ABSTRACT
Early in the twenty-first century, Japanese SNGs are clearly becoming significant actors in the international arena. In the last two decades, they have developed wide-ranging policies and spent millions of dollars annually within and outside Japan, pursuing international activities very similar to those taken up earlier by counterparts in the West. In Asia, Japan’s SNGs have rapidly become the pioneers of such international activism. SNGs’ reach into international affairs is not surprising as much of ‘the local’ is now internationally conditioned. SNG involvement in international affairs is one of many indications that international diplomacy is no longer the sole preserve of the national government in Japan as elsewhere. SNGs have gained experience and confidence in their capacity for international engagement. Future roles of SNGs as international actors are naturally contingent on national circumstances and developments in the global political economy.
