Japan's Domestic Politics and China Policy: The Yasukuni Controversy (2006–07)

Abstract

Japan's China policy in the post-Cold War era has often been portrayed as a strategic response to the rise of China in East Asia. Existing literature on the subject most often assumes that Japan's China policy has been guided by a unified, well-calculated foreign strategy vis-à-vis China's growing national power since the late 1990s. In this article, the author challenges this assumption and argues that domestic politics within Japan oftentimes plays a decisive role in Japan's foreign policy towards China. By examining Japan's response toward Chinese pressure over the Yasukuni issue between 2006 and 2007, this article offers an alternative interpretation of Japan's China policy by highlighting the domestic legitimacy of individual political leaders. The author further suggests that impacts of other aspects of Japanese domestic politics on its foreign policy toward China, such as regime transition/the frequent change of prime ministers and the rivalry between the ruling party and elite bureaucrats, should also be taken up for more thorough investigation.