ABSTRACT
In Japan there have been contradictory feelings about her foreign policy. On the one hand there seems no need for any major change, since it suits Japan splendidly; on the other, there is persistent concern that she is vulnerable because she depends upon resources over which she has very little control. Japan is a relatively small island country close to the Asian mainland. She has few natural resources, but is highly industrialized. She is Westernized as a result of the success of industrialization, but the roots of her civilization are in Asia and she still retains Asian characteristics in her culture. The growth of Japanese economic power, due to continuous, rapid development, has itself changed the situation. It has increased both the vulnerability and the influence of Japan. Twenty years ago, strangely enough, she was less vulnerable economically than she is now.
