ABSTRACT
Successive Japanese prime ministers have made it a rule to visit Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries as soon as possible after taking office, and Japanese foreign ministers are regular participants at ASEAN's expanded ministerial conferences. The fact that Japan is a group of small islands, separated from the Asian continent by a strip of water that is 200 km wide at the nearest point, seems to have two contradictory implications for the nation's security. For Japan, however, the Soviet Union is not the main threat. The Japanese are well aware that by abstaining from the weapons trade, they are losing precious bargaining chips with prospective buyers in the Third World, including those in the Middle East. In the post-normalization period, Japan continued to maintain a low posture, throughout the post-Mao convulsions and the rise and fall of the Gang of Four, hoping for reason to prevail.
