ABSTRACT
As Chapter 1 has shown, the international relations of the Japanese state and its people appear paradoxical. All commentators are forced to acknowledge the significance of Japan’s international presence across the three dimensions of politics, economics and security, and regionally and globally with regard to the US, East Asia, Europe and global institutions. Nevertheless, Japan is seen to defy many of the conventional media and academic categorizations of the way that states behave in the international system. Japan’s pattern of behaviour, exact role and agenda, and policies and strategies in the international system remain puzzling to many when compared to the other major industrialized powers. The reasons and motivations for Japan’s pattern of behaviour and choice of roles are also subject to intense controversy. Finally, Japan’s mode of interaction and selection of policy tools in the international system, and especially its predilection for economic over military forms of power, are seen to differ markedly from the other major industrialized powers, with the possible exception of Germany (Maull 1990-1; Berger 1998). For these reasons, a major debate has unfolded about whether or not Japan is a truly effective player in the international system.
