ABSTRACT

It has been argued recently both at home and abroad that policies promoting internationalization should be adopted by Japan. Although the term ‘internationalization’ now permeates the national agenda, its meaning remains ambiguous. The many research reports that have focused on Japan’s policies of internationalization suggest that the term has been used in three different contexts, and agreement seems to exist among observers that policies directed at promoting internationalization have three distinct meanings.

‘Internationalization’, as an analytical concept, merely refers to the fact that, because of increased exchanges of people, communication and information across national boundaries, Japan has been closely interwoven into global networks of interdependency. The term ‘internationalization’ in this sense has no positive or negative implications for government policy.

Internationalization has been proposed as one of the central policy goals of the national government, and may be defined in the following way: Japan must develop a new perspective on ‘internationalization’ in which emphasis is on the idea that Japan, as an active member of the world community, should contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of the peoples of other countries as well as its own. In the same context the following guiding principles have been put forward:

Japan’s economic and social institutions are to be internationally fair and managed by rules which are clear and understandable to all.

Human resources are to be developed in Japan so as to enable its people to play a more active role in international society. Experiences that Japanese gain in foreign countries should be fully utilized upon their return to Japan.

Japan’s economic power is to be invested for the improvement of the welfare of the world, particularly in areas in which Japan has comparative advantage or expertise.

Although progressive in some respects, the above is typical of the reports submitted by government-sponsored policy councils or think-tanks, all of which have stressed the management of Japan’s economic power.

The third way in which internationalization has been defined is for the purpose of promoting mutual understanding and co-operation at the grass-roots level. It is from this perspective that the ‘People-to-People Diplomacy’ of the Kanagawa Prefectural Government (hereafter, KPG) was initiated fifteen years ago. Since in this chapter the ideals and policies which constitute ‘People-to-People Diplomacy’, as pursued by the KPG, are addressed, it is worth noting that Kanagawa’s policy of ‘internationalization’ has, from its inception, been distinguished by its emphasis on exchange.