ABSTRACT
Chapter 13 observed Prime Minister Obuchi Keizō arriving in Paris in January 1999. The aim of his trip was to obtain support for a trilateral financial order, in the wake of the launch of the single currency in eleven states of the EU. This proposal aimed to prevent the yen from becoming marginalized on the periphery of international financial activities. A similar process can be seen in the dimensions of politics and security, in which the Japanese government and its people have sought a central role in contemporary international relations. Chapters 14, 15 and 16 have shown how the emergent norm of trilateralism underpins these dimensions of Japan’s relations with Europe in different ways and with different implications.
