ABSTRACT
Given its meager endowment of indigenous natural resources, energy security has loomed large in Japan’s grand strategy throughout its modern history. The search for secure supplies of oil and other critical raw materials was one of the drivers of Japanese military expansion as well as the immediate trigger for the Pacifi c War. 1 The oil crises of the 1970s sharply demonstrated Japan’s energy vulnerability and galvanized its policy community to develop a long-term energy strategy to cope with supply disruptions and to diversify energy sources. With the steep rise of energy demand in Asia, continuing turmoil in the Middle East, and concerns about climate change, Japan’s basic energy law has mandated a review of the country’s strategic energy plan every three years.
