ABSTRACT
Japan has been, still is, and for some time will remain a barren land for sophisticated strategic thinking, much less for doctrines or theories. In the last half of the 1960s, the period of "selective reliance", the concept of relying selectively on the US was evident in the Third Build-up Plan, which stressed Japan's own capabilities for dealing with air and sea aggression "most effectively". Japan's strategic options are indeed limited, but such limitations might impose a conceptual framework for the future development of Japan's strategic thinking. This chapter does not attempt to give a value judgment on the Japanese approaches to her strategic thinking. Historically Japan has enjoyed relative peace when allied with one country; the Anglo-Japanese alliance in the first part of the century and the US-Japanese alliance today. Thus until public opinion changes, Japanese strategic thinking will continue to remain unsophisticated. .
