Japan's Foreign Policy 2104-2DM8PZJA-ZAL

I. Organisation of the course. Initial remarks on the scope and content of the course - outlining key problems. Basic information on Japanese language and transcriptions. Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) as a subfield in IR - levels and options for analysis. May the enigma of Japan's foreign policy be solved by FPA approach? On the reactive state theory.

Part 1: Japan as an agent in IR

II. Basis attributes of Japan as an agent in IR - location, territory, population, natural resources, economy, armed forces.

III. Between the West and the East. Dilemmas of Japanese identity. History, culture, religion, ideas and public awareness. Japan as an imagined community - symbols and myths vs. facts. Evolving perceptions of the state and politics. Axiology of Japan's participation in IR. Evolving perspectives on Japan's international role. Foreign policy doctrines and concepts.

IV. Nominal vs. real institutions of Japanese politics. The constitution and other selected legal ramifications for organisational and administrative structures of the state. Political, party and electoral systems. Real power structures - 'the 1955 political system', the 'iron triangle' and its erosion. Ministerial turf wars, alumni cohort effects, modes of recruitment, factionalism and corruption in Japan's state apparatus. The internal actors, their agendas, power and methods - the Government, the Parliament, the Emperor, courts, political parties and their factions, corporate actors, mafia, epistemic communities, the media, social pressure groups, the society.

V. The individual in Japanese foreign policy-making – the overview of modern Japanese state leaders and their achievements.

Part 2: Japan as a Western state

VI. Policy toward the US. What pushed Japan to wage war against the US - a critical analysis. The conduct and results of Pacific War and American occupation; the foundations of asymmetry: Article 9, San Francisco Treaty, Mutual Co-operation and Security Treaty, American military bases. The Yoshida doctrine and the phenomenon of beiatsu. Evolving security relationship during the Cold War and after. The salience of American market in Japanese economic policy. The changing fates of economic relations – subsequent trade disputes. The key areas of convergence and divergence of Japanese and American foreign policies toward third parties and international issues. Cultural pro-Americanism and its opposition. Japanese diaspora in the US. Case studies: 1. concentration camps for the Japanese in the US during the Pacific War; 2. the 1960 re-negotiation of the security pact; 3. Japan's participation in the Vietnam War; 4. 'sympathy budget'; 5. the textiles dispute; 6. the Toshiba boycott and the semiconductors dispute; 7. Japanese government and the society on the crimes committed by US soldiers in Japan; 8. caring about dugongs: the American bases in Japan and the environment.

VII. Policy toward Europe. How feudal Japan found its place into a Europocentric world? - critical analysis. The evolving Japanese engagement in Europe. The overview of relations with selected European states: the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. Policy toward the unifying Europe - between the Hague Declaration and ‘screwdriver factories’. Current and potential areas for Japan-EU partnership. The American context of Japan-EU relations - the issue of trilateralism. Japan and the EU in ASEM. Case studies: 1. why the USSR was not attacked from both sides - on Japanese-German relations within the Axis; 2. from Edith Cresson to Jacques Chirac - Japan and vacillating French attitudes toward the Land of the Rising Sun; 3. What the Dutch cannot forgive the Japanese - the wartime burden on Japanese-Dutch relations; 4. On untrustworthy Poles, or Japan toward Polish foreign debt default after 1989; 5. Japanese engagement in former Yugoslavia: Bosnia and Kosovo; 6. why the Japanese are investing in CE Europe?; 7. Japan toward the introduction of the euro.

VIII. Policy toward Russia. What are the origins of Russo-Japanese territorial rivalry in the Sea of Okhotsk basin? – critical analysis. The legal, political, economic, strategic and emotional dimensions of the Northern Territories dispute. Communism and USSR’s image in Japan. The ongoing process of negotiating a peace treaty after WWII. The Chinese context of Russo-Japanese relations – past and present. The perspectives for economic co-operation. Japan towards the ESPO pipeline and Sakhalin gas. Case studies: 1. the Russo-Japanese alliance of 1916; 2. the battles of Khalkhin Gol – reasons, outline, results; 3. the restoration of diplomatic ties of 1956; 4. the Krasnoyarsk summit of 1997; 5. civic and visa issues in the Northern Territories dispute.

IX. Japan in Western and global institutions. Japan in the League of Nations – a critical analysis of the origins of Japanese internationalism. Japan toward and within the UN system – conceptual, personal and financial participation: peace-keeping and other UN operations; terrorism; non-proliferation; disarmament; climate change; human rights and human security; socio-economic issues. The quest for the permanent seat in UNSC. Japan in the Bretton Woods institutions. Japan in the ICC. Japan in the G7/G8 and G20. Japan in the OECD and the Trilateral Commission. Japanese relations with the NATO and the OSCE. Case studies: 1. Japanese judges in the PCIJ and in the ICJ; 2. Japanese politicians in the Trilateral Commission; 3. Matsuura Kōichirō’s legacy in the UNESCO; the UNTAC role of Akashi Yasushi and of the Japanese contingent; 5. the Japanese UNSC ambitions w within the G-4 formula; 6. Japanese contribution in the field of nuclear disarmament; 6. Japan in the ONUMOZ mission; 7. Japanese perceptions of the OSCE.

Part 3: Japan as an Eastern state

X. Policy toward China. Affection, affirmation, alienation, domination – the historical symptoms of Chinese syndrome in Japanese policy-making. Did Japan desire a total war with China? – a critical analysis. Japan toward two post-war Chinese states. The road to the Treaty of Peace and Co-operation. The wartime legacy in mutual relations: reparations, the Nanjing massacre; ‘comfort women’, apologies, textbooks, the Yasukuni Shrine, Unit 731; their influence on inter-societal relations. The Senkaku dispute – historical, legal, political, economic, strategic and emotional dimensions. The US and Russian context in Sino-Japanese relations – past and present. The meaning and scale of economic interdependence. The crisis and the rejuvenation of Japanese policy toward the PRC in the 21st century. Case studies: 1. the South Manchurian Railway as a Japanese colonial company; 2. Japanese collaboration with the Wang Jingwei regime; 3. Matsumura Kenzō’s LDP role in restoration of ties with the PRC; 4. the gyōza dumplings row; 5. the Okinotorishima controversy; 6. the 2007 Wen Jiabao’s speech before the Japanese Diet; 7. The Japanese Supreme Court toward the ‘comfort women’ issue.

XI. Policy toward Koreas. The legacy of Japanese colonialism in Korea – a critical assessment. Japan toward the existence of two Korean states – the road to the renkei policy. The impediments on the road to post-war normalisation and the circumstances of conclusion of the Basic Treaty of 1965. The issue of reparations. The Takeshima dispute – historical, legal, political, economic, strategic and emotional dimensions. The drive to restore ties with the DPRK against the backdrop of bilateral issues of contention. Japan toward DPRK’s nuclear and missile programs. Case studies: 1. the abductions incident (racchi jiken); 2. ‘Japanese wives’ (nihonjinzuma) row; 3. status and aims of Korean diaspora in Japan; 4. Japan’s role in formation and operation of the KEDO; 5. Japan’s capability to take down DPRK’s missiles; 6. South Korean celebrities in Japanese mass culture 7. the quelling of the Samil Uprising of 1919; 8. Korean claims to the Tsushima Islands.

XII. Policy toward Southeast Asia. Why did the region’s significance in Japanese foreign policy came late? – a critical analysis of the origins of ties. The conquest of the region during the Pacific War and its post-war consequences – a recapitulation. Contemporary Japanese strategic and economic interests in the region. An overview of Japanese relations with selected states of the region. The evolution of Japan’s policy toward ASEAN. The Fukuda doctrine. Japan toward conflicts and post-Cold War reconstruction in Indochina. Commercial controversies with Southeast Asian partners. Case studies: 1. the ‘Tanaka Riots’; 2. Japanese-Thai ‘poultry war’; 3. Japanese participation in the Aceh post-tsunami humanitarian effort; 4. Japan’s role in the formation of ARF; 5. Japanese ODA for Vietnam, 1977-1980; 6. The ‘red seal’ chips and the case of Yamada Nagamasa; 7. Japan’s stance toward the Spratly dispute.

XIII. Japan toward regionalism in East Asia and Asia-Pacific. The road to Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere – a critical analysis of the origins of Japanese concepts of regional integration. The ideas of regional integration and the evolving Japanese post-war philosophy and strategy in the region. The Japanese role in creating the system of regional division of labour. Japan in governmental institutions: APEC, ADB, EAEC, ARF, ASEAN+3, CMI, EAS, Trilateral Summit; and 2nd track: PAFTAD, PECC, PBEC. Japan in the East Asian economic crisis, 1997-1998. The Sino-Japanese rivalry over the future shape of East Asian regionalism. Case studies: 1. Regional concepts of Kojima Kiyoshi; 2. Regional concepts of Akamatsu Kaname; 3. Asian Monetary Fund’s pick-a-boo – the circumstances of the defeat of 1997 proposal; 4. The Dazaifu Summit; 5. JACEP; 6. The Greater East Asia Conference; 7. Japan toward Mahathir’s idea of EAEC.

Part 4: Addenda and Summaries

XIV. Final exam. Policy toward the Middle East, South Asia, South Pacific, Africa and Latin America. Does Japan have a foreign policy toward those regions? If so, since when? – a comparative analysis. The key indicators of Japan’s engagement in those regions, relations with regional organizations. TICAD and FEALAC. An overview of relations with selected states (e.g. India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand). Case studies: 1. Japan in the Bandung Conference of 1995; 2. TICAD IV; 3. Japanese Red Army and the Lod Airport massacre; 4. Japan toward the first oil crisis; 5. Japanese aid to the ISAF; 6. Japanese contribution to the anti-piracy operations along the Somali coast; 7. Why Japan concluded an FTA with Mexico?; 8. Japanese-Australian security co-operation.

XV. The debate on Japan’s foreign policy into the 21st century. Whether and how may Japan get rid of the burden of wartime legacy in her relations with Asian neighbours? Should Japan officially remilitarise and change her peaceful constitution? Is Japanese return to pre-war practices of use of force a likelihood? What role should Japan claim at the international stage, and what will she in fact play? Are there chances for normalising Japan’s ties with Russia, and DPRK? Should Japan continue her current security policy? Should Japan lessen her dependence on the US? Will Japan choose East Asia or Asia-Pacific? What involvement in regional integration projects should we expect from Japan in the future? Will the Japanese foreign policy decision-making mechanism change in any significant manner? To what extent does a DPJ government bring change to Japanese foreign policy? What are the odds that Japan will solve territorial disputes with her neighbours? Do you consider Japan’s post-war foreign policy effective? Should Japan become more value-oriented in her external activities? What area of the world should become a subject of special attention and efforts of Japanese foreign policy makers, and why? To what extent Japanese foreign policy is one of its kind, and to what extent it can be explained with the use of theoretical toolkit of IR?