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Japan's Pseudo-Democracy
by Peter J. HerzogRocked by scandals and accusations that crucial decisions are made by non-elected officials, Japan has been called a democracy in name only. Is it?
Japan's Quest for Stability in Southeast Asia: Navigating the Turning Points in Postwar Asia (Routledge Contemporary Japan Series)
by Taizo MiyagiMore than any other region in the world, Asia has witnessed tremendous change in the post-war era. A continent once engulfed by independence and revolution, and later by the Cold War and civil war, has now been transformed into the world’s most economically dynamic region. What caused this change in Asia? The key to answering this question lies in the post-war history of maritime Asia and, in particular, the path taken by the maritime nation of Japan. Analysing the importance of Japan’s relationship with Southeast Asia, this book therefore aims to illustrate the hidden trail left by Japan during the period of upheaval that has shaped Asia today—an era marked by the American Cold War strategy, the dissolution of the British Empire in Asia, and the rise of China. It provides a comprehensive account of post-war maritime Asia, making use of internationally sourced primary materials, as well as declassified Japanese government papers. As such, Japan's Quest for Stability in Southeast Asia will be useful to students and scholars of Japanese Politics, Asian Politics and Asian History.
Japan's Quest: The Search for International Recognition, Status and Role
by Warren HunsbergerAn international team of ten specialists in Japanese and American foreign relations address the crucial question: what role should Japan play in international affairs? They try to find a satisfactory answer to a concern which was first raised in the mid-19th century.
Japan's Re-emergence as a 'Normal' Military Power (Adelphi series)
by Christopher 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 Relations With China: Facing a Rising Power (The University of Sheffield/Routledge Japanese Studies Series)
by Lam Peng ErThe essays in this collection examine Sino-Japanese political relations given the phenomenon of ‘a rising China and a stagnating Japan’. Questioning whether their relationship is one of cooperation or conflict, the book reviews China and Japan’s bilateral ties to see whether they have deepened and broadened despite differences in outlook, national interest and political systems. Adding a new perspective to the Sino-Japanese political relations discussion, the book looks beyond the interactions of central governments to examine the role of NGOs, local governments and sub-regional linkages. The contributors adopt a range of analytical approaches and explore case studies including the Taiwan issue, Japanese Official Development Policy towards China and joint fishery management in the East China Sea. With perspectives from the US, Russia and Malaysia, the book yields new insights into this complex and multifaceted relationship and is a welcome addition to the current literature.
Japan's Relations with North Korea and the Recalibration of Risk (The University of Sheffield/Routledge Japanese Studies Series)
by Ra MasonNorth Korea’s contemporary relations with Japan have been fraught with tension. Tactics employed by Pyongyang have included abductions of Japanese citizens, missile launches over Japanese territory, intrusions into Japanese sovereign waters, and nuclear tests in defiance of Japanese and international condemnation. In light of the security risk the DPRK poses, this book examines how the state, market, and society in Japan have framed North Korea as a salient evil, and have in turn constructed and manipulated the risks posed by their neighbour. Using the example of Japan’s post-Cold War responses to North Korea, this book studies the concept of risk in international relations, and its interactive relationship with domestic civil society. It focuses on how security risks are identified and re-evaluated by policy makers, mass media, and civil society stakeholders, and in doing so disentangles the complex processes by which Japan has framed and recalibrated risks in response to the DPRK. By exploring how risks identified with Pyongyang’s behaviour towards Japan have been mediated between the state, market, and society via mainstream discourse in Japan, Ra Mason highlights the way in which these processes are causally linked to key actors’ conceptions of risk. Indeed, this book provides an original theoretical framework – distinguishing between risk and traditional threat perceptions – through which to address issues of national security and identity, as well as the norms which inform them. Japan’s Relations with North Korea and the Recalibration of Risk will be welcomed by students and scholars across a wide range of fields including Japanese politics, Asia-Pacific studies, international relations, and security studies.
Japan's Relations with Southeast Asia: The Fukuda Doctrine and Beyond (Politics in Asia)
by Lam Peng ErThe Fukuda Doctrine has been the official blueprint to Japan’s foreign policy towards Southeast Asia since 1977. This book examines the Fukuda Doctrine in the context of Japan-Southeast Asia relations, and discusses the possibility of a non-realist approach in the imagining and conduct of international relations in East Asia. The collapse of 54 years of Liberal Democratic Party rule and the advent of a new Democratic Party of Japan raises the question of whether the Fukuda Doctrine is still relevant as a framework to analyse Tokyo’s policy and behaviour towards Southeast Asia. Looking at its origins and norms amidst three decades of change, the book argues that the Fukuda Doctrine is still relevant to Japan-Southeast Asian relations, and should be extended to relations between China and Japan if an East Asian Community is to be built. The book goes on to discuss the Fukuda Doctrine in relation to the power shift in Asia, including the revitalization of Japan’s security role. By providing a detailed understanding of a non-western perspective of Japan’s relationship with Southeast Asia, this book is a useful contribution for students and scholars of Asian Studies, Politics and International Relations.
Japan's Response to Crisis and Change in the World Economy (Routledge Revivals)
by Michèle SchmiegelowOriginally published in 1986, after a period of global changes and financial crisis in the majority of industrialised countries, this book explores how Japan’s economy seemed to maintain its success. This study provides an overview of the Japanese case and the main schools of thought that arose from it by dealing with export-related issues such as reforms in foreign exchange and trade control laws and the internationalisation of Japan’s financial markets as well as more domestic issues such as employment and wages. This title will be of interest to students of Asian Studies and Economics.
Japan's Sea Lane Security: A Matter of Life and Death? (Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies)
by Euan GrahamThis is the first major English-language study to explore the broad and longstanding connections between Japan’s national security and the safety of its sea lanes. Tracing issues from pre-and post-1945 eras, the book explores how Japan’s concerns with sea lane protection have developed across such diverse fields as military strategy, diplomacy, trade policy, energy security, and law enforcement. Drawing upon case study material and primary research including interviews with officials and security analysts, the book presents a chronological analysis of Japan’s sea lane security. While Japan’s security policies have recently undergone relatively rapid change, a historical treatment of sea lane security issues reveals long-term continuity in security policymakers’ perceptions and responses regarding Japan's defence and foreign policy. Revealing a neglected but important aspect of Japan’s military and economic security, the book investigates why officials and analysts continue to portray the defence of Japan’s sea lanes as ‘a matter of life and death’.
Japan's Security Identity: From a Peace-State to an International-State (The University of Sheffield/Routledge Japanese Studies Series)
by Bhubhindar SinghSince the end of the Cold War, there has been a significant change in Japanese security policy, as Japan’s security identity has shifted from a peace state, to an international state. In this book, Bhubhindar Singh argues that from the 1990s onwards, the Japanese security policymaking elite recognized that its earlier approach to security policy which was influenced by the peace-state security identity was no longer appropriate. Rather, as a member of the international community, Japan had to carve out a responsible role in regional and international security affairs, which required greater emphasis on the role of the military in Japan’s security policy. To explore the change in Japan’s security identity and its associated security behaviour, this book contrasts the three areas that define and shape Japanese security policy: Japan’s conception (or definition) of national security; the country’s contribution, in military terms, to regional and international affairs; and the changes to the security policy regime responsible for the security policy formulation. Further, it seeks to challenge the dominant realist interpretation of Japanese security policy by adopting an identity-based approach and showing how whilst realist accounts correctly capture the trajectory of Japanese post-Cold War security policy, they fail to explain the underlying causes of the change in Japanese security behaviour in the post-Cold War period. This book is an important addition to the current literature on Japanese security policy, and will be of great use to students and scholars interested in Japanese and Asian politics, as well as security studies and international relations more broadly.
Japan's Security Policy and the ASEAN Regional Forum: The Search for Multilateral Security in the Asia-Pacific (The University of Sheffield/Routledge Japanese Studies Series)
by Takeshi YuzawaBased on primary resources, including documents and extensive interviews with Japanese policy makers, this book provides a comprehensive and detailed empirical analysis of Japan’s involvement in Asia-Pacific security multilateralism after the end of the Cold War with special reference to the ARF. Giving an in-depth account of new developments in Japan’s post-Cold War security policy, Yuzawa also examines: Japan's initial motivations, expectations and objectives for promoting regional security multilateralism Japan's diplomacy for achieving these objectives and experiences in the ARF since its formation the effectiveness and limitations of the ARF with regards national and Asia-Pacific security the effects of Japan's experiences in the ARF on its initial conception of regional securty multilateralism and the implications of this for the direction of its overall security policy problems and difficulties that arose as a result of Japan's post-Cold War security policy of simultaneously pursuing two different security approaches - namely the strengthening of regional security institutions and the Japan-US alliance. This book will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars of Japanese security studies, as well as international relations, Asian politics and international organizations.
Japan's Security Relations with China since 1989: From Balancing to Bandwagoning? (Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies)
by Reinhard DrifteJapan's Security Relations with China since 1989 raises the crucial question of whether Japan's political leadership which is still preoccupied with finding a new political constellation and with overcoming a deep economic crisis is able to handle such a complex policy in the face of an increasingly assertive China and a US alliance partner with strong swings between engaging and containing China's power. This study of the highly topical bilateral relationship will be of great interest to students and researchers in Japanese and Chinese Studies, Politics, International Relations and Security Studies.
Japan's Security and Economic Dependence on China and the United States: Cool Politics, Lukewarm Economics (Politics in Asia)
by Keisuke IidaWith the rise of China, Japan and many East Asian countries are caught between maximizing profit from economic ties with her, and strengthening alliances with the United States to prevent China from overpowering them. Liberals and realists thus debate over the likelihood of either security tensions easing up or economic interdependence getting reduced eventually. On the other hand, Iida introduces a new theory that reinterprets the relationship between state security and economic interdependence among countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Based on case studies of recent episodes in East Asia, and especially on the experiences of Japan, this book highlights an interesting dynamic between security and economic interdependence: risk avoidance. By understanding how risk avoidance affects the behavior of these countries in terms of security and economics, it becomes evident how they eventually settle into what Iida calls "Cool Politics" and "Lukewarm Economics".
Japan's Shifting Status in the World and the Development of Japan's Medical Insurance Systems
by Yoneyuki SugitaThis book explains the origins and early developments of Japanese medical insurance systems from the 1920s to the 1950s. It closely examines the changes in the systems and the symbiotic relationship between Japan’s status in international relations and the development of domestic medical insurance systems. While previous studies have regarded the origins and development of Japanese medical insurance systems as merely a domestic issue and pay little attention to the role or effects of international affairs, this book closely examines the changes in these systems by looking at the enactment of the Health Insurance Law in 1922, the establishment of the National Health Insurance in 1938, the epoch-making reforms of 1942, numerous plans in the early Allied occupation period, and Japan’s social security plan in 1950. In doing so, it shows that there was indeed a symbiotic relationship between Japan’s status in international relations and the changing nature of domestic medical insurance systems. It also reveals that Japan’s status in international relations set the framework within which interested groups, primarily the government, made rational choices. This book is a valuable resource for academics, researchers and students who have an interest in the Japanese medical insurance systems.
Japan's Socio-Economic Evolution: Continuity and Change
by Werner Pascha Sarah Metzger-CourtFrom the commercial and industrial transformation of Osaka in the late 19th century to the role and status of Japanese multinationals in Europe: these two themes represent both the time-span and the breadth of this volume.
Japan's Subnational Governments in International Affairs (The University of Sheffield/Routledge Japanese Studies Series)
by Purnendra JainThis book moves away from the common belief that Japan’s international relations are firmly the preserve of the national government in Japan’s highly centralised political system. Examining examples of subnational governments (SNGs) across Japan the book uncovers a significant and generally unrecognised development in Japanese politics: SNGs are ever more dynamic international actors as national borders ‘weaken’ across the world. Exploring what Japanese SNGs do, where they do it, and why, the book considers the implications of these factors for Japan’s international relations and domestic politics. By bringing to light the scope and consequences of the international actions of Japan’s SNGs, this book provides a more accurate and nuanced understanding of the country's foreign policy, at a time when it is pursuing a broader and more active profile in international affairs.
Japan's Wartime Medical Atrocities: Comparative Inquiries in Science, History, and Ethics (Asia's Transformations)
by Jing-Bao NiePrior to and during the Second World War, the Japanese Army established programs of biological warfare throughout China and elsewhere. In these “factories of death,” including the now-infamous Unit 731, Japanese doctors and scientists conducted large numbers of vivisections and experiments on human beings, mostly Chinese nationals. However, as a result of complex historical factors including an American cover-up of the atrocities, Japanese denials, and inadequate responses from successive Chinese governments, justice has never been fully served. This volume brings together the contributions of a group of scholars from different countries and various academic disciplines. It examines Japan’s wartime medical atrocities and their postwar aftermath from a comparative perspective and inquires into perennial issues of historical memory, science, politics, society and ethics elicited by these rebarbative events. The volume’s central ethical claim is that the failure to bring justice to bear on the systematic abuse of medical research by Japanese military medical personnel more than six decades ago has had a profoundly retarding influence on the development and practice of medical and social ethics in all of East Asia. The book also includes an extensive annotated bibliography selected from relevant publications in Japanese, Chinese and English.
Japan, 1972: Visions of Masculinity in an Age of Mass Consumerism
by Yoshikuni IgarashiBy the early 1970s, Japan had become an affluent consumer society, riding a growing economy to widely shared prosperity. In the aftermath of the fiery political activism of 1968, the country settled down to the realization that consumer culture had taken a firm grip on Japanese society. Japan, 1972 takes an early-seventies year as a vantage point for understanding how Japanese society came to terms with cultural change.Yoshikuni Igarashi examines a broad selection of popular film, television, manga, and other media in order to analyze the ways Japanese culture grappled with this economic shift. He exposes the political underpinnings of mass culture and investigates deeper anxieties over questions of agency and masculinity. Igarashi underscores how the male-dominated culture industry strove to defend masculine identity by looking for an escape from the high-growth economy. He reads a range of cultural works that reveal perceptions of imperiled Japanese masculinity through depictions of heroes’ doomed struggles against what were seen as the stifling and feminizing effects of consumerism. Ranging from manga travelogues to war stories, yakuza films to New Left radicalism, Japan, 1972 sheds new light on a period of profound socioeconomic change and the counternarratives of masculinity that emerged to manage it.
Japan, Australia and Asia-Pacific Security (Routledge Security in Asia Pacific Series)
by Brad Williams Andrew NewmanThe threats to security in Southeast Asia have been serious and constant since the end of the Second World War. The book provides an absorbing account of the evolution of a key axis of regional stability - defence contacts between Japan and Australia, tracing the relationship from the early post-war period to the post-9/11 present. Though most works have focused on their economic nexus, Japan and Australia’s defences and security ties have assumed increasing importance since the mid-1990s. With problems such as North Korea’s nuclear program and the China-Taiwan standoff threatening regional stability, the two countries have sought to strengthen bilateral relations, and indications are that this relationship is likely to grow in the future. Japan, Australia and Asia-Pacific Security explores the evolution of their relationship in the broader context of Asia-Pacific security, addressing regional, sub-regional and transnational issues. This captivating book will be welcomed by those with an interest in Asian politics, international relations, and security studies.
Japan, Internationalism and the UN (Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies)
by R. P. DoreJapan has enormous economic power and yet is a minor player in international politics. In part this has been due to the partnership with US, but now with the end of cold war there is a fierce debate going on in Japan regarding the international political role for the nation. This book is a response to the issues raised and was originally published in Japanese for a Japanese audience. Ronald Dore provides a full analysis of Japan's post war international position and in particular its role within the UN, the use of armed force and constitution. Japan, Internationalism and the UN provides a unique insight into Japan's foreign policy and its related domestic politics. It is the product of nearly half a century of study and discussion with the Japanese themselves about their place in the world.
Japan, Race and Equality: The Racial Equality Proposal of 1919 (Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies)
by Naoko ShimazuThis study explores the Japanese motivations in raising the proposal for racial equality at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. This is the first comprehensive analysis of an historically significant event which has not been given adequate scholarly attention in the past. The story which unfolds underlines the complexity of politics and diplomacy surrounding the racial equality proposal and analyses the effect of the failure of the proposal on Japan's politics in the 1920s and 1930s.
Japan, Russia and their Territorial Dispute: The Northern Delusion (Routledge Contemporary Japan Series)
by James D. BrownThe territorial dispute between Japan and Russia over four islands off the northeast coast of Hokkaidō has been an enduring obstacle to closer relations between the two powers and therefore an important determinant of geopolitics in North-East Asia. Having emerged at the end of World War II, this conflict has now existed for more than seven decades. And yet, despite the passage of so much time, within Japan there remains a resilience of belief that the islands will eventually be returned. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of Japan’s prospects of ever recovering these "Northern Territories". Offering an in-depth account of why the Japanese side believe they still have a chance of securing the return of the four islands, it also provides an objective and methodical evaluation of the prospects of these expectations being realised. The key finding is that Japanese policymakers and scholars have consistently overestimated the extent of Japan’s leverage with regard to Russia, and that there is, in fact, already no possibility whatsoever of sovereignty over the four islands being restored to Japan. This has major implications for Japanese decision makers who must balance their principled commitment not to compromise on territorial issues with more pragmatic considerations of energy security and how to contain the rise of Chinese regional power. Presenting a unique analysis and a strikingly different perspective on this territorial dispute, the findings of this book are of considerable importance for international relations within the Asia-Pacific region. It will be of interest to students and scholars of Japanese Politics, Russian Politics and International Relations.
Japan, Sport and Society: Tradition and Change in a Globalizing World (Sport in the Global Society)
by Joseph Maguire Masayoshi NakayamaEvolving for centuries in relative isolation, sport in Japan developed a unique character reflective of Japanese culture and society. In recent decades, Japan's drive towards cultural and economic modernization has consciously incorporated a modernization of its sports cultures. Japan, Sport and Society provides insights into this process, revealing the tensions between continuity and change, tradition and modernity, the local and the global in a culture facing the new economic and political realities of our modern world. The book explores three broad areas of interest: sport and modern society in Japan current issues in social reconstruction and reproduction in sport modernization, globalization and sport in Japan. Providing unprecedented access to new work from Japanese scholars, and raising key questions of globalization and cultural identity, this text represents a fascinating resource for students and researchers of sport and society.
Japan-Bashing: Anti-Japanism since the 1980s (Routledge Contemporary Japan Series)
by Narrelle MorrisThe aim of this book is to examine and analyse the phenomenon of ‘Japan-bashing’, from its invention and popularisation in the United States in the late 1970s to the emergence of other national variants, including in Australia and Japan, to its gradual decline in the late 1990s. It is the first major book-length study of ‘Japan-bashing from a multinational perspective, one that attempts to place ‘Japan-bashing’ in its proper historical context and to examine its operation and legacy in the twenty-first century. Despite its importance in the study of discourses about Japan, as well as in understanding broader global changes in the late twentieth century and beyond, the phenomenon of ‘Japan-bashing’ remains largely neglected in published writings. Moreover, it is a far more complex phenomenon than has been assessed thus far. While, on first glance, ‘Japan-bashing’ merely seems to recall other periods in which Japan has been viewed as a dangerous ‘other’ to ‘the West’, such as the Western emphasis on the ‘yellow peril’ from the late nineteenth century as well as Allied anti-Japanese propaganda during World War II, ‘Japan-bashing’ also had its own distinctive characteristics. Moreover, while ‘Japan-bashing’ is often described as a quaint historical, rather than a pressing contemporary, phenomenon, it is actually by no means extinct. The ongoing influence of ‘Japan-bashing’ also has parallels in other ‘bashing’ phenomena, such as ‘China-bashing’. This book will be of interest to scholars and postgraduate students in Japanese studies and international relations.
Japan: A Documentary History
by David J. LuAn updated edition of David Lu's acclaimed "Sources of Japanese History", this two volume book presents in a student-friendly format original Japanese documents from Japan's mythological beginnings through 1995. Covering the full spectrum of political, economic, diplomatic as well as cultural and intellectual history, this classroom resource offers insight not only into the past but also into Japan's contemporary civilisation. This volume covers from the late 18th century up to 1995. Three major criteria used in the document selection were that: the selection avoids duplication with other collections - 75% of the documents presented here are newly translated; a document accurately reflects the spirit of the times and the life-styles of the people; and emphasis is on the development of social, economic and political institutions.