Japan And Britain

This book examines reconciliation between Japan and the UK, exploring the development and current state of Japan-UK relations from the perspectives of economic cooperation and conflict, common concerns in the international system, and public and media perceptions of each country.

After the horrors of World War II in Asia - not least the systematic appalling mistreatment of Allied prisoners-of-war by the Japanese military - few would have predicted that Britain's relationship with Japan would flourish into a booming partnership of economic interdependence by the start of the twenty-first century. This ambitious examination of Anglo-Japanese relations over the course of the 20th century charts the fascinating history of how both nations overcame many years of prejudice and bitter conflict to form a bond fused by financial, political and military cooperation. In the 1930s, many Japanese became convinced that their exports were being kept out of India by British tariffs and it was not until the 1980s that the British government fully accepted the futility of any protectionist impulse and encouraged Japanese companies to invest in Britain. Today, each country not only assists the other economically but also no longer blames the other for its own domestic problems. "Britain and Japan in the Twentieth Century" elucidates how both nations have struggled to achieve stability and harmony in their relations with each other in the face of contrasting cultural identities.

This thought-provoking volume explores how, across more than a century, sea power empowered both the UK and Japan with a defensive shield, an instrument of deterrence, and an enabling tool in expeditionary missions to implement courses of actions to preserve national economic and security interests worldwide.

This book by a leading authority on Anglo-Japanese relations reconsiders the circumstances which led to the unlikely alliance of 1902 to 1922 between Britain, the leading world power of the day and Japan, an Asian, non-European nation which had only recently emerged from self-imposed isolation. Based on extensive original research the book goes beyond existing accounts which concentrate on high politics, strategy and simple assertions about the two countries’ similarities as island empires. It brings into the picture cultural factors, particularly the ways in which Japan was portrayed in Britain, and ambivalent British attitudes to race and supposed European superiority which were overcome but remained difficulties. It charts how the relationship developed as events unfolded, including Japan’s wars against China and Russia, and in addition looks at royal diplomacy, where the Japanese Court came eventually to be treated as a respected equal. Overall, the book provides a major reassessment of this important subject.

An authoritative account of British efforts to avert a conflict with Japan. Using recently released material the author shows how the need to appease American opinion hamstrung Britain's ability to achieve an understanding with Japan.

After the horrors of World War II in Asia - not least the systematic appalling mistreatment of Allied prisoners-of-war by the Japanese military - few would have predicted that Britain's relationship with Japan would flourish into a booming partnership of economic interdependence by the start of the twenty-first century. This ambitious examination of Anglo-Japanese relations over the course of the 20th century charts the fascinating history of how both nations overcame many years of prejudice and bitter conflict to form a bond fused by financial, political and military cooperation. In the 1930s, many Japanese became convinced that their exports were being kept out of India by British tariffs and it was not until the 1980s that the British government fully accepted the futility of any protectionist impulse and encouraged Japanese companies to invest in Britain. Today, each country not only assists the other economically but also no longer blames the other for its own domestic problems. "Britain and Japan in the Twentieth Century" elucidates how both nations have struggled to achieve stability and harmony in their relations with each other in the face of contrasting cultural identities.