Following the Paris Peace Conference of 1919-20 and the Washington Naval Conference of 1921-2, the Genoa Conference was the third significant international meeting after the First World War in which Japan participated. According to the two monographs on Genoa, Japan played but a minor role at the conference and exerted little influence over its outcome. Indeed, no Japanese scholar has written an article on the Genoa Conference and Japan. On the other hand, there are a considerable number of works devoted to the Washington Naval Conference, because of the great interest in the origins of the Pacific War and in the history of U.S.-Japanese relations.

Although the Genoa Conference has been virtually ignored by Japan's diplomatic historians, Japan's role there did signify an initial encounter with European diplomacy dealing with the reconstruction of Europe. A close analysis is in order, particularly in view of the developments that seventy years later have again led to a restoration of Europe, one in which Japan is once more taking part. This essay, based mainly on the Japanese diplomatic archives, will clarify the Japanese attitude toward the Genoa Conference.