Winner of the prestigious Yoshida Shigeru Prize 1999 for the best book in public history, this book presents a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of Japan’s international relations from the end of the Pacific War to the present. Written by leading Japanese authorities on the subject, it makes extensive use of the most recently declassified Japanese documents, memoirs, and diaries. It introduces the personalities and approaches Japan’s postwar leaders and statesmen took in dealing with a rapidly changing world and the challenges they faced. Importantly, the book also discusses the evolution of Japan’s presence on the international stage and the important – if underappreciated role – Japan has played. The book examines the many issues which Japan has had to confront in this important period: from the occupation authorities in the latter half 1940s, to the crisis-filled 1970s; from the post-Cold War decade to the contemporary war on terrorism. The book examines the effect of the changing international climate and domestic scene on Japan’s foreign policy; and the way its foreign policy has been conducted. It discusses how the aims of Japan’s foreign relations, and how its relationships with its neighbours, allies and other major world powers have developed, and assesses how far Japan has succeeded in realising its aims. It concludes by discussing the current state of Japanese foreign policy and likely future developments.
Preface to the Revised Edition Preface to the Original Edition Introduction: Japanese Diplomacy from Prewar to Postwar Iokibe Makoto 1. Diplomacy in Occupied Japan Iokibe Makoto 2. The Conditions of an Independent State: Japanese Diplomacy in the 1950s Sakamoto Kazuya 3. The Model of an Economic Power: Japanese Diplomacy in the 1960s Tadokoro Masayuki 4. Overcoming the Crises: Japanese Diplomacy in the 1970s Nakanishi Hiroshi 5. The Mission and Trials of an Emerging International State: Japanese Diplomacy in the 1980s Murata Koji 6. Japanese Diplomacy After the Cold War Iokibe Makoto Conclusion: What was Postwar Japanese Diplomacy?
Biography
Makoto Iokibe is President of the National Defence Academy of Japan and adviser on foreign policy to the Government of Japan. He was formerly a Professor of History in the Graduate School of Law at Kobe University.
Robert Eldridge is Associate Professor in the Osaka School of International Public Policy and Director of the US-Japan Alliance Affairs Division in the Center for International Security Studies and Policy, Osaka University.
