Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T11:49:01.710Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Japan’s Central Asia Policy Revisited: National Identity, Interests, and Foreign Policy Discourses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 November 2019

Sabina Insebayeva
Sabina Insebayeva*
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article focuses on the nature of Japan’s foreign policy formulation and legitimization through a study of its interaction with Central Asian countries. The article examines foreign policy discourse that constructs Japan’s “self” vis-à-vis Central Asian “other.” It reveals the textual mechanism through which reality, objects, and subjects are constructed, and it interprets the official statements contained in several foreign policy initiatives, in particular, the “Eurasian (Silk Road) Diplomacy,” the “Central Asia plus Japan,” and the “Arc of Freedom and Prosperity,” as an attempt to understand the intersubjective knowledge and analytical lens through which Japanese foreign policy makers conceive and interpret the constructed “reality,” produce foreign policy choices, and choose among identified alternatives.

Keywords

JapanCentral Asiaforeign policyrelational identityrepresentation
Type
Article
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 47 , Special Issue 5: Special Issue on the Donbas Conflict , September 2019 , pp. 853 - 867
Copyright
© Association for the Study of Nationalities 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adler, Emanuel. 1997. “Seizing the Middle Ground: Constructivism in World Politics.” European Journal of International Relations 3 (3): 319–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashizawa, Kuniko. 2013. Japan, the US, and Regional Institution-Building in the New Asia: When Identity Matters. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashizawa, Kuniko. 2008. “When Identity Matters: State Identity, Regional Institution-Building, and Japanese Foreign Policy.” International Studies Review 10 (3): 571–598.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aso, Taro. 2006a. “Chūō ajia o heiwa to antei no kairo ni” [Central Asia as a corridor of peace and stability] Speech at the Japan National Press Club, Tokyo, June 1. https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/press/enzetsu/18/easo_0601.htmlGoogle Scholar
Aso, Taro. 2006b. “Jiyū to han’ēi no ko o tsukuru: Hirogaru Nihon gaikō no chihei” [Building an Arc of Freedom and Prosperity: Japan’s Expanding Diplomatic Horizons]. Speech at the Japan Institute of International Affairs, November 30, Tokyo. https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/press/enzetsu/18/easo_1130.html.Google Scholar
Aso, Taro. 2007a. “Global Management and the Mission for Japanese Diplomacy.” Speech at the 17th Asia Corporate Conference “Coming Together, Moving Ahead: Asian Economies Leading through Integration and Innovation,” Asia Society, May 18. https://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/fm/aso/address0705.html.Google Scholar
Aso, Taro. 2007b. Dai hyaku rokujū rokkai kokkai ni okeru Asō gaimu daijin no gaikō enzetsu [Policy Speech by Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Aso to the 166th Session of the Diet]. Tokyo, January 26. https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/press/enzetsu/19/easo_0126.html.Google Scholar
Azizov, Ulugbek. 2015. Freeing from the “Territorial Trap”: Re-reading the Five Stans Central Asian Spatial Discourse. Zurich: LIT Verlag.Google Scholar
Berger, Thomas U. 1993. “From Sword to Chrysanthemum: Japan’s Culture of Anti-Militarism.” International Security 17 (4): 119–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bukh, Alexander. 2010. Japan’s National Identity and Foreign Policy: Russia as Japan’s “Other.” London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calder, Kent E. 2001. “Japan’s Energy Angst and The Caspian Great Game.” National Bureau of Asian Research 12 (1): 1–46.Google Scholar
Chai, Sun-Ki. 1997. “Entrenching the Yoshida Defense Doctrine: Three Techniques for Institutionalization.” International Organization 51 (3): 389–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Checkel, Jeffrey T. 1999. “Norms, Institutions, and National Identity in Contemporary Europe.” International Studies Quarterly 43 (1): 83–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chung, Chien-peng. 2016. Contentious Integration: Post–Cold War Japan-China Relations in the Asia-Pacific. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Constitution of Japan. 1947. http://japan.kantei.go.jp/constitution_and_government_of_japan/constitution_e.html.Google Scholar
Cronin, Bruce. 1999. Community under Anarchy: Transnational Identity and Evolution of Cooperation. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Dadabaev, Timur. 2013. “Japan’s Search for Its Central Asian Policy: Between Idealism and Pragmatism.” Asian Survey 53 (3): 506–532.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dadabaev, Timur. 2014. “Chinese and Japanese Foreign Policies towards Central Asia from a Comparative Perspective.” Pacific Review 27 (1): 123–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dadabaev, Timur. 2016. “Japan’s ODA Assistance Scheme and Central Asian Engagement: Determinants, Trends, Expectations.” Journal of Eurasian Studies 7 (1): 24–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deutsch, Karl, Burrell, Sidney A., Kann, Robert A., and Lee, Maurice Jr. 1957. Political Community and the North Atlantic Area: International Organization in the Light of Historical Experience. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Dobrinskaia, Olga. 2011. “Energeticheskaia diplomatiia Iaponii v Tsentral’noi Azii.” Iaponiia. Ezhegodnik 40: 1–14. http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/energeticheskaya-diplomatiya-yaponii-i-tsentralnoy-azii.Google Scholar
Donnelly, Jack. 2000. Realism and International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elman, Colin. 1996. “Horses for Courses: Why Not Neorealist Theories of Foreign Policy?” Security Studies 6 (1): 7–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan. 2016. Japan’s Energy Supply Situation and Basic Policy. http://www.fepc.or.jp/english/energy_electricity/supply_situation/index.html. (Accessed February 19, 2019.)Google Scholar
Flikke, Geir, and Wilhelmsen, Julie. 2008. Central Asia: A Testing Ground for New Great-Power Relations. Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/281220/Flikke%2Bog%2BWilhelmsen%2BReport-03-08.pdf?sequence=3.Google Scholar
Fukushima, Kiyohiko. 1985. “Japan’s Real Trade Policy.” Foreign Policy 59: 22–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fukuyama, Francis. 1989. “The End of History?” National Interest 16: 3–18.Google Scholar
Garnett, John C. 1984. Commonsense and the Theory of International Politics. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gavrilina, Elena. 2012. “Prioritety vneshnei politiki Iaponii v stranakh Tsentral’noi Azii na sovremennom etape.” Armiia i Obschestvo 4 (32): 1–8. http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/prioritety-vneshney-politiki-yaponii-v-stranah-tsentralnoy-azii-na-sovremennom-etape.Google Scholar
Gill, Graeme. 2002. Democracy and Post-communism: Political Change in the Post-communist World. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Gilpin, Robert. 1981. War and Change in World Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gustafsson, Karl. 2015. “Identity and Recognition: Remembering and Forgetting the Post-War in Sino-Japanese Relations.” Pacific Review 28 (1): 117–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagström, Linus. 2015. “The ‘Abnormal’ State: Identity, Norm/Exception and Japan.” European Journal of International Relations 21 (1): 122–145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hagström, Linus, and Gustafsson, Karl. 2015. “Japan and Identity Change: Why It Matters in International Relations.” Pacific Review 28 (1): 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, Lene. 2006. Security as Practice: Discourse Analysis and the Bosnian War. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hara, Kimie. 2001. “50 Years from San Francisco: Re-examining the Peace Treaty and Japan’s Territorial Problems.” Pacific Affairs 74 (3): 361–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hasenclever, Andreas, Mayer, Peter, and Rittberger, Volker. 1997. Theories of International Regimes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hashimoto, Ryutaro. 1997. Keizai dōyū kai (kai-in kondan-kai) ni okeru Hashimoto sōri daijin enzetsu [Address by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to the Japan Association of Corporate Executives]. Tokyo, July 24. http://worldjpn.grips.ac.jp/documents/texts/exdpm/19970724.S1J.htmlGoogle Scholar
Hickok, Michael Robert. 2000. “The Other End of the Silk Road: Japan’s Eurasian Initiative.” Central Asian Survey 19 (1): 17–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hook, Glenn D. 1996. Militarization and Demilitarization in Contemporary Japan. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inoguchi, Takashi. 2005. AsiaBarometer Survey Data 2005. AsiaBarometer Project http://www.asiabarometer.org/.Google Scholar
Jayasuriya, Kanishka. 1994. “Singapore: The Politics of Regional Definition.” Pacific Review 7 (4): 411–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jepperson, Ronald L., Wendt, Alexander, and Katzenstein, Peter J.. 1996. “Norms, Identity, and Culture in National Security.” In The Culture of National Security: Norms and Identity in World Politics, edited by Peter J, Katzenstein, 33–75, New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Kant, Immanuel. 1957. Perpetual Peace. New York: Liberal Arts Press.Google Scholar
Karimov, Islam. 2005. Press-Conference by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov on Events in Andijan. Tashkent. http://www.uzbekistanitalia.org/home/uzbekistan/andjan-events/press-conference-14-05-2005. (Accessed March 11, 2019.)Google Scholar
Katzenstein, Peter J., and Okawara, Nobuo. 1993. “Japan’s National Security: Structures, Norms, and Policies.” International Security 17 (4): 84–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kazantsev, Andrei. 2008. “ Bol’shaia igra” s neizvestnymi pravilami: mirovaia politika i Tsentral’naia Aziia. Moscow: Fond “Nasledie Evrazii.”Google Scholar
Kawato, Akio. 2008. “What Is Japan up to in Central Asia?” In Japan’s Silk Road Diplomacy: Paving the Road Ahead, edited by Len, Christopher, Tomohiko, Uyama, and Tetsuya, Hirose, 15–30. Washington, DC: Central Asia-Caucasus Institute.Google Scholar
Kennedy-Pipe, Caroline. 1993. “The CIS: Sources of Stability and Instability.” In Central and Eastern Europe: The Challenge of Transition, edited by Karp, Regina Cowen, 258–282. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Keohane, Robert O. 1984. After Hegemony. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Keohane, Robert O. 1989. International Institutions and State Power: Essays in International Relations Theory. Boulder: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Keohane, Robert O., and Nye, Joseph S.. 1977. Power and Interdependence: World Politics in Transition. Boston: Little Brown.Google Scholar
Klien, Susanne. 2002. Rethinking Japan’s Identity and International Role: Tradition and Change in Japan’s Foreign Policy. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Koch, Natalie. 2015. “‘Spatial Socialization’: Understanding the State Effect Geographically.” Nordia Geographical Publications Yearbook 44 (4): 29–35.Google Scholar
Lapid, Yosef. 1996. “Culture’s Ship: Returns and Departures in International Relations Theory.” In The Return of Culture and Identity in IR Theory, edited by Lapid, Yosef and Kratochwil, Friedrich V.. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.Google Scholar
Lapid, Yosef, and Kratochwil, Friedrich V., eds. 1996. The Return of Culture and Identity in IR Theory. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.Google Scholar
Laruelle, Marlene, and Peyrouse, Sebastien. 2015. Globalizing Central Asia: Geopolitics and the Challenges of Economic Development. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Len, Christopher. 2005. “Japan’s Central Asian Diplomacy: Motivations, Implications and Prospects for the Region.” China and Eurasia Quarterly 3 (3): 127–149.Google Scholar
Len, Christopher. 2008. “Understanding Japan’s Central Asian Engagement.” In Japan’s Silk Road Diplomacy: Paving the Road Ahead, edited by Len, Christopher, Tomohiko, Uyama, and Tetsuya, Hirose, 31–46. Washington, DC: Central Asia-Caucasus Institute.Google Scholar
Len, Christopher, Uyama, Tomohiko, and Hirose, Tetsuya, eds. 2008. Japan’s Silk Road Diplomacy: Paving the Road Ahead. Washington, DC: Central Asia-Caucasus Institute.Google Scholar
Mangi, Lutfullah. 2011. “The Political and Economic Strategy of Japan towards Central Asia.” Social Research Center Publications, 1–9. https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/145121/The%20Political%20and%20Economic%20Strategy%20of%20Japan%20towards%20Central%20Asia.pdf. (Accessed March 12, 2019.)Google Scholar
Marat, Erica. 2008. “Kyrgyzstan: Japan’s Prime Partner in Central Asia?” In Japan’s Silk Road Diplomacy: Paving the Road Ahead, edited by Len, Christopher, Tomohiko, Uyama, and Tetsuya, Hirose, 87–100. Washington, DC: Central Asia-Caucasus Institute.Google Scholar
Mearsheimer, John J. 1994/1995. “The False Promise of International Institutions.” International Security 19 (3): 5–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. n.d. 1992–2002: Policy and Philosophy Enhancement Period. Official Development Assistance. https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/oda/cooperation/anniv50/pamphlet/progress3.html.Google Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. 2000. UN-Sponsored Sapporo II Meeting on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia. March 23. http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/event/2000/3/323-2.htmlGoogle Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. 2015. “Opinion Poll: Image of Japan in the Central Asia Region.” April 15. https://www.mofa.go.jp/files/000076299.pdf.Google Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan/Foreign Ministers of the Republic of Kazakhstan. 2004. Joint Statement “Central Asia + Japan” Dialogue/ Foreign Ministers’ Meeting:Relations between Japan and Central Asia as They Enter a New Era. Astana, August 28. http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/europe/dialogue/joint0408.pdf.Google Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan 2007. Japan’s Expanding Diplomatic Horizons-New Pillar for Japan’s Foreign Policy. Tokyo. https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/pillar/horizons.pdf.Google Scholar
Morgenthau, Hans. 1978. Politics among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. 5th rev. ed. New York: Knopf.Google Scholar
Muzalevsky, Roman. 2012. “Japan Looks to Central Asia for Strategic Resources.” Eurasia Daily Monitor 9 (215). https://jamestown.org/program/japan-looks-to-central-asia-for-strategic-resources/. (Accessed March 11, 2019.)Google Scholar
Mager, Yuliya. 2016. “Astana-Tokyo: Tri kita partnerstva”. Kazakhstanskaya Pravda. November 9. https://www.kazpravda.kz/articles/view/astana--tokio-tri-kita-partnerstva. (Accessed March 11, 2019.)Google Scholar
Nodia, Ghia. 1996. “How Different are Postcommunist Transitions?” Journal of Democracy 7 (4): 15–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nazarbayev, Nursultan. 2005. “Kazakhstan on the Road to Accelerated Economic, Social and Political Modernization.” State of the Nation address, February 18. http://www.akorda.kz/en/addresses/addresses_of_president/address-of-the-president-of-the-republic-of-kazakhstan-nursultan-nazarbayev-to-the-people-of-kazakhstan-february-18-2005.Google Scholar
Neumann, Iver B. 1994. “A Region-Building Approach to Northern Europe.” Review of International Studies 20 (1): 53–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nurgaliev, Marat, and Shaymergenov, Timur. 2007. “Japanese Diplomacy Makes New Headway in Central Asia: Its Problems, Expectations, and Prospects.” Central Asia and the Caucasus 48 (6): 125–135.Google Scholar
Oguma, Eiji. 2002. A Genealogy of “Japanese” Self-Images. Melbourne: Trans Pacific Press.Google Scholar
Okita, Saburo. 1960. “Japan’s Economic Prospects.” Foreign Affairs 39 (1): 123–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oros, Andrew. 2008. Normalizing Japan: Politics, Identity, and the Evolution of Security Practice. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Potter, William, Kassenova, Togzhan, and Loukianova, Anya. 2008. “Central Asia Becomes a Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone.” James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies. December 11. http://www.nonproliferation.org/central-asia-becomes-a-nuclear-weapon-free-zone-2/.Google Scholar
Prizel, Ilia. 1998. National Identity and Foreign Policy: Nationalism and Leadership in Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rakhimov, Mirzokhid. 2014. “Central Asia and Japan: Bilateral and Multilateral Relations.” Journal of Eurasian Studies 5 (1): 77–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenau, James N. 1980. The Study of Global Interdependence: Essays on Transnationalisation of World Affairs. New York: Nichols Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Singh, Bhubhindar. 2013. Japan’s Security Identity: From a Peace State to an International State. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Smith, Rogers. 2004. “Identities, Interests, and the Future of Political Science.” Perspectives on Politics 2 (2): 301–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Son, Key-Young. 2011. “Japan’s Responses to Actors outside the Boundaries of International Society: “Rogue States” and North Korea’s Nuclear Threats.” In Decoding Boundaries in Contemporary Japan: The Koizumi Administration and Beyond, edited by Hook, Glenn, 59–78. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Shogo. 2015. “The Rise of the Chinese ‘Other’ In Japan’s Construction of Identity: Is China a Focal Point of Japanese Nationalism?” Pacific Review 28 (1): 95–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tamaki, Taku. 2010. Deconstructing Japan’s Image of South Korea: Identity in Foreign Policy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tamaki, Taku. 2015. “The Persistence of Reified Asia as Reality in Japanese Foreign Policy Narratives.” Pacific Review 28 (1): 23–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tamamoto, Masaru. 1995. “Reflections on Japan’s Postwar State.” Daedalus 124 (2): 1–22.Google Scholar
Tanaka, Stefan. 1993. Japan’s Orient: Rendering Pasts into History. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Tanaka, Tetsuji. 2013. Overview of Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus: Re-engage Now with Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus! Institute for International Studies and Training. IIST e-Magazine. http://www.iist.or.jp/en-m/2013/0218-0889/Google Scholar
Ruggie, John Gerard. 1998. “What Makes the World Hang Together? Neo-utilitarianism and the Social Constructivist Challenge.” International Organizations 52 (4): 855–887.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Usubaliev, Esen. 2001. “Politika v stranax Tsental’noi Azii v kontekste vozmozhnogo poyavleniia novogo tsentra sily.” Central Asia and the Caucasus 5 (17): 159–165.Google Scholar
Uyama, Tomohiko. 2008. “Japan’s Diplomacy towards Central Asia in the Context of Japan’s Asian Diplomacy and Japan-U.S. Relations.” In Japan’s Silk Road Diplomacy: Paving the Road Ahead, edited by Len, Christopher, Tomohiko, Uyama, and Tetsuya, Hirose, 101–120. Washington, DC: Central Asia-Caucasus Institute.Google Scholar
Waltz, Kenneth N. 1979. Theory of International Politics. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Waltz, Kenneth N. 1993. “The Emerging Structure of International Politics.” International Security 18 (2): 44–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watanabe, Koji. 2000. “Japan and the New Central Asia.” In The New Central Asia in Search of Stability, edited by Garnett, Sherman, Rahr, Alexander, and Watanabe, Koji, 39–50. New York: Trilateral Commission.Google Scholar
Wendt, Alexander. 1999. Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wodak, Ruth, de Cillia, Rudolf, Reisigl, Martin, and Liebhart, Karin. 2009. The Discursive Construction of National Identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
World Bank. 2016. Kazakhstan Product Exports and Imports by Country and Region 2015. World Integrated Trade Solutions. http://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/KAZ/Year/2015/TradeFlow/EXPIMP/Partner/all/Product/Total.Google Scholar
Yuasa, Takeshi. 2007. “Japan’s Multilateral Approach toward Central Asia.” Acta Slavica Iaponica 16: 65–84.Google Scholar
Young, Oran R. 1989. International Cooperation: Building Regimes for Natural Resources and the Environment. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar