ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at new policy shifts in Japan with regard to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). It provides an overview of the TPP and discusses the process behind Japan's involvement in the partnership. The chapter examines events leading up to the proposal for Japan to participate in the TPP and the factors that facilitated the TPP process. It also looks at the impediments to Japanese efforts to implement the TPP. For the Japanese government, the TPP provides an opportunity for Japan to participate in the shaping of the economic order within the Asia-Pacific region under a new set of international conditions, characterized by the US pivot to Asia, the economic and military rise of China, and a reduced Japanese presence in the region. The basic posture of the China–South Korea free trade agreements is "omnidirectional," and China is keeping a close eye on the TPP negotiations pursued by the US and Japan, to which China is not party.
