ABSTRACT
Are there any theories of international relations in Japan? My answer to the question is a qualified yes. I argue that international relations theories do exist in Japan. The ‘flying geese pattern’ regional integration theory is one example of a positivist middle-range theory. In the normative domain, one can cite a ‘proto-constructivist’ theory of identity formation, which I shall discuss later. Yet, my answer to the above question is a qualified yes because Japan has been an abortive regional hegemon in the past, even if it emerged from World War II to become the second largest economy in the world. Great powers often produce theories of international relations. But in the case of Japan, being a failed challenger to American hegemony in the past and having been embedded in the global governance system dominated by the United States today, has inhibited theoretical advance. This, combined with the relatively weak tradition of positivistic hypothesis testing in social science and the relatively strong tradition of descriptive work have tended to discourage the development of a Japanese theory of international relations.
