Japans Struggle With Internation

This a study of the Manchurian and Shanghai crises, the first serious confrontation between Japan and the world community. The Manchurian crisis was one of the major international crises of the period between World Wars I and II. For Britain and America, it bred a new distrust of Japanese long-term national objectives. It also brought home to all concerned the weaknesses of the League of Nations and the other instruments of collective security which had been devised to deal with problems of the Pacific Ocean area. The first focus of this study is on how one of the international bodies of the time, the League of Nations, attempted to cope with the emergency that broke out in the east in September 1931. The second focus is on the clash of attitudes in Japanese politics. The period covered by the Manchurian crisis was the point when civilian government in Japan was seriously challenged for the first time in the 20th century. The book offers a fresh account of the crisis, making use of new materials, in Japanese and in English, which have become available and which have been drawn upon for this work. These throw new light on the struggles both within Japan and among League enthusiasts to ensure that Japan, the Asian-state which was at once most stable and economically most successful, should not end up in isolation.

In this groundbreaking book, leading international economist, Richard Koo argues that far from being the sick man of Asia, Japan is suffering from a temporary but highly unusual economic aberration. Economists and business commentators have always assumed that the majority of companies in any economy are forward looking and are trying to maximize profits. They never considered the possibility that a vast majority of companies may be placing their highest priorities on minimizing debt in order to repair their balance sheets. But that remote possibility has been the reality in Japan for the past decade, and more recently in many other countries including at least a part of the US. Balance Sheet Recession argues that contrary to popular belief, it is this massive shift in corporate behavior, instead of structural problems, that is the root cause of both the deflation and the non-performing loan problems that have troubled Japan for so long. It argues that when the causality runs from the corporate balance sheet problems to deflation and banking problems, a highly unconventional policy response is needed to stabilize the economy. After all, the last time anything similar has happened was the 1930s in the US. Richard Koo's experience in dealing with both the US banking crisis of the early 1980s and the Japanese balance sheet and banking problems of the last ten years makes him unique qualified to comment on this situation. He clearly explains how such a recession can happen in any economy following an asset price bubble, and how best to deal with it.

In Japan's Reluctant Realism , Michael J. Green examines the adjustments of Japanese foreign policy in the decade since the end of the Cold War. Green presents case studies of China, the Korean peninsula, Russia and Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the international financial institutions, and multilateral forums (the United Nations, APEC, and the ARF). In each of these studies, Green considers Japanese objectives; the effectiveness of Japanese diplomacy in achieving those objectives; the domestic and exogenous pressures on policy-making; the degree of convergence or divergence with the United States in both strategy and implementation; and lessons for more effective US - Japan diplomatic cooperation in the future. As Green notes, its bilateral relationship with the United States is at the heart of Japan's foreign policy initiatives, and Japan therefore conducts foreign policy with one eye carefully on Washington. However, Green argues, it is time to recognize Japan as an independent actor in Northeast Asia, and to assess Japanese foreign policy in its own terms.

First published in 1993

This volume examines aspects of international relations in East Asia from 1895 to the present with particular reference to the role of Japan: the principal theme pursues the antecedents, nature, and consequences of the Pacific war (1941-5). The topics examined focus on the course of Japanese expansion, American-Japanese relations, Japanese reactions to war, the role of women during the conflicts in China and the Pacific, Anglo-American policies towards Japan, China, and Korea after 1945, Japanese-New Zealand relations, and Anglo-Japanese relations from the 1950s to the 1980s.

In the past decade, a number of major Japanese companies have come under the control of foreign firms. Using a case-based approach, this book looks at how take-overs by foreign companies have changed HR and organisational practices traditionally associated with Japanese firms.

An in-depth study of America's widening competition with Japan and Germany--our two most important allies and rivals--and on the critical impact that growing conflicts will have on America's future.

Japan is not only a fascinating culture and economic power, its role is vital in global affairs - if only economically and financially. Since World War II, Japan as emerged as a leading economic giant - the world's second largest GDP in 2008 - while remaining, relatively, a political dwarf. In this comprehensive study, the authors analyze the transformation of Japan since Hiroshima and offer an examination of the global context including the relationship with the United States, with China, with the Koreas and with the ASEAN States. "Japan on the Edge" brings forth very specific and critical questions, such as "will Japan decide to acquire atomic weapons?" and "what are the chances of Japan becoming a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council?" "Japan on the Edge" also documents concerning aspects, notably demographic and economic decline.