Asia Program Asia Projects Northeast Asia Confidence Building in Korea Cross-Straits Relations Swedish-North Korean Dialogue Japan’s Foreign Policy The Transformation of Japanese Politics Peace Parks Southeast Asia South Asia Events Publications

In the mid-19th century, Japan reappeared on the international stage after a two-century long seclusion during the Tokugawa period. Due to its victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1905), it was recognized as a great power, and has been an important international actor ever since. The only exception is a brief period following its defeat in the Second World War, which ended its status as a great power in military terms. Already at the end of the 1960s, it had regained its status as a great power economically, but not militarily, as it had been in the pre-war era.

The parameters for Japan's modern foreign policy have been set by the fact that it is a resource-poor maritime nation, which, as such, has defined its national identity. Post-war foreign policy has been evolving in the wake of Japan's defeat in the war. As a trading nation, trade and aid are the backbones of Japan's international role and relations. Its technological and economic assistance have played a key role for the economic development of countries in the Asia Pacific region, at the same time as history has left a heritage of territorial conflicts with a number of its neighbors. Having vast economic power but constitutional inhibitions for using military muscle for solving international conflicts, Japan is an "unbalanced" great power and behaves in ways different from traditional great powers basing their status on military might. The far-reaching transformation of Japan's regional and global environment emerging after the end of the Cold War, and the emergence of China and India as economic powers has eroded the foundation for its foreign and security policies.