This volume examines the question: what is Japan's political role in the world? Over the past decade, Japan has been increasingly pressured to assume more financial and political burdens globally. Its foreign policy has evolved in a piecemeal and tactical manner around the question of "managing foreign pressures." To date, policy has been largely developed by bureaucrats, those traditionally responsible for public policy in Japan. The lack of a clear set of foreign-policy objectives, however, has made it impossible for the bureaucracy to play its previous role as the arbiter of public interests. There is increased recognition that in a more pluralistic society, non-governmental public-policy specialists are needed to provide a more integrated and longer-term vision of foreign-policy goals. This book represents a private and non-governmental indigenous effort to stimulate public debate of Japanese foreign policy. It is the aim of this volume to make a distinctive contribution to domestic public education and foreign-policy debate.
The contributors are younger, Japanese, non-governmental foreign-affairs specialists, each with considerable international experience and committed to the belief that significant policy reforms are needed. The project is intended to help Japan make substantial contributions to international policy debate on the broad questions of strengthening institutions to preserve security and promote trade and development. It is also hoped that this volume will enable scholars and experts in North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and elsewhere to engage in substantive dialogue on critical public-policy issues with their Japanese counterparts.