Abstract: As an island country in the Pacific region, it is natural for Japan to have diplomatic relationships with neighboring island countries. By the early 1970s, Japan started to provide Official Development Assistance (ODA) to two individual island countries in the Pacific region, and, in the mid-1980s, when most of the island countries had achieved independence, Japan’s diplomacy expanded to additional countries. In 1985 then Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone made an official visit to two of the island countries, and, in 1987, official policy expressing support for the Pacific island countries’ independence, regional cooperation, political stability, economic development, and people-to-people exchange was issued. In October 1997, the “Japan-SPF Summit Meeting” with participants of leaders from Japan and 14 South Pacific Forum member island countries/regions and government representatives of Australia and New Zealand was held in Tokyo. The 8th Pacific Islands Leaders meeting held in May 2018 is symbolic of Japan’s diplomacy toward the Pacific Islands Forum member countries. This article is the author’s personal observation of Japan’s diplomacy toward Pacific Islands Forum member countries and the significance of Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting.
Country or Region: Japan
Smith, Sheila A
Abstract: No relationship is more important to the future of Asia than the one between Japan and China. PM Abe’s visit to Beijing last month put the relationship back on a firmer footing. Yet diplomacy alone will not stabilize Sino-Japanese relations. Popular attitudes in both countries also matter, and will be shaped by the success or failure of leaders to manage the growing complexity of this relationship from food security to fisheries management to national defense and new solutions to China’s growing influence over the daily lives of Japanese. Across Asia too, Japan and China will need to coexist without impeding each other’s influence. Next year’s visit to Japan by President Xi offers ample opportunity for expanding the foundation of this latest round of diplomatic “fresh starts” in the Japan-China relationship. Uncertainty over the US role in Asia, however, has made this a more difficult task.
Michishita, Narushige
Abstract: On June 12, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (hereafter DPRK or North Korea) leader Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission, met in Singapore for the first time. The two men signed a joint declaration and pledged to work toward denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and improving bilateral relations. These developments raise several questions. What impact will this summit meeting between the two leaders have on regional security? What sorts of opportunities and risks will that impact produce for Japan? How should Japan deal with this fluid regional situation?
Schoff, James L
Abstract: This article examines the domestic political dynamics behind US president Donald Trump’s “America First” approach to trade and foreign policy, to understand better how long this strain of American economic nationalism might last and what it means for Japan’s national security strategy. The political base for Trump’s trade protectionism and apparent indifference to allies has roots stretching back into American history, but this movement has strengthened in recent years due to a combination of growing economic inequality in the United States, demographic changes, and the impact of fast-paced technology development and economic globalization. These political trends are likely to persist beyond Trump’s presidency, although some potential negative effects on Japan and the US-Japan alliance in the medium-to-longer term can be mitigated by Japan’s proactive foreign policy and other steps. The alliance still offers a great deal of value to both countries—now and into the future—but Japan should consider a slightly larger global leadership role in concert with others, even as the allies work to enhance their continued cooperation on shared interests.
Lind, Jennifer
Abstract: In the past few years, many wealthy democracies have exhibited significant backlash against the liberal international order. Why has Japan—also a leader of this order—remained comparatively calm? I argue that though Japan was a prominent member of the liberal international order, in many ways it pursued policies far less liberal than those of its partners. Japanese trade policies (lingering trade barriers in in agriculture and non-tariff barriers in industrial sector) protected different sectors of the Japanese economy. Where Japan did liberalize, the government upheld the social compact of extending benefits to dislocated workers. Furthermore, Japan’s strict immigration policy contrasts with far more welcoming immigration policies in Europe and the United States. Tokyo deferred to public skepticism about immigration (rather than disregarding it, as did American and European leaders). The more nationalist agenda of a leading liberal state is critical for understanding both the roots of the current crisis in the liberal international order—and how it might be saved.
Chellaney, Brahma
Abstract: The imperative in the Indo-Pacific region is to build a new strategic equilibrium pivoted on a stable balance of power. A constellation of likeminded states linked by interlocking strategic cooperation has become critical to help build such equilibrium. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is the author of the “free and open Indo-Pacific” concept that the US is now pushing. But Japan faces important strategic challenges. To secure itself against dangers that did not exist when its current national-security policies and laws were framed, Japan must bolster its security or risk coming under siege. US security interests will be better served by a more confident and secure Japan that assumes greater responsibility for its own defense and for regional security. The US must encourage Japan, which has not fired a single shot against an outside party since World War II, to undertake greater national-security reforms. Peace in Asia demands a proactive Japan.
Sun, Jing
Abstract: This paper examines the Japanese factors behind the stalemate between Japan and Russia. It treats the territorial dispute not as a core reason but as a consequence of deeper problems, both emotive and structural. Japanese leaders cannot challenge the multiple forces keeping them from ending the stalemate.
Diesen, Glenn
Abstract: Russia’s effort to become a geoeconomic power in Asia alters the dynamics of the territorial dispute with Japan. Both Moscow and Tokyo aim to prevent Russia’s geoeconomic “pivot to Asia” becoming merely a pivot to China. Yet, a settlement is obstructed by the growing geoeconomic value of the Southern Kurils and Japan’s lack of an autonomous foreign policy.
Kim, Sung Chull, and Yousun Chung
Abstract: This article compares the different trajectories of nuclear power policy in Japan, Taiwan and Korea in the post-Fukushima era. The Fukushima nuclear accident ratcheted up the level of contention between civil activism and supporters of nuclear power in all three states. The result of this contention has been decided by the combined effects of two factors – interest structure (complexity vs simplicity) and politicisation (national level vs local level). In terms of scope, policy change has taken place in Taiwan, Japan and Korea in that order. This analysis contributes to a balanced understanding of both structural constraints and the political process in which each actor, and in particular civil activism, is able to manoeuvre.
Lande, Eivind
Abstract: This article gives a broad description of the Japanese second Abe government’s reassurance, arming, and alliance policy toward China. The sources used are mostly elite interviews, newspaper articles, and books from Japan. It gives a realist analysis but also looks at New Komeito’s influence within the coalition government on topics such as the adoption of principles for collective self-defense. While retaining major elements of the defensive realist Yoshida Doctrine, the direction of policy change has been toward a more assertive policy. Japanese perceptions of China’s capabilities and intentions and of the offensive or defensive advantage of the geography of the Nansei Islands and Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles give an explanation for the shift in policy.
Taniguchi, Tomohiko
Abstract: This essay argues that Japan needs the United States to stay involved in the Indo-Pacific and examines how, in a time of great regional uncertainty, Japan under Abe has attempted to engage the United States and keep it close while simultaneously bolstering Japan’s own capabilities. The first section looks at Abe’s cultivation of relations with U.S. administrations in the face of changing regional dynamics. The second section then details Abe’s efforts and contributions to stabilizing a strong bilateral relationship and U.S. presence in the region. The essay concludes with a call to maintain this stability in the years ahead.
Soeya, Yoshihide
Abstract: This essay presents a perspective on Japan’s relations with the two Koreas in relation to resolving the thorny issues posed by North Korea. It will first briefly recap recent developments in North Korea’s posture under Kim Jong-un before examining Japan’s interpretation of those changes and related interactions with South Korea and the United States in response. It will then analyze the evolution of Japan’s approach to relations with the Korean Peninsula and suggest strategic and political options for the future.
Kawashima, Shin
Abstract; The essay first examines where the [Sino-Japanese] relationship went off track, starting in 2008, with Chinese incursions into the disputed waters of the East China Sea. It then addresses more recent issues in the bilateral relationship, including how the deteriorating Sino-U.S. relationship has affected both Sino-Japanese and U.S.-Japanese ties and how Japan is striking a balance between Chinese and U.S. initiatives for Asia. The essay concludes by examining where China and Japan see the Sino-Japanese relationship heading in the near term and what is needed to establish a stable, constructive bilateral relationship.
Brown, James D.J
Abstract: This essay makes the case that despite Abe’s careful cultivation of closer ties with Russia in the areas of politics, economics, and security, a favorable territorial deal is still likely to elude him. Above all, this is because the conditions that Russia will apply to even a two-island deal will be too demanding for any Japanese leader to accept.
Cooney, Kevin
Preview: This essay examines Japan’s ability to adapt quickly to radical changes in global leadership and traditional foreign policy norms that have left other nations adrift and confused. It concludes that a purpose-driven foreign policy is more likely to aid and guide the nation in a strange and interesting policy environment than one driven by tangible goals.
