“The Japanese Way in Warfare”: Japan's Grand Strategy for the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

Abstract Japan's foreign and defense policy is now at a crossroads. The end of the Cold War opens the door for a possible policy renaissance in Japan. By “renaissance,” it is meant that instead of merely responding passively to the changes in the international environment, Japan might positively shape the international environment. This marks a departure from the Japanese stance since the Second World War and should be appreciated as such. At the same time, however, it is also fair to say that Japan is still muddling through, failing to define clear national objectives and a grand strategy needed to achieve them. This article is designed to provide a useful framework upon which Japan's future foreign and defense policy could be based. To this end, the experience of Britain will be examined. Though historical, the British model in fact provides many relevant lessons for Japan, and the author will draw on his discussion of these lessons in order to envision a grand strategy suitable for Japan's survival and prosperity in the security environment of East Asia in the twenty-first century. In so doing, problems on the Korean peninsula and the China-Taiwan issue will be examined as case studies and developed as fully as possible. It should be noted that this article aims to provide a framework through which Japan's foreign and defense policy could be developed in the future. As such, its focus will be conceptual rather than factual, and historical rather than current events-driven.