Japan's Foreign Policy, 1945-2009: The Quest for a Proactive Policy

by Kazuhiko Togo

Kazuhiko Togo, (Ph.D. 2009, Leiden University) is Professor and Director of the Institute for World Affairs, Kyoto Sangyo University. He served in the Japanese Foreign Ministry from 1968 to 2002, working on Russia, the US, Europe, international law and economics.. He taught at universities in Moscow, Tokyo, and Leiden (as IIAS Canon professor), Princeton, Tamkang (Taiwan), UC Santa Barbara and Seoul (as Toyota Fellow). His most recent publication (in Japanese) is The Inside Story of the Negotiations on the Northern Territories (2007) and History and Foreign Yasukuni, Asia and Tokyo Tribunal (2008).

Genres: History, Japan

508 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1

Reviews

[Yalin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kazuhiko Togo's work is a masterful presentation and analysis of Japan's post-WWII foreign policy until 2003. His personal knowledge and insight as a diplomat shines through the text and gives it a very unique point of view and authority. The text is neither stuffed with a barrage of facts and figures nor is it only a flimsy cover for one man's musing and storytelling about his own endeavors - it is a truly great work that analyzes Japan's foreign policy objectively, soberly, and with the necessary touch of humanity. The conclusion offers a candid discussion of those problems which will continue to keep Japan back in the future and thus, invites a great degree of discussion for the future.