Economic Diplomacy: Japan and the Balance of National Interests

Okano-Heijmans's Economic Diplomacy powerfully presents how regional and global strategic factors have formulated Japan's economic diplomacy, while also considering how domestic business interests have impacted it. In particular, the book analyzes continuity and changes in Japan's economic diplomacy since the 1990s. The major cases – ‘green’ environmental and energy policies and Japan's diplomacy toward North Korea – are drawn from the two extremes on the spectrum of economic diplomacy between the ‘business end’ and the ‘power-play end’. The former involves cooperative efforts by business and government to maximize business opportunities, and the latter involves the strategic goals of a government. The analysis is based on the theories of economic diplomacy and related fields, as well as an extensive survey of empirical materials related to the selected case studies of Japan, including both English-written and Japanese-written ones, thus contributing to the understanding of economic diplomacy in general and that of Japan in particular.