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Japan's Foreign Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

Roger Bowen
Roger Bowen*
Affiliation:
Colby College
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Extract

Japan serves as an excellent case of the anomaly of the economic giant-political pygmy whose ability to influence international events is severely limited despite a manifest desire to play a larger role. Japan's attempts to achieve political standing commensurate with its economic clout internationally have enjoyed only minimal success.

Historical factors, especially its defeat in World War II and the Occupation of Japan by the United States, continue to influence Japan's postwar foreign policy. So too does the so-called “peace clause” of the U.S.-imposed Constitution and the pacifist public consensus that has grown around it.

Since the war Japan's defense alliance with the United States has had an enormous impact on foreign policy, both inhibiting and aiding Japan's relations with other states. Japanese dependence on American defense guarantees sometimes conflicts with Japan's attempts to strike a more independent foreign policy.

Type
Research Article
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , March 1992 , pp. 57 - 73
Copyright
Copyright © The American Political Science Association 1992

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References

Additional Readings

Frost, Ellen J. 1987. For Richer, For Poorer: The New U.S.-Japan Relationship. New York: The Council on Foreign Relations. A well-written overview of the problems and promises of the U.S.-Japan relationship.Google Scholar
Takashi, Inoguchi and Okimoto, Daniel I. 1988. The Political Economy of Japan, Vol. 2: The Changing International Context. Stanford: Stanford University Press. A useful collection of essays dealing with Japan's place in the international system and aspects of foreign policy making. Two essays especially are pertinent: Donald C. Hellmann, “Japanese Politics and Foreign Policy: Elitist Democracy Within the American Greenhouse”; and Kenneth B. Pyle, “Japan, the World, and the Twenty-first Century.”Google Scholar
Shintaro, Ishihara. 1989. “From Bad to Worse in the FSX Project.” Japan Echo XVI(3): 59–65. An angry critique about U.S. interference in Japan's attempt to build its own experimental fighter aircraft, written by LDP conservative and coauthor (with Sony Corp. head Akio Morita) of the controversial The Japan That Can Say No.Google Scholar
Toshiki, Kaifu. 1990. “Japan's Vision.” Foreign Policy 80: 28–39. The current prime minister's platitudinous survey of Japan's foreign policy.Google Scholar
Saburo, Okita. 1989. “Japan's Quiet Strength.” Foreign Policy (Summer): 128–45. An intelligent overview of Japan's foreign policy by a former foreign minister.Google Scholar
Prestowitz, Clyde. 1988. Trading Places: How We Allowed Japan to Take the Lead. New York: Basic Books. An argumentative but thoughtful lament about the reversal in fortunes of the two nations by a Japanese specialist, formerly with the Commerce Department.Google Scholar
Pyle, Kenneth B. 1987. “In Pursuit of a Grand Design: Nakasone Betwixt the Past and the Future.” Journal of Japanese Studies 13:2: 243–70. An in-depth study of former Prime Minister Nakasone's marginally successful attempt to overcome Japan's typically reactive foreign policy.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calder, Kent. 1988. “Japanese Foreign Economic Policy: Explaining the Reactive State.” World Politics 40(4): 517–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kan, Ito. 1990. “Trans-Pacific Anger.” Foreign Policy 78: 131–52.Google Scholar
Scalapino, Robert A. 1990. “Asia and the United States: The Challenges Ahead.” Foreign Affairs 69(1): 89–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlesinger, Arthur Jr., 1983. “Foreign Policy and the American Character.” Foreign Affairs 62(1): 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manabu, Shimizu. 1988. “Japan's Middle East Policy.” Japan Quarterly 35(4): 383–89.Google Scholar
Eiichi, Shindo. 1989. “Frozen in the Cold War: Another Look at Japan-U.S. Friction.” Japan Quarterly 36(1): 275–81.Google Scholar
Von Wolferen, Karl. 1990. “The Japan Problem Revisited.” Foreign Affairs 69(4): 42–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Periodicals/Newspapers cited: Business Week, The Economist, Far Eastern Economic Review, Foreign Broadcasting Information Service (FBIS): East Asia, International Herald Tribune, New York Times.Google Scholar