This article examines Japan’s diplomatic efforts to retain regional influences in evolving regional environments represented by the Chinese ascendancy. It regards identity as a key variable that constitutes the base for Japan’s policy ideas, and examines the formation, application and limitations of specific policy ideas that derived from Japan’s identity in the political and economic domains. The main argument of this article is three-fold. First, the Japanese government formulated specific policy ideas – value-oriented diplomacy and Japan-tailored standards – on the basis of identities as a democratic nation and a mature market economy. Second, the Japanese government incorporated such policy ideas into diplomatic strategies and sought to realize them mainly through the creation of cooperative institutions. Third, domestic political instability and the limited validity of policy ideas constitute serious constraints on arresting further decline in Japan’s influence in Asia.
AbdelalRHerreraYMJohnstonAIMcDermottR (2006) Identity as a variable. Perspectives on Politics4(4): 695–711.
2.
AbeS (2006) Utsukushii Kuni e [Towards a beautiful nation]. Tokyo: Bungei Shunju.
3.
AshizawaK (2008) When identity matters: State identity, regional institution-building, and Japanese foreign policy. International Studies Review10(3): 571–598.
4.
BergerTU (1996) Norms, identity, and national security in Germany and Japan. In: KatzensteinPJ (ed.) The Culture of National Security: Norms and Identity in World Politics. New York: Columbia University Press.
5.
CaplingA (2008) Preferential trade agreements as instruments of foreign policy: An Australia–Japan free trade agreement and its implications for the Asia Pacific region. Pacific Review21(1): 27–43.
6.
CatalinacAL (2007.) Identity theory and foreign policy: Explaining Japan’s responses to the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 U.S. war in Iraq. Politics and Policy35(1): 58–100.
7.
Daliot-BulM (2009) The taming of ‘Cool Japan’ and the challenges of cultural planning in a postmodern age. Social Science Japan Journal12(2): 247–266.
8.
DentCM (2006) New Free Trade Agreements in the Asia-Pacific. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
9.
FrimanHR (2006) Immovable object? Japan’s security Policy in East Asia. In: KatzensteinPJShiraishiT (eds) Beyond Japan: The Dynamics of East Asian Regionalism. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
10.
GoldesteinJKeohaneR (1993) Ideas and foreign policy: An analytical framework. In: GoldesteinJKeohaneR (eds) Ideas and Foreign Policy: Beliefs, Institutions, and Political Change. Ithaca. NY: Cornell University Press.
11.
HeK (2009) Institutional Balancing in the Asia Pacific: Economic Interdependence and China’s Rise. Abingdon: Routledge.
12.
HookGD (2005) Japan’s International Relations: Politics, Economics and Security, 2nd edn.London: Routledge.
13.
HoshiyamaT (2007) ‘Kachino gaiko’ wa nihon no shin sogo anzen hosho senryaku [Value-oriented diplomacy as Japan’s new comprehensive security strategy]. IIPS Policy Paper, 331J.
14.
KatzensteinPJ (1996) Introduction: Alternative perspectives on national security. In: KatzensteinPJ (ed.) The Culture of National Security: Norms and Identity in World Politics. New York: Columbia University Press.
15.
KratochwilF (1993) The embarrassment of changes: Neo-realism as the science of realpolitik without politics. Review of International Studies19(1): 63–80.
16.
KurlantzickJ (2007) Charm Offensive: How China’s Soft Power is Transforming the World. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
17.
LeeYW (2006) Japan and the Asian monetary fund: An identity-intention approach. International Studies Quarterly50(2): 339–336.
18.
MastandunoM (1998) Economics and security in statecraft and scholarship. International Organization52(4): 825–854.
MOFA (2009) 2009 ODA Hakusho [White Paper on ODA 2009]. Tokyo: Saeki Insatsu.
25.
Nihon Kisha Kurabu (ed.) (2009) Minshuto Daihyo Koho Toronkai [Policy Debates Among Candidates for DPJ Presidency]. Tokyo: Nihon Kisha Kurabu.
26.
NyeJS (2004) Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. New York: Public Affairs.
27.
ObaM (2004) Ajia Taiheiyo Chiiki Keisei heno Dotei [The Transitional Process on the Way Toward the Formation of the Asia Pacific Region]. Tokyo: Mineruba Shobo.
28.
OtmazginNK (2008) Contesting soft power: Japanese popular culture in East and Southeast Asia. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific8(1): 73–101.
29.
RamoJC (2004) The Beijing Consensus. London: Foreign Policy Centre.
30.
RixA (1993) Japan and the region: Leading from behind. In: HiggottRLeaverRRavenhillJ (eds) Pacific Economic Relations in the 1990s: Cooperation or Conflict?St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin.
31.
SchellingTC (1960) The Strategy of Conflict. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
32.
SinghB (2008) Japan’s security policy: From a peace state to an international state. Pacific Review21(3): 303–325.
33.
TeradaT (2010) The origins of ASEAN + 6 and Japan’s initiatives: China’s rise and the agent-structure analysis. Pacific Review23(1): 71–92.
34.
WendtA (1992) Anarchy is what states make of it: The social construction of power politics. International Organization46(2): 391–425.
35.
WendtA (1999) Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
36.
YachiSTakahashiM (2009) Gaiko no Senryaku to Kokorozasi [The Strategy and Will of Diplomacy]. Tokyo: Sankei Shimbun Shuppan.
37.
YeoLH (2006) Japan, ASEAN, and the construction of an East Asian community. Contemporary Southeast Asia28(2): 259–275.
38.
YoshimatsuH (2008) The Political Economy of Regionalism in East Asia: Integrative Explanation for Dynamics and Challenges. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
