ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies four major episodes that mark the recalibration of Japan's post-Cold War East Asia/Asia-Pacific policy. The first is Japan's involvement in the Cambodian peace process and the end of the Cold War in Southeast Asia. The second is the landmark 'Miyazawa Vision', which set the direction of Japan's engagement with East Asia/Asia-Pacific and spells out the major directives-namely, a redefined Japan-US alliance, the question of historical narratives of Japan's wartime past, and Japan's regional initiatives and greater involvement in regional security. The third is the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 that called into question the assumptions on which the Miyazawa Vision was based, thereby spurring Japan's efforts to create an East Asia community. The last episode involves the rise and increasing assertiveness of China, which has given rise to the power politics that has heightened the tension between the US-led regional security system and the regional trade system.
