ABSTRACT
The introduction briefly outlines the nature of US–Japan relations under the San Francisco System that followed the Second World War and outlines the author’s goals and methodology for the book. The book is primarily concerned with three topics: the diplomatic negotiations over normalization and how specific areas of dispute (war reparations, apologies, Taiwan, and the Senkaku Islands) were addressed; the differing styles of political leadership exercised by Japanese Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei and Foreign Minister Ōhira Masayoshi; and the internal processes of the Japanese foreign ministry in addressing normalization. The introduction also briefly explains the contemporary significance of Sino-Japanese normalization and how the peace reached between the two nations would go on to serve as a prototype for modern international relations in East Asia.
