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This paper considers the evolving Australia--Japan bilateral relationship. Key issues discussed include the `drift' and `neglect' in bilateral relations in the 1990s, the current state of the economic relationship, the proliferation of Free Trade Agreements and future directions. A central theme is the importance of bilateral ties for both countries and that shared visions such as building regional cooperation through APEC might be compromised by the proposed Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines popular representations of Japan and China before and during the war, assesses the ideas of key figures from the press, and considers the ways in which media and policy interacted through the influence of opinion leaders. These prepared the way for the ‘soft’ peace relying on Japanese cooperation that would become the basis for a new alliance between America and Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Japan's constitutional revision and resultant remilitarization can affect the balance of power in the international system beyond its national borders. This paper critically analyzes the constitutional revision debate in contemporary Japan and the implications for Japan's foreign relations if or when it becomes constitutional for the island nation to possess military forces. It argues that justification for constitutional revision is based on political myth rather than historical reality and rational analysis, and also that a militarized Japan will not enhance its independence or international prestige. Rather, there is the great fear that a new Japan will be further subordinated to the United States as a critical part of the latter's global strategy and defense mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes Japanese newspaper editorials on the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York to test the validity of the three major assumptions of current critical scholarship. Are Japanese newspaper editorials homogeneous; polarized into a majority Left and a minority Right; or diversified within the framework of this political opposition? The results suggest that all three are partially correct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The period after 9/11 has been labeled the new post Cold War or 'post post Cold War': 1 an era of increased asymmetrical threats and terrorism, deeper global cooperation concerning counter-terrorism and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), growing US unilateralism as well as isolation and the birth of the Bush Doctrine. Beyond 9/11, what is the meaning of the new post Cold War for the US-Japan alliance? This paper will address this question from the perspectives of both the United States and Japan in this new era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the role of the United States in the development of Japan's post-war constitution is well documented, less is known of the role of other Allied nations. This article seeks to narrate the role of Australia in this process, giving particular focus to the debate over provisions to provide an avenue for popular expression of approval of the constitution via referendum and/or a Diet review process. This process was approved as an official Far Eastern Commission (FEC) policy, known as the `Provision for Review'. The debate over this issue, and other elements of the constitutional replacement process, help illuminate the workings of the FEC, the relationship and conflict between the various Allied powers over policy and practice, the role of US unilateralism in the Allied control bodies, and the nuances of Australian policy towards Occupied Japan. Additionally and importantly, it demonstrates the appropriation of idealistic terms, especially the expression of the `will of the people', by both sides of the Allied constitutional debate in order to further their own post-war agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kiyoshi Karl Kawakami was one of the most influential Japanese immigrant journalists to defend Japanese imperialism. He did so at a time when Japanese immigrant communities showed various responses to Japan's becoming an Asian empire between the two world wars. This article shows how a Japanese immigrant journalist utilized minority politics to represent Japanese immigrant communities in the United States. Cooperating with the Japanese government's public diplomacy and propaganda projects, Kawakami also linked the interests of his home country and Japanese immigrant communities to American national interests. For this purpose, he utilized the notions of open-door international trade and anti-communism -- both widely shared by the American public -- to justify Japanese imperialism and hide its colonial nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I carry out a close reading of Nakamoto Takako's book, My Diary of the Anpo Struggle (1963). Nakamoto was a writer and activist who was active in leftwing politics, the labour movement and the proletarian literature movement in the 1920s and 1930s and returned to the movement after 1945. Her published diary recounts her participation in the struggle against the renewal of the US-Japan Security Treaty and her other political activities. The book is a mixture of personal memory and political history and provides us with a distinctive ‘map’ of one person's emotional geography of Tokyo. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Tokyo claims that peace-building has become a key pillar in its foreign policy. A litmus test of this rhetoric is Japan's peace-building efforts in conflict-ridden Mindanao. Japan's partnership with Malaysia, Libya and Brunei (all Organization of Islamic Conference members) to address the conflict between the government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is significant because it is a diplomatic milestone beyond the frameworks of the US - Japan Alliance and the United Nations. If Japan were to succeed in Mindanao, peace-building might well be a promising 'third path' in its international relations - beyond an inward-looking 'one-country' pacifism or over-dependence on its US ally for its foreign policy direction. Interviews with serving diplomats and other key players are used to offer additional insight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan's self-defining foreign policy role has been evolving on the basis of alliance with the United States since 1945. The author argues that depending on the changing terms of alliance with the United States, Japan has been adjusting its role roughly every 15 years: domestic contestation over alliance (1945 - 1960), free rider or Yoshida doctrine in practice (1960 - 1975), systemic supporter (1975 - 1990), global civilian power (1990 - 2005) and global ordinary power (2005 - 2020). In this article the author argues that the three key conditions for global hegemony, military, currency and demographic hegemony, will be met by the United States to varying degrees until the second quarter of this century. The author speculates that Japan's foreign policy role will evolve on the assumption of a continuing United States leadership role, albeit with far more dependence on market conditions and power calculations abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having maintained a low-key relationship since early postwar, Japan today shows increasing interest in India as a rising economic and regional power. The two nations are now developing ties in many areas consequent with India's ascent, most importantly in politico-strategic matters. This strategic development is intriguing as Tokyo was one of the most critical voices condemning New Delhi's decision to conduct nuclear testing in 1998, when the relationship reached its nadir. So why this strategic repositioning and why now? This article explores Japan's move towards India as an attempt to balance and bandwagon strategically. Japan's strategic thinking now recognises India as potential balance for Japan against China while Japan bandwagons with the United States in response to both India and China as rising Asian powers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on managing issues on the installation of the United States military bases in Okinawa, Japan. Level of judicial independence from political interference; Claims of landowners on their constitutional rights to private property; Impact of local protests on policymakers.

Examines the popularity of Japanese cultural products in the United States (U.S.). Challenge to the U.S. hegemony in the export and circulation of global entertainment products; Success of live-action television show 'The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'; Failure of television cartoon 'Sailor Moon'; Boom in the sale of children's merchandise.