ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews regional diplomatic frameworks proposed by Japan after WWII. For post-war Japan, obtaining membership in existing international and regional institutions had priority over proposing its own regional frameworks. This process of returning to the international community terminated in the mid-1950s (e.g. membership of the Colombo Plan in 1954; the United Nations (UN) in 1956), and since then, except for a few administrations, the Japanese government has been proactive in shaping regionalist policy.
