Political Survival And Yasukuni In Japans Relations With China

What role does the political survival of prime ministers play in Japan’s relations with China over the Yasukuni issue? Three Japanese prime ministers, including Nakasone Yasuhiro, Hashimoto Ryutaro and Abe Shinzo, complied with China’s demands and stopped visiting the controversial Shrine in 1986, 1997 and 2007, respectively. By contrast, the Yasukuni controversy intensified between 2001 and 2006 when a popular Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro was determined to pay regular homage to the Yasukuni Shrine annually. Prime Minister Abe, who previously demonstrated restraint over the issue in his first term between 2006 and 2007, visited the Yasukuni unexpectedly in 2013 but not in 2014 or 2015. To explain this variation, this book presents an alternative interpretation of Japan’s official responses toward China’s pressure over the Yasukuni issue between 1985 and 2015 by applying a political survival approach that highlights the domestic political legitimacy of the Japanese prime minister or the ruling party. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of Sino-Japanese relations, Japan’s foreign policy and international relations.

Despite flourishing economic interactions and deepening interdependence, the current political and diplomatic relationship between Japan and China remains lukewarm at best. Indeed, bilateral relations reached an unprecedented nadir during the spring of 2005, and again more recently in autumn 2012, as massive anti-Japanese demonstrations across Chinese cities elicited corresponding incidents of popular anti-Chinese reprisal in Japan. This book systematically explores the complex dynamics that shape contemporary Japanese-Chinese relations. In particular, it analyses the so-called ‘revival’ of nationalism in post-Cold War Japan, its causality in redefining Japan’s external policy orientations, and its impact on the atmosphere of the bilateral relationship. Further, by adopting a neoclassical realist model of state behaviour and preferences, Lai Yew Meng examines two highly visible bilateral case studies: the Japanese-Chinese debacle over prime ministerial visits to Yasukuni Shrine, and the multi-dimensional dispute in the East China Sea which comprises the Senkaku/Diaoyudao territorial row, alleged Chinese maritime incursions, and bilateral competition for energy resources. Through these examples, this book explores whether nationalism really matters; when, and under what circumstances nationalism becomes most salient; and the extent to which the emotional dimensions of nationalism manifest most profoundly in Japanese state-elites’ policy decision-making. This timely book will be of great interest to students and scholars of both Japanese and Chinese politics, as well as those interested in international relations, nationalism, foreign policy and security studies more broadly.

What role does the political survival of prime ministers play in Japan’s relations with China over the Yasukuni issue? Three Japanese prime ministers, including Nakasone Yasuhiro, Hashimoto Ryutaro and Abe Shinzo, complied with China’s demands and stopped visiting the controversial Shrine in 1986, 1997 and 2007, respectively. By contrast, the Yasukuni controversy intensified between 2001 and 2006 when a popular Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro was determined to pay regular homage to the Yasukuni Shrine annually. Prime Minister Abe, who previously demonstrated restraint over the issue in his first term between 2006 and 2007, visited the Yasukuni unexpectedly in 2013 but not in 2014 or 2015. To explain this variation, this book presents an alternative interpretation of Japan’s official responses toward China’s pressure over the Yasukuni issue between 1985 and 2015 by applying a political survival approach that highlights the domestic political legitimacy of the Japanese prime minister or the ruling party. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of Sino-Japanese relations, Japan’s foreign policy and international relations.

No country feels China's rise more deeply than Japan. Through intricate case studies of visits by Japanese politicians to the Yasukuni Shrine, conflicts over the boundaries of economic zones in the East China Sea, concerns about food safety, and strategies of island defense, Sheila A. Smith explores the policy issues testing the Japanese government as it tries to navigate its relationship with an advancing China. Smith finds that Japan's interactions with China extend far beyond the negotiations between diplomats and include a broad array of social actors intent on influencing the Sino-Japanese relationship. Some of the tensions complicating Japan's encounters with China, such as those surrounding the Yasukuni Shrine or territorial disputes, have deep roots in the postwar era, and political advocates seeking a stronger Japanese state organize themselves around these causes. Other tensions manifest themselves during the institutional and regulatory reform of maritime boundary and food safety issues. Smith scrutinizes the role of the Japanese government in coping with contention as China's influence grows and Japanese citizens demand more protection. Underlying the government's efforts is Japan's insecurity about its own capacity for change and its waning status as the leading economy in Asia. For many, China's rise means Japan's decline, and Smith suggests how Japan can maintain its regional and global clout as confidence in its postwar diplomatic and security approach diminishes.

Based on research financed by the Ford Foundation this book brings together the work of scholars and experts from China and Japan providing a detailed insight into China's relations with Japan. This ebook is also available within China: Making New Partnerships - A Rising China and its Neighbors.

From before the dawn of recorded history, there has been a rich flow of interaction between Japan and China. Japan has long learned many things from Chinese civilization, and since the modern era China began to learn from Japan. In the twenty-first century, however, China surpassed Japan in terms of GDP in 2010 to become the world’s second largest economy. Amid this rapid rise of China and what has been called a power-shift in Japan–China relations, there are signs that bilateral tensions are rising and that the image each country has of the other is worsening. This volume provides a cogent analysis of the politics of the bilateral relationship in the modern era, explaining the past, present, and future of Japan–China relations during a time of massive political, social, and economic changes. Written by a team of internationally renowned Japanese scholars and based on sources not available in English, this book is essential reading for students and scholars of Japan–China relations, Japanese international relations, and the politics and international relations of East Asia

This book is a penetrating study of the long conflict between China and Japan. Drawing upon history, geopolitics and geoeconomics, this volume examines these important Asian powers at the bilateral, regional, and global levels. Contributors examine issues including oil feuds, the Taiwan factor, and implications for U.S. interests in Asia Pacific.

The essays in this collection examine Sino-Japanese political relations given the phenomenon of ‘a rising China and a stagnating Japan’. Questioning whether their relationship is one of cooperation or conflict, the book reviews China and Japan’s bilateral ties to see whether they have deepened and broadened despite differences in outlook, national interest and political systems. Adding a new perspective to the Sino-Japanese political relations discussion, the book looks beyond the interactions of central governments to examine the role of NGOs, local governments and sub-regional linkages. The contributors adopt a range of analytical approaches and explore case studies including the Taiwan issue, Japanese Official Development Policy towards China and joint fishery management in the East China Sea. With perspectives from the US, Russia and Malaysia, the book yields new insights into this complex and multifaceted relationship and is a welcome addition to the current literature.

Structure or management? -- Japan's party politics and China policy -- National identities in Sino-Japanese relations -- Japan views the Sino-US national identity gap -- Sino-Japanese coevolution -- The forced labor redress movement -- Japanese strategic thinking toward Taiwan -- Rare earth: vulnerability interdependence? -- China and Japan's ODA Program -- The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement