Japan Rising

At another conference held in D.C. earlier this month, Japanese expert Kenneth Pyle said that what is happening in Japan today fits in well with the country's international behavior over the past 150 years.

The University of Washington professor noted that Japan had adapted carefully and incrementally to the post-Cold War order. And such an adaptation had been a consistent feature among Japan's conservative elites.

After all, the hallmark of these elites had always been to adapt its foreign policy and domestic institutions to the new international environment - in other words, to organize internally so as to succeed externally.

Pyle noted that unlike the past five decades, Japan cannot afford to remain on the sidelines now. This is mainly due to China's rise and North Korea's increasing belligerence. Japan has also increasingly come to the realization that its economic power is insufficient in ensuring its security.

Hence, Japan had been progressively undoing its Cold War strategy, and constructing a new one. Tokyo's aim is to move away from its earlier emphasis economics, and focusing more on political, military and strategic issues.

For instance, since 1997, Japan's external foreign aid had fallen by 30 per cent, and its aid to China had ceased.

Tokyo's non-nuclear principle too, had increasingly come under pressure. Within Japan, the nuclear issue is now openly discussed and debated. The consensus now seems to be that so long as the U.S. deterrence is credible, Japan will not exercise its nuclear option.

And of course, there are now greater calls within Japan to revise what many see as the country's out-dated post-war Constitution.

And there are attempts by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and present Premier Shinzo Abe to strengthen the role of the Prime Minister in foreign policy.

Furthermore, the Self-Defence Force (SDF) had also been elevated from agency to ministry status, giving it a greater voice in influencing foreign policy. In addition, serving in the SDF is no longer looked down upon, as it had been in the past. Recently, 85 per cent of Japanese polled said they respected the role of the SDF, mainly because of the the troops' success in UN Peacekeeping Operations.

Also, during the past seven to eight year, several laws had been passed, such as those relating to national emergency and crisis conditions. These laws, according to Pyle, will help Japan better prepare for security threats.

Finally, as Pyle concluded, the changes that Japan are undertaking today are certainly not peripheral. Rather, these changes should be seen as comprehensive changes to Japan's system. They should also be indications that Japan is on the threshold of a new era - the Land of the Rising Sun certainly wants to become a more assertive strategic actor in maintaining the region's balance of power.