Japanese Foreign Relations

The power of Russia, China, and the United States and the policies of these countries toward Japan have changed dramatically during the past fifty years. But improvements in communication and transportation have brought its four neighbors closer to japan, and they continue to be of critical importance to Japan's security. . . (Weinstein 5-6).

The major shift took place with World War II. Prior to the war, Japan had defensive bases that were then transformed into threatening positions. Japan had exercised sovereignty over Korea, all the Kurile islands, and southern Sakhalin, as well as the Bonins, the Ryukyus, and Taiwan. Manchuria was a military satellite, and the Caroline and Marshall Islands were under a Japanese mandate. The Soviet Union was preoccupied with industrial expansion and played little role in the region. The Japanese Islands were under virtuall

. . .
tical system and trade imperatives drew the nation closer to the advanced western democracies outside the region. Fifth, while Japan's economic expansion and other changes in the economic environment had increasingly integrated the nation into global affairs, most Japanese and their leaders had an outlook that remained parochial, which was reflected in the domestic political system: Moreover, the concern of the Japanese for the preservation of their unique national identity makes it difficult to accommodate various external demands for smoother integration into the world economy and greater burden-sharing. Nevertheless, the last decade has witnessed astonishing changes in the domestic environment which have affected Japan's relations with the outside world (Drifte 3). EVOLUTION OF JAPAN'S POLICY TOWARD THE SOVIET UNION Near the end of World War II, with Japan on the verge of surrender, the Soviet Union declared war on Tokyo in violation of the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact. The Soviets swiftly took control of southern Sakhalin and the Kurile islands. When the war ended, the Soviets still captured some 600,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians and sent them to Siberian labor camps in violation of the Potsdam Declaration, whic
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Soviet Union, Western Europe, War II, Tanaka's Soviet, Fifth Japan's, Third Japan, Cold War, Sakhalin Kurile, Hatoyama Ichiro, Pacific Pro-US, soviet union, foreign policy, northern territories, prime minister, world war ii, territorial issue, world war, war ii, kurile islands, sakhalin kurile, peace treaty, sakhalin kurile islands, soviet union russia, japan's foreign policy, dissolution soviet union,
Approximate Word count = 3106
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Japanese Foreign Relations