Introduction

Abstract

Abstract This study traces the evolution of the structure and process of Japan’s trade relations with China in the 1950s, the 1960s, and the 1970s. It illuminates the pluralistic structure of postwar Japan-China trade which survived the three politically turbulent decades after the end of World War II, and thus highlights continuity in the bilateral trade relationship amid political discontinuity. The conventional wisdom on postwar Japan-China relations stresses the predominance of strategic concerns and fluctuations in the overall bilateral relationship. Despite significant political fluctuations, however, the records of Japan-China trade were impressive when viewed in relative terms. A few statistics demonstrate the point. As a share of Japan’s total trade with North East Asian countries (China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, North Korea, and the Soviet Union), Japan-China trade occupied as much as 29.8 per cent in 1956, which made China the leading trade partner of Japan in the region (Table 2.3 on page 43). From 1964 to 1967, Japan’s trade with China was larger than that with Taiwan and South Korea, and not until 1980 did it ‘recover’ to the level of the 26 per cent share recorded in 1966.