Ideas for peace

Number 11 – July 2017

The Foreign Policy of Japan

Former Japanese Ambassador in Costa Rica,
Mamoru Shinohara

Summary

• As a general rule, Foreign Policy is based almost exclusively on national

interest, which varies according to each nation’s ideology, capabilities,
limitations, and restrictions.

• In the case of Japan, the following factors influence its foreign policy:
an increasingly sensitive security environment in East Asia; a growing
concern over violent, extremist and international terrorism; global
issues that urgently need a response; and the risks and opportunities
for international economies, namely Japan.

• Japan’s main priorities when drafting foreign policy include: (1) making
proactive contributions to peace; (2) promoting Japan’s national interests;
and (3) working together with other on global issues.
 Ideas for peace
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The Foreign Policy of Japan

Mamoru Shinohara is the former Ambassador of Japan in Costa Rica. Prior to
that, he served as Director of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST),
Deputy Consul-General at the Consulate-General of Japan in New York and
Advisor of International Relations at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
(JAXA), before joining the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Director of
the Science and Nuclear Energy Division.

The opinions presented in this academic paper, in addition to the analyses and interpretations herein contained,
constitute the exclusive responsibility of its authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University
for Peace or the institutions it is affiliated with.

Las opiniones que se presentan en este trabajo, así como los análisis e interpretaciones que en él contienen, son
responsabilidad exclusiva de sus autores y no reflejan necesariamente los puntos de vista de UPAZ ni de las
instituciones a las cuales se encuentran vinculados.

UniversityforPeace UPEACE UPEACE01 university-for-peace universityforpeace

UPAZ Mamoru Shinohara

I would like to start with a definition. Without a common definition, the

discussion may not be fruitful. So, lets define what foreign policy is. The
English dictionary defines foreign policy as “a policy of a sovereign state in its
interaction with other sovereign states.” The Oxford dictionary defines it as a
“government’s strategy in dealing with other nations.” So, let’s define foreign policy
here as follows: a policy formulated by a nation in its dealing with other nations, in
order to preserve national interests and/or achieve national objectives. This is a very
general statement and this is not just applicable to Japan’s foreign policy, but
also the foreign policy of any other country, for the moment. There is another
important word that needs defining: diplomacy. This word is often used when
talking about foreign policy. According to the dictionary, diplomacy is “the art
and practice of conducting negotiation between nations.”

How Foreign Policy is Formulated

Taking these definitions into consideration, let’s see how foreign policy is
formulated in a general way. First of all, there is a national interest. This might
be one of peace and stability, safety and security, sustainable prosperity, or
territorial integrity, this last one either for its own sake or how they are related
to natural resources like oil or marine resources like fisheries. You can add
any national interest you can think of. There are also ideologies, like peace,
democracy, rule of law, human rights, and the environment. Every country
has its own capabilities, limitations and restrictions. One such example is
power, which can be either military or financial in nature. If you don’t have
money to spend, you cannot effectively interact with other nations. If you don’t
have the money to set up an embassy in another country, you lose influence in
that country. So everything is money; money is power. There are regional and
global entities that nations are a part of, and it is here where they develop much
of their relationship with other nations. And then there are foreign relations
themselves, whereby each country has its own unique relationship with its
neighboring countries.

We also have public expectation. Foreign policy cannot stand alone; foreign
policy should take account of public opinion. Sometimes public reaction may
influence foreign policy in any country, including Japan.

And then, there is the reality, even if it is a perceived reality. Foreign policy
makes people perceive reality differently. Japan’s perception of reality maybe

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be different from the reality perceived by Costa Rica or North Korea of the
same situation. Reality refers to the situation’s prospects for the future: what
will happen or what may happen, risks (such as infectious disease or terrorism)
and opportunities (such as economic opportunities to import or export).

Global and regional issues also have an impact on foreign policy. In the case of
Costa Rica, there is currently an issue with immigrants from Cuba, and now
we have African immigrants trying to get into the U.S.A. and remaining stuck
in transit in Costa Rica. Europe is another example, with millions of refugees
from Middle East and Africa flooding the continent. These are global and
regional issues. Formulating foreign policy will take all of these elements into
account. The process of formulating foreign policy requires those in charge to be
reasonable. Those who formulate foreign policy don’t jump to conclusions out
of the blue, they recognize the seriousness of the situation, and they evaluate
the opportunities and possible options. This is a very serious process.

Japan’s Perception of Reality

In the specific case of Japan, how does Japan perceive reality?

1) There is an increasingly sensitive security environment in East Asia.

This might just be a Japanese perception, but Japan considers that security,
in the case of East Asia, is becoming increasingly sensitive due to the rapidly
increasing military capability build-up of the countries in the region. There are
two regions in the world where military spending is rapidly increasing; one
of them is the Middle East, the other is East Asia. In Iraq there are currently
attempts to change the status quo. In East Asia, the direction of North Korea
is currently unclear, making it very difficult for Japan to predict what North
Korea will do next.

2) There is a growing concern over violent, extremist and international

terrorism. Violent terrorist groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL), Boko Haram in Africa, and their international influence beyond
their borders. One might consider these phenomena to be very distant from
Japan and Latin America, but just last year, there was a second Japanese citizen
murdered by extremist groups in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Japan is not immune to
international terrorism, and the government has a responsibility to protect its
nationals, which makes this a very serious matter from the Japanese perspective.

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3) There are global issues that urgently need a response. Poverty is one of
them, with millions of people currently living under the poverty line. Also, we
are feeling the effects of climate change and there are urgent issues regarding
environmental protection that need attention. Furthermore, we have the issue
of universal health coverage, as well as other issues pertaining to health,
including infectious diseases like the Zika and Ebola viruses. Another large
issue is that of refugees, considering the mass wave of refugees from the Middle
East currently flooding Europe. All of these are big issues, not only regionally
but globally.

4) There are risks, but at the same time opportunities, for international
economies. There is a phenomenon slowing down the Chinese economy. And I
say this because the Japanese economy is so dependent on the Chinese economy.
We export a lot to China. If the Chinese economy’s performance drops, so does
Japan’s. At the same time, Asia is on the fastest growing economic regions in
the world, which represents a great opportunity for Japan. We can also see
the emergence of protectionism, the idea that “my country is first”. Japan is
currently so dependent on free trade, that it depends on an open and fair trade
system in order to prosper.

So, let’s take a look of the details of these realities.

The Security Environment around Japan

Regarding the security environment around Japan, let us examine the military
spending of our neighbors1. First of all, Russia’s defense spending is about
$91,081 million, with 80,000 defense personnel just on the east side, and 7,000
nuclear warheads. We also have North Korea, with defense personnel of more
than US$ 1 million, and 10 nuclear warheads. Then there is China, which exceeds
US$ 214,485 million in military spending, with 1.7 million defense personnel
and 260 nuclear warheads. In the case of South Korea, the military spending is
US$ 38.640 million – modest when compared with the rest of the region – with
524,000 military personnel, and no nuclear warheads. Japan spends about US$
46,346 million, has 140.000 military personnel, and no warheads. This is the
current security and defense situation in East Asia.

1 Sources from SIPRI, Defense White Paper of Japan, and Arms Control Association.

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If we consider the total population of North Korea, which is 25 million, and its
military personnel, which is over 1 million, and we compare it to Japan, which
has a population of 127 million and just 140,000 military personnel, we can see
that North Korea has more disproportionate military capabilities. There is no
real data on North Korea’s military spending.

There is also U.S. military presence in the region. There are approximately 17,00
U.S. military personnel in the Republic of South Korea and 18,000 in Japan.
Japan is also a stronghold of the U.S. military fleet.

Japanese Economic Relations

Let us turn now to the economic situation of Japan. China is currently Japan’s
biggest trade partner, with the U.S. in second place. Japan also holds excellent
economic relations, including trade and investment, with the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), its third most important economic partner.
The European Union currently holds fourth place, with the Middle East close
behind, since Japan imports a large amount of oil and natural gas from this
region. At the same time, Japan currently has an important trade surplus with
the U.S., If we lose that trade surplus with the U.S., how will we buy that oil
from the Middle East? How do we balance that surplus with the deficit we
have with China? These are important issues for Japan.

If you look at the current economic relations in Japan and military situation
previously mentioned, it is easy realize that Japan is in a very tricky position.
We are afraid of the military build-up of one of our “big brothers”, China,
while depending on the trade with our other “big brother”, the U.S. So how
can Japan manage this relationship with its two “big brothers”? This is at the
crux of Japanese foreign relations.

Japan’s Foreign Policy

Japan’s foreign policy Considering these realities as perceived by the Japanese is

important for understanding how foreign policy is formulated from a Japanese
point of view. One of the first priorities is making proactive contributions to
peace. But I think in order to have peace for Japan, the world needs to be
peaceful. So, Japan’s foreign policy attempts to make contributions towards a
more peaceful world. The second priority is protecting and promoting Japan’s

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national interests. Peace is a national interest, but so is sustainable economic

prosperity, which it strives towards by working together with partners on
global issues as a responsible member of the international community.

1. Making proactive contributions to peace

With regards to making proactive contributions to peace, Japan doesn’t have

a strong military power, and the psychology of the Japanese general public is
such that they have no desire to get involved in a war situation. And so Japan
attempts to contribute to peace in a larger context, a more comprehensive
approach to peace. Japan is looking at peacebuilding to achieve sustainable
peace in post-conflict regions by comprehensive efforts including peacekeeping,
emergency humanitarian assistance, promotion of peace and reconciliation
processes, reconstruction and development. All of this in the belief that without
the proper construction of development, peace cannot be sustainable.

Japan also participates in peacekeeping operations, though it doesn’t do so

unilaterally, but by seeking partners for these operations. Japan is also involved
in measures against piracy off the Coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.

Japan also is also committed to disarmament and non-proliferation, and

adheres to all legal instruments related to these issues, such as the Treaty on
the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Biological Weapons
Convention (BWC) and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Japan is also
a member of the Non-proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI) and the
Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and so on, and regularly cooperates with the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), whose current Director-General,
Mr. Yukiya Amano, is Japanese. Japan has been very active in promoting an
additional protocol for greater safeguards in nuclear facilities alongside the
IAEA. Furthermore, since 2015, Japan has been attempting to enlarge the scope
of possible peace cooperation activities through new legislation for peace and
security.

2. Promoting Japan’s National Interest

The second pillar of Japanese Foreign Policy is protecting and promoting

Japan’s national interests. One of the keys to this is the strengthening of the
U.S.-Japan Alliance. “The unshakable U.S.-Japan Alliance is the cornerstone

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of peace, prosperity, and freedom in the Asia-Pacific region” (joint statement

by President Trump and Prime Minister Abe during their recent meeting in
Washington, D.C.)

The Japan-US Alliance has been the linchpin of Japan’s diplomacy, and Japan
and the United States will continue to further strengthen this Alliance in all
areas including technological cooperation of defense innovation and security
cooperation in cyberspace. The two countries agreed and revised the Defense
Cooperation Guidelines for more effective operations of this alliance.

In the history of the alliance, we can see various instances of reformulation

of these guidelines on behalf of both countries, in order to enhance the
effectiveness of the alliance. When the Cold War ended, new guidelines were
agreed-upon that were relevant to a post-Cold War world. This was done again
after 9/11 in order to effectively cope with terrorism and other threats.

History of Japan-US Alliance

1945: End of World War II

1952: San Francisco Peace Treaty

1952: Security Treaty between Japan and the United States.

1956: Accession to the United Nations

1960: Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between

Japan and the United States of America

1978: Guidelines for Japan-US Defense Cooperation

1991: End of the Cold War

1997: Revision of Guidelines for Japan-US Defense Cooperation

2015: New Guidelines for Japan-US Defense Cooperation

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Another important key aspect of this pillar involves enhancing relation with its
neighbors. The relationships with neighboring countries such as the Republic
of Korea, China, Australia, ASEAN 10 and Russia are important for a more
stable environment surrounding Japan.

Finally, it is fundamental to promote Economic Diplomacy as a means of driving

the growth of the Japanese Economy. For Japan, a maritime nation with scarce
resources, it is critically important to maintain and strengthen an open and
stable international economic system which guarantees stable import of raw
materials and access to the overseas market. More specifically:

• The Republic of Korea remains Japan’s most important neighbor, one

that shares strategic interests.

• The relationship with China constitutes one of the most important

bilateral relationships for Japan.

• Taiwan is a crucial partner and an important friend, with which Japan

shares basic values in the forms of freedom, democracy, basic human
rights and the rule of law.

• ASEAN10 plays an important role as a centre of regional cooperation in

East Asia. It is important that ASEAN is integrated in accordance with
values such as the rule of law and democracy.

• Japan and Australia enjoy a “Special Relationship”, sharing fundamental

values and strategic interests.

• The development of relations with Russia as a partner in the Asia-

Pacific region contributes not only Japan’s national interest, but also to
peace and prosperity of the region.

The exception continues to be DNPK. North Korea’s continued nuclear and

missile development poses a serious threat to the region as well as the entire
international community. Based on the basic recognition that the normalization
of diplomatic relations with North Korea is impossible without the solution
of the abduction issue, Japan has positioned its resolution as one of its most
important foreign policy issues.2
2 Diplomatic Bluebook 2016

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In addition to this threat of missile and nuclear weapons from North Korea,
Japan is dealing with abduction issues, in which Japanese nationals have been
abducted by North Korea on Japanese territory, forced to live in North Korea
and trained to become spies in Japan. North Korea create a Japanese village in
its own country, where these abducted Japanese citizens live and are trained
as spies.

For Japan, a maritime nation with scarce resources, it is critically important to

maintain and strengthen an open and stable international economic system,
which guarantees stable import of raw materials and access to the overseas
market. This is achieved by:

a. Promoting Economic Partnerships: To increase the Free Trade

Agreement (FTA) ratio from 40% up to 70% by 2018. With the recent
change in government in the U.S., Japan is no longer sure they can reach
this goal, seeing as this projection takes into account the Trans-Pacific
Partnership, which is no longer a guarantee. Without the TPP, Japan’s
ration would be 23.2%, making 70% seem difficult to reach. Japan also
has free trade agreements with Chile and Peru.

b. Promoting Overseas Business Expansion: Japan current has Investment

Treaties to protect foreign investments (24 treaties + 11 Economic
Partnership Agreements); Tax Conventions to avoid any double
taxation (65 treaties); Social Security Agreements that allows Japanese
nationals to retain their social security status even if they work abroad
(19 agreements); Intellectual Property Protection agreements to protect
Japanese brands (Toyota, Honda, etc.); and the Provision of Relevant
Information to Private Enterprises and potential investors.

c. Securing a Stable Supply of Resources from Abroad: Japan suffers from

a low self-sufficiency rate (Energy: 5%; Food: 39%), which makes it
very dependent on resources from abroad. For this reason, it strives
to strengthening ties with resource-rich countries and works towards
protecting open, free and peaceful sea for smooth maritime transport.

d. Participating in International Rule Making: Japan actively participates

in the following global fora: G7, G20, World Trade Organization (WTO),

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World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Organization

for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), among others,
especially in light of the current status of the TPP.\

3. Working together on global issues

Japan has been proactively addressing a wide variety of global issues,

including poverty, climate change and other environmental issues, disaster
risk reduction, water and sanitation, health, education, agriculture, inequity
and refugees through its policy tools, such as development cooperation (15.71
billion US dollars in 2014). Most notably, Japan has been focused on:

a. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: For 2030, Japan will

steadily implement this Agenda and contribute to the realization of
a sustainable world without poverty. Japan focuses on such areas as
health, gender, education, disaster risk reduction, quality growth and
the environment.

b. Human Security: Human security is a concept aiming at creating a

community in which individuals are protected, and empowering them
to solve their own issues by themselves. The concept of human security
serves as one of Japan’s diplomatic policy pillars. In the case of Costa
Rica, Japan has a UN Human Security project in the south region,
which targets the indigenous people migrating from Panamá to Costa
Rica and then going back to Panamá again every year.

As a closure, I would like to mention the Japan’s foreign policy making

structure:

1. Cabinet: To decide or approve important policies of Japan. For example,

the National Security Strategy which serves as a guiding principle of
Japan’s defense policy and foreign policy was decided in 2013

2. National Security Council: Created in 2013 to undertake strategic

discussions on various national security issues on a regular basis and
as necessary. Its members are the Prime Minister, the Chief Cabinet
Secretary, Foreign Minister, Defense Minister and other relevant
Ministers.

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3. Ministry of Foreign Affairs: To formulate and implement foreign policy

of Japan under the strong leadership of the Prime Minister and Foreign
Minister as well as in coordination with the Cabinet Secretariat and
other relevant Ministries such as the Ministry of Defense.

Foreign policy looks fairly simple only when you look at a single country.
But, there is difficulty in foreign policy-making and its implementation. These
difficulties stem from:

1. No assurance of having a complete set of accurate information necessary

for policy-making;

2. Influences of and interactions with foreign policies and their

implementation by other countries;

3. Domestic and international public reactions, etc.

Therefore, foreign policy needs to be continuously reviewed and refined as

necessary, so that it remains relevant and effective.

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