Politics in Asia)
by Dennis T. YasutomoSince the early 1990s, there has been a clear evolution in the military dimension of Japanese diplomacy. From Gulf War I in 1991 to the present day, an incremental but unmistakable acceptance of, and resort to, military dispatches has taken place, and yet crucially, Japan has not morphed into a traditional military power. Exploring Japan’s involvement in both Afghanistan and Iraq, this book examines the evolution and nature of the new civil-military dimension in Japanese foreign policy. It shows how foreign aid, Japan’s traditional non-military diplomatic tool, was merged with the operations of the Japanese Self-Defense Force in Iraq and the activities of NATO-ISAF forces in Afghanistan, and emphasises the centrality of civilian power to Japanese foreign policy and diplomacy. However, Dennis Yasutomo argues that while a new civil-military security culture is replacing the old merchant state culture of pacifism and anti-militarism, Japan does not yet qualify as a military "normal nation". Further, the book’s exploration of the increased utilization of military power within the context of civilian objectives and non-military diplomatic instruments, sheds light on the current build-up of Japanese military power in East and Southeast Asia amid territorial disputes and nuclear threats, and highlights the impact that Japan’s new civil-military diplomacy may have on wider international affairs in the 21st Century. Drawing on interviews with key actors in Tokyo, as well as with practitioners who have served on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, this book will have broad appeal to students and scholars working on Japanese politics and diplomacy, military and security studies and international relations.
Japan’s Defense Engagement in the Indo-Pacific: Deterrence, Strategic Partnership, and Stable Order Building (United Nations University Series on Regionalism #28)
by Nanae BaldauffThis original book systematically examines Japan’s defense engagement with its strategic partners since the end of the Cold War based on Japan’s national security strategy. The author maps three defense engagement activities: military exercises, capacity building, and defense equipment transfer and technology cooperation – and subsequently evaluates these against the three national security objectives: deterrence, cooperative security, and the Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision. The book asks two important research questions: why is Japan active in defense engagement with the armed forces of its strategic partners? And, what purposes do Japan’s self-defense forces pursue? Through the ten carefully selected cases of strategic partners: Australia, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, ASEAN, the UK, France, NATO, and the EU, the book follows a structured, cross-case comparison based on the analytical framework developed for the research. It also discusses the evolution of Japan’s postwar defense policy, providing a solid background for the case studies. The book overall argues that, while the Japan-US alliance is still the most indispensable, Japan’s strategic partnerships are a valuable instrument of deterrence that contributes to Japan’s national security objectives. In order to more effectively pursue these objectives and thus secure the national interest, Japan must pursue a purpose-driven defense engagement.
Japan�s Development Assistance: Foreign Aid And The Post-2015 Agenda
by John Page Hiroshi Kato Yasutami ShimomuraJapan's Development Assistance
Japan's Dietary Transition and Its Impacts (Food, Health, and the Environment)
by Vaclav Smil Kazuhiko KobayashiAn examination of the transformation of the Japanese diet from subsistence to abundance and an assessment of the consequences for health, longevity, and the environment.In a little more than a century, the Japanese diet has undergone a dramatic transformation. In 1900, a plant-based, near-subsistence diet was prevalent, with virtually no consumption of animal protein. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, Japan's consumption of meat, fish, and dairy had increased markedly (although it remained below that of high-income Western countries). This dietary transition was a key aspect of the modernization that made Japan the world's second largest economic power by the end of the twentieth century, and it has helped Japan achieve an enviable demographic primacy, with the world's highest life expectancy and a population that is generally healthier (and thinner) than that of other modern affluent countries. In this book, Vaclav Smil and Kazuhiko Kobayashi examine Japan's gradual but profound dietary change and investigate its consequences for health, longevity, and the environment.Smil and Kobayashi point out that the gains in the quality of Japan's diet have exacted a price in terms of land use changes, water requirements, and marine resource depletion; and because Japan imports so much of its food, this price is paid globally as well as domestically. The book's systematic analysis of these diverse consequences offers the most detailed account of Japan's dietary transition available in English.
Japan's Dietary Transition and Its Impacts
by Vaclav Smil Kazuhiko KobayashiIn a little more than a century, the Japanese diet has undergone a dramatic transformation. In 1900, a plant-based, near-subsistence diet was prevalent, with virtually no consumption of animal protein. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, Japan's consumption of meat, fish, and dairy had increased markedly (although it remained below that of high-income Western countries). This dietary transition was a key aspect of the modernization that made Japan the world's second largest economic power by the end of the twentieth century, and it has helped Japan achieve an enviable demographic primacy, with the world's highest life expectancy and a population that is generally healthier (and thinner) than that of other modern affluent countries. In this book, Vaclav Smil and Kazuhiko Kobayashi examine Japan's gradual but profound dietary change and investigate its consequences for health, longevity, and the environment. Smil and Kobayashi point out that the gains in the quality of Japan's diet have exacted a price in terms of land use changes, water requirements, and marine resource depletion; and because Japan imports so much of its food, this price is paid globally as well as domestically. The book's systematic analysis of these diverse consequences offers the most detailed account of Japan's dietary transition available in English.
Japan’s Disaster Governance
by Yuko Kaneko Itoko SuzukiNatural disasters are often multifaceted and cause severe damage. Disasters initiated locally can become national and even global crises. Today's world urgently needs a new body of knowledge and techniques for the mitigation of and response to disaster. Central to such a body of knowledge are disaster preparedness, emergency and crisis management systems of government, of which capacity building is becoming an increasingly important element in public administration, management and governance. Today, disasters are to be managed by sound local, national, and global governance, through all the phases of preparedness, prevention, mitigation and then to relief, recovery and re-construction. During all these phases, government plays the most important role. This book provides a case of the disaster governance of Japan, by presenting information and analyses on what happened in the Magnitude 9 Great East Japan Earthquake that caused the huge tsunami and the INES Level 7 Fukushima nuclear power plants accidents on March 11, 2011. In examining this Japanese case study, this book illustrates the socio-economic damage of the stricken areas together with the overall picture of the disasters. It examines Japan's capacity for disaster governance and it's crisis management system in response to the most devastating disaster that the country has ever encountered since the end of WWII. It also offers preliminary findings learned from this experience in the Japan's public administration and governance systems, challenged to be more accountable and transparent during the recovery and reconstruction efforts now in progress.
Japan's Economic Planning and Mobilization in Wartime, 1930s-1940s
by Yoshiro MiwaAlthough most economists maintain a (justifiable) mistrust of a government's goals when it intervenes in an economy, many continue to trust its actual ability. They retain, in other words, a faith in state competence. For this faith, they adduce no evidence. Sharing little skepticism about the government ability, they continue to expect the best of governmental intervention. To study government competence in World War II Japan offers an intriguing laboratory. After all, governments direct wars. They decide whether to prepare for them, when to initiate them, how to execute them, and the terms on which to end them. Toward that end, the public sometimes grants them as much power as it can feasibly grant. And in Japan during World War II, the public granted the state the maximum power. In this book, Yoshiro Miwa shows that the Japanese government did not conduct requisite planning for the war by any means. It made its choices on an ad hoc basis, and the war itself quickly became a dead end. That the government planned for the war incompetently casts doubts on the accounts of Japanese government leadership more generally.
Japan's Economic Power and Security: Japan and North Korea (The University of Sheffield/Routledge Japanese Studies Series)
by Christopher W. HughesIs Japan re-emerging as a normal, or even a great, military power in regional and global security affairs? This Adelphi Paper assesses the overall trajectory of Japan’s security policy over the last decade, and the impact of a changing Japanese military posture on the stability of East Asia. The paper examines Japan’s evolving security debate, set against the background of a shifting international environment and domestic policymaking system; the status of Japan’s national military capabilities and constitutional prohibitions; post-Cold War developments in the US Japan alliance; and Japan’s role in multilateral regional security dialogue, UN PKO, and US-led coalitions of the willing. It concludes that Japan is undoubtedly moving along the trajectory of becoming a more assertive military power, and that this trend has been accelerated post-9/11. Japan is unlikely, though, to channel its military power through greatly different frameworks than at present. Japan will opt for the enhanced, and probably inextricable, integration of its military capabilities into the US Japan alliance, rather than pursuing options for greater autonomy or multilateralism. Japan’s strengthened role as the defensive shield for the offensive sword of US power projection will only serve to bolster US military hegemony in East Asia and globally.
Japan's Economic Revival: Policy Challenges in a Globalized World
by Daniel A. Citrin Alessandro ZanelloThis book focuses on Japan's recent recovery from a decade-long stagnation, with particular attention to the unfinished policy agenda and the international spillovers of Japan's policies, through& background studies (both analytical and descriptive) by IMF economists.
Japan’s Effectiveness as a Geo-Economic Actor: Navigating Great-Power Competition (Adelphi series)
by Yuka Koshino Robert WardGeo-economic strategy – deploying economic instruments to secure foreign-policy aims and to project power – has long been a key element of statecraft. In recent years, it has acquired even greater salience given China’s growing antagonism with the United States and the willingness of both Beijing and Washington to wield economic power in their confrontation. This trend has particular significance for Japan given its often tense political relationship with China, which remains its largest trading partner. While Japan’s post-war geo-economic performance often failed to match its status as one of the world’s largest economies, more recently Tokyo has demonstrated increased geo-economic agency and effectiveness. In this Adelphi book, Yuka Koshino and Robert Ward draw on multiple disciplines – including economics, political economy, foreign policy and security policy – and interviews with key policymakers to examine Japan’s geo-economic power in the context of great-power competition between the US and China. They examine Japan’s previous underperformance, how Tokyo’s understanding of geo-economics has evolved and, given constraints on its national power-projection, what actions Japan might feasibly take to become a more effective geo-economic actor. Their conclusions will be of direct interest not only for all those concerned with Japanese grand strategy and the Asia-Pacific, but also for those middle powers seeking to navigate great-power competition in the coming decades.
Japan's Emerging Youth Policy: Getting Young Adults Back to Work (Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies)
by Tuukka ToivonenFrom the 1960s onwards, Japan’s rapid economic growth coincided with remarkably smooth transitions from school to work and with internationally low levels of youth unemployment. However, this changed dramatically in the 1990s, and by the 2000s, youth employment came to be recognized as a serious concern requiring an immediate response. What shape did this response take? Japan’s Emerging Youth Policy is the first book to investigate in detail how the state, experts, the media as well as youth workers have reacted to the troubling rise of youth joblessness in early 21st century Japan. The answer that emerges is as complex as it is fascinating, but comprises two essential elements. First, instead of institutional ‘carrots and sticks’ as seen in Europe, actors belonging to mainstream Japan have deployed controversial labels such as NEET (‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’) to steer inactive youth into low-wage jobs. A second approach has been crafted by entrepreneurial youth support leaders that builds on what the author refers to as ‘communities of recognition’. As illustrated in this book using evidence from real sites of youth support, one such methodology consists of ‘exploring the user’ (i.e. the support-receiver) whereby complex disadvantages, family relationships and local employment contexts are skilfully negotiated. It is this second dimension in Japan’s response to youth exclusion that suggests sustainable, internationally attractive solutions to the employment dilemmas that virtually all post-industrial nations currently face but which none have yet seriously addressed. Based on extensive fieldwork that draws on both sociological and policy science approaches, this book will be welcomed by students, scholars and practitioners in the fields of Japanese and East Asian studies, comparative social policy, youth sociology, the sociology of social problems and social work.
Japan's Environmental Politics and Governance: From Trading Nation to EcoNation (Routledge Studies in Asia and the Environment)
by Yasuo TakaoEnvironmental issues stretch across scales of geographic space and require action at multiple levels of jurisdiction, including the individual level, community level, national level, and global level. Much of the scholarly work surrounding new approaches to environmental governance tends to overlook the role of sub-national governments, but this study examines the potential of sub-national participation to make policy choices which are congruent with global strategies and national mandates. This book investigates the emerging actors and new channels of Japan’s environmental governance which has been taking shape within an increasingly globalized international system. By analysing this important new phenomenon, it sheds light on the changing nature of Japan’s environmental policy and politics, and shows how the links between global strategies, national mandates and local action serve as an influential factor in Japan’s changing structures of environmental governance. Further, it demonstrates that decision-making competencies are shared between actors operating at different levels and in new spheres of authority, resulting from collaboration between state and non-state actors. It highlights a number of the problems, challenges, and critiques of the actors in environmental governance, as well as raising new empirical and theoretical puzzles for the future study of governance over environmental and global issues. Finally, it concludes that changes in the tiers and new spheres of authority are leading the nation towards an environmentally stable future positioned within socio-economic and political constraints. Demonstrating that bridging policy gaps between local action, national policy and global strategies is potentially a way of reinventing environmental policy, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Environmental Studies, Environmental Politics and Japanese Politics.
Japan's Foreign Aid: Old Continuities and New Directions (Routledge Contemporary Japan Series #Vol. 2)
by David AraseFilling a gap in the existing literature, this book analyzes the distinctive features of Japan’s development aid, especially technical co-operation, in comparison with other donors’ aid. Incorporating a wealth of research, it discusses whether Japan is behind other leading donor countries in rethinking its aid policy and whether it lacks transparency, sensitivity to recipient needs, and a coherent and coordinated policy that targets poverty. The volume assesses the nature and effectiveness of the administration of Japan’s aid, and explores the degree of involvement of private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Including contributions from experts with direct experience with Japanese ODA, the book provides a wide range of recipient and donor viewpoints and presents important policy recommendations.
Japan’s Foreign Aid Policy in Africa: Evaluating the TICAD Process
by Pedro Amakasu RaposoJapan's Foreign Aid Policy in Africa seeks to evaluate TICAD's intellectual contribution to and its development practices regarding Africa over the past 20 years. A central conclusion is that, while TICAD bureaucrats lacked agency to support Japanese companies in Africa, the model of emerging powers partnerships has expanded in Africa.
Japan's Foreign Aid to Africa: Angola and Mozambique within the TICAD Process (Routledge Contemporary Japan Series)
by Pedro Amakasu RaposoThe Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) was established in 1993 with the intention of creating opportunities for trade and investment on both sides and the promotion of sustainable development. In 2003, the conference translated Japanese aid policy to Africa into three key pillars: human centered development, poverty reduction through economic growth, and the consolidation of peace, and since 2005 Africa has on several occasions been the largest recipient of Japanese overseas aid. Tracing Japanese foreign aid to Africa during and after the Cold War, this book examines how the TICAD process sits at the intersection of international relations and domestic decision making. Indeed, it questions whether the increase in aid has been driven by domestic changes such as demands from civil society and donor interest, or pressures emanating from the international system. Taking Angola and Mozambique as case studies, the book explores how Japan’s development cooperation with Africa has assisted previously war torn states make the transition from war to peace, and in doing so demonstrates the centrality of human security to Japanese foreign policy as a means of ensuring sustainable development. This book will have great interdisciplinary appeal to students and scholars of Japanese and African studies, Japanese politics, international relations theory, foreign policy, economic development and sustainable development.
Japan’s Foreign and Security Policy Under the ‘Abe Doctrine’: New Dynamism or New Dead End?
by Christopher W. HughesJapan is shifting onto a new trajectory for a more muscular national security policy, US-Japan alliance ties functioning for regional and global security, and the encirclement of China's influence in East Asia. The author explores how PM Abe Shinz?'s doctrine may prove contradictory and counter-productive to Japanese national interests.
Japan's Foreign Policies (Routledge Library Editions: Japan)
by A M PooleyThis volume draws together material from The Japan Chronicle, The Japan Gazette and the China Treaty Port foreign papers, all of which are of great historical value. The Japan and China Treaty Port foreign papers frequently contain important articles translated from the vernacular press. These original articles were often written by leading politicians and statesmen – Count Mutsu, Count Hayashi, Tang-shao-Yi, Wu-ting-Fang and Liang-chi-Chao were all prolific contributors. Written with the prospect of World War II looming, the rapid changes in the Far East happened almost without the West realising. This volume makes available key documents and analyses Japanese foreign policy with a view to directing UK handling of a delicate diplomatic situation in the Far East.
Japan's Foreign Policy Maturation: A Quest for Normalcy (East Asia: History, Politics, Sociology and Culture)
by Kevin CooneyThe sudden end of the Cold War took the Japanese foreign policy community by surprise. The Yoshida Doctrine which served Japanese foreign policy so well during the Cold War is no longer a viable foreign policy option. This dissertation examines the restructuring of Japanese foreign policy since the end of the Cold War. Through a series of 56 interviews with Japanese foregin policy elites, the changes in Japanese foreign policy are put into the context of the foreign policy literature.
Japan's Foreign Relations: A Global Search For Economic Security
by Robert S. Ozaki Walter ArnoldAfter World War II, Japan reemerged in the arena of international relations as an almost exclusively economic power without military might or territorial ambitions. Within some thirty years it transformed itself from a semideveloped state to a technological superpower with an economy that today is the second largest in the free world, next only to the United States, accounting for over 10 percent of total global production. The management of a rapidly growing industrial state with little domestic supply of resources necessarily requires great skill in the difficult task of maintaining sufficient access to overseas markets to sustain internal economic activity. Not surprisingly, then, Japan's foreign relations from World War II to the present have been heavily conditioned by economic considerations. This collection of original articles investigates how the economic growth of Japan has affected the pattern of its foreign relations and where and to what extent economic principles have had to be compromised for political, legal, cultural, or ideological reasons. The contributors, experts on Japan's economy, politics, and foreign relations, analyze the state of Japan's foreign relations with North America, the EC, Oceania, the Soviet Union, COMECON, China, ASEAN, the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, Korea, and Taiwan, focusing on developments in the last seven years and predicting likely trends in the 1980s.
Japan's Foreign Relations in Asia
by James D.J. Brown Jeff KingstonJapan's Foreign Relations in Asia has been specifically designed to introduce students to Japan’s foreign relations in Asia since 1990, a period in which there have been dramatic developments in Japan, including the reinterpretation of the Constitution and expanded US–Japan defence cooperation. The geopolitical dynamics and implications of these new developments are profound and underscore the need for a new textbook on this subject. Covering not only the key regional players of China and the Koreas, this textbook also encompasses chapters on Japan’s relations with India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand, along with its multilateral engagement and initiatives. Combined with transnational chapters on critical issues, key themes covered by this book include: An historical overview of key post-war developments. Japan’s evolving security policy. Analysis of the region’s escalating maritime disputes. An evaluation of Japanese soft power in Asia. Written by leading experts in accessible, jargon-free style, this new textbook will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students of Japanese politics, international relations and foreign policy and Asian affairs in general.