ABSTRACT
The Fukuda Doctrine is postwar Japan’s first codification of its foreign policy principles towards Southeast Asia. When then Foreign Minister Aso Taro visited Manila in July 2006, he reiterated that the Fukuda Doctrine is Tokyo’s foreign policy “blueprint” for the region. 1 Earlier, when former Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro declared a Japan–ASEAN Comprehensive Economic Partnership, he too cited the Fukuda Doctrine as Tokyo’s guiding principles for its regional role. 2 Simply put, the Fukuda Doctrine is the official framework of Tokyo’s relations with Southeast Asia spanning both the Cold and post-Cold War epochs. This chapter seeks to evaluate whether the Fukuda Doctrine still is significant after the end of the Cold War, an era considerably different from the 1970s when the Doctrine was first formulated. Moreover, is it still relevant after the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) ended 54 years of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) rule in 2009?
