THE NATION-STATE

People often refer to countries or states as “nations.”  Although the terms country and state can be used interchangeably, the same is not true for nation.   A nation is a group of people with common ethnic, religious, and linguistic characteristics.  Many countries are states, but not nations.

Some nations do not have a state.  This is true of the Palestinians.  There are almost seven million Palestinians who live in Israel and other countries such as Lebanon and Jordan.  The Kurds are another stateless nation as they live in parts Turkey Iraq, Syria, and Iran.

The nation-state is a politically organized area in which the nation and state occupy the same space.  The nation-state is often touted as being the model for a successful state.  However, there are very few examples are true nation-states.  Examples of nation-states include Iceland, Denmark, Uruguay, and Japan.

99.4 % of the people living in Japan belong to the Japanese ethnic group who has developed a unique and distinctive culture. In the past 1000 years, cultural and political unity has been achieved, in part, because everyone in the country speaks the same language.  Japan has not been troubled by problems of language disunity as can be seen in countries such as China, India, and Russia.

THE ISLAND-NATION

No state can exist without territory.  The boundaries of the territory can play an important role in the development and success of a country.  Different territorial characteristics can present either opportunities or challenges. Japan is a mountainous archipelago that lies in close proximity off the east coast of the Asian continent.  Japan is also an example of a fragmented country.  A fragmented country is one that consists of two or more separate pieces.  Fragmentation often makes interactions among the citizens of the country more difficult. There are over 3400 islands in the archipelago, which cover about 1,860 miles from north to south. Most of the islands on the archipelago are uninhabited rocks and most of the population lives in the plains and coastal areas on the four main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Overcrowding has produced a culture that emphasizes rigid adaptation, consensus, and miniaturization.
 

The mountainous islands of Japan offer few natural resources and little arable land.  85% of the land is unsuitable for farming. The Japanese have settled wherever they have found level, arable land and they have been adept at transforming undesirable sties into prosperous farms and towns.  In coastal areas the Japanese have reclaimed land from the sea.  In mountainous regions the hills have been terraced to provide more land for crowing crops.   Up until the mid-20th century Japan was mainly an agricultural country. Following World War II farming declined dramatically as people moved from the countryside into the cities.  Today farmers are major recipients of government subsidies.  Japan imports more than 15 times the amount of soybeans it produces.  Half of the country's fruit is imported, half of its meet and half of its fish.  Not only does Japan have to import its food, it must import most of raw materials including iron ore, copper, bauxite, cotton and wool, food grains, and oil.

Japan's energy options are limited by its lack of domestic energy sources coupled with the huge energy demands of its industries.  Japan depends on imports for close to 95 percent of its energy.  In 1973 Japan was importing 99 percent of its oil, which represented 77 percent of its energy supply.  Most of this oil came from the Middle East, which, in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War stopped shipping oil.  The resulting “oil shock”, as it was called, was strongly felt in Japan and affected all sectors of the economy.  The government developed a program aimed at reducing dependence on oil and conserving energy.  Also, in an effort to improve their relations with oil-producing countries, a new and more sympathetic foreign policy toward Arab countries was announced.

A chief feature of the Japanese archipelago is its geological instability.
 

• There are a large number and variety of volcanoes in Japan. The many active volcanoes in Japan form a part of the Pacific “ring of fire”, which surrounds the Pacific Ocean.  As 1996 there were 86 active volcanoes in Japan.
• Earthquakes are also a frequent phenomenon in Japan.  In the last century Japan has experienced 24 earthquakes with a magnitude of 6 or more and about 1500 shocks and tremors are recorded each year.  The Tokyo earthquake of 1923 resulted in more than 140,000 deaths and billions of dollars in property loss.  In 1995, the Kobe Earthquake left almost 6500 people dead.
• Volcanic eruptions in the surrounding seas and earthquakes that strike the sea floor, even thousands of miles away, sometimes for a tsunami.  A tsunami is a sea wave that sweeps across the Pacific Ocean and causes enormous damage when it hits coastal areas of Japan.

The island position of Japan has also led to several advantages.
 

• The oceans and seas around Japan supply an important food resource.  Fish are plentiful where the warm and cold ocean currents meat.
• No spot in Japan is more than 100 miles from the coast.  Rainfall is plentiful and temperatures are mild.  In southern areas, farmers can grow two crops of rice each year.  Even in northern Hokkaido, the growing season can be five months long.  The surrounding ocean helps to keep the temperature of the land around it warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than it would normally be at such latitude.   Warm sea currents from the south add to the mildness of the climate in southern Japan.
• The seas surrounding Japan have historically created an effective barrier between Japan and the rest of the world.  Japan's close proximity to Korea and China allowed it to absorb culture from these countries, but it also allowed Japan to limit its contact with the rest of the world. Until Japan was defeated in World War II, it was able to keep its borders safe from foreign occupation.  This allowed the Japanese to develop a distinct culture and a strong sense of nationalism
• Today modern forms of transportation link Japan to the rest of the world. Japan depends on its trade with other nations and the sea allows Japan a relatively cheap form of transportation.

ECONOMIC AND FOREIGN RELATIONS
 

Following World War II Japan's expanding foreign trade played an increasingly influential role in the formation of its diplomacy as its economy reached a level competitive with the United States and Europe.  However, by the mid 1990s the Japanese economy was in a downward spiral thus emphasizing Japan's perception of vulnerability.  At the same time as Japan's economy declines Chinas’ improves.  Japan, the economic powerhouse of the east is now in danger of being replaced by China.
 

China:
In 1972 Japan established formal diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China.   Japanese business leaders saw China as a source of much-needed natural resources, a source of cheap labor, and a massive consumer market for Chinese goods. By 1984 Japan was China’s leading trading partner.  China has also been the recipient of large amounts of foreign aid from Japan.  Today, some in Japan see China as an economic threat.  In November of 2001 China proposed a free-trade area with the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations within the next decade.  This prompted the Jakarta Post to state that China would soon displace Japan as the economic leader of the Southeast Asian economy (The Economist April, 2002). This comes at a time when Japan feels vulnerable about its economy.  There is a fear that the United States will turn from Japan as its closet ally in the East for China.  According to The Economist article this fear was again raised when, in 1998 Bill Clinton went to China, “and, it is said, persuaded President Jiang Zemin not to point his missiles at American targets, but neglected to ask for a similar favor for Japan.”

The relationship between Japan and China has been strained and distrust between the two countries is large.  China’s refusal to raise a North Korean boat that sank in China’s exclusive economic zone after an exchange of fire with Japanese coastguard cutters has infuriated many Japanese and the Chinese do not trust the Japanese as they were responsible for many atrocities on the Chinese during World War II.

Korea:
In 1948 the Korean peninsula was divided at the 38th parallel between the communist-controlled North Korea and the Democratic Republic of South Korea.  At the urging of the United States, Japan established relations with South Korea. However, straining the relations between South Korea and Japan was the 35-year colonial rule of Japan over Korea prior to World War II.  Both South and North Korea demanded billions of dollars in reparations from Japan.  However, South Korea saw Japan as a source of much needed economic aid.  Finally, in 1965 the Korea-Japan Treaty, Japan recognized South Korea as the only lawful government on the Korean peninsula. As a result, South Korea received loans from Japan that contributed to the rapid economic expansion of the country.

In the early 1990’s South Koreans and other Asians demanded that Japan admit responsibility for forcefully recruiting women to serve as “comfort women” or prostitutes for the Japanese soldiers.

 The relationship between North Korea and Japan has not improved.  North Korea is responsible for the kidnapping of Japanese citizens during the 1970’s.  These Japanese were kidnapped from Japan and brought to North Korea.  The North Koreans hoped to use the Japanese to teach Japanese to North Koreans who would then infiltrate and spy on South Korea.  In October of 2002, 8 Japanese who had been abducted from Japan were allowed to return to visit Japan.  However, their families were kept in North Korea.  There is also a great disagreement between North Korea and Japan about the number of Japanese who were abducted.  North Korea also refuses to apologize, as they don’t see the kidnapping as an atrocity any greater than the Japanese committed on the Koreans prior to and during World War II.  Japan is also worried about North Korea’s 2002 announcement that they were resuming their nuclear weapons program.  However, they are fearful that tough sanctions by Japan's ally, the United Sates, will prevent Korea from releasing the families of the kidnapped Japanese who still reside in North Korea.
 

Southeast Asia and the Pacific Basin:
During World War II Japan occupied most of the countries of Southeast Asia and they have left many deep wounds in that area.  Therefore, Japan has given considerable financial and technical aid to these countries to help develop their economies.  It also paid reparations to countries that had suffered under Japanese occupation.

Japan's interest in Southeast Asia was three-fold: First; they saw the area as market in which they could sell goods.  Second; they hoped to take advantage of the cheap labor found in the region, and third; the Japanese felt that setting up production facilities in Southeast Asia would help to ensure a steady supply of raw materials.  The people of Southeast Asia were suspicious of the Japanese and they had not forgotten Japanese aggression during World War II.  Japan responded with an expansion of foreign aid to the region and with the introduction of cultural exchanges.

In 1967 Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines organized the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to increase economic cooperation Brunei joined in 1984, Vietnam in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997 and Cambodia in 1999)). ASEAN industrial development has been accelerated by Japanese capital funding and technology.  In November of 1989 government representatives of Canada, the United Sates, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and the six ASEAN nations met for their first conference, at which they established principles for economic cooperation (APEC).

Japan is becoming an increasingly major player in the western Pacific. Japan must import all its raw materials and export its finished manufactured goods to markets throughout the world.  Therefore, keeping the sea routes secure and open throughout the Pacific for the purpose of commerce is essential for Japan.

Russia
Russia and Japan have never formally signed an agreement ending World War II.  Russia still occupies the southern Sakhalin Island and the Kuriles which had formerly belonged to Japan.  In April of 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev visited Japan, thus being the first Soviet leader to ever do so.  Gorbachev saw Japan as being an important source of income investment for the Soviet Union, and to import Japanese technology. Hopes were high that a treaty could finally be signed between the two countries and that the islands would be returned to Japan.  In 1993 a declaration called for resolution of the problem of the Kuril islands “on the basis of historical and legal facts.”  Since then Japan has provided Russia with economic and humanitarian aid although the dispute has still not been settled.
 

The United States:
At the end of World War II, the main international security concern to the United Sates was the Communist Soviet Union.  During the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, the United States became preoccupied in south and northeast Asia in developing a policy that would contain the aggressions of the Soviet Union. Japan was ideally situated geographically to help with this goal.  Therefore, the United States assisted in the economic recovery of its former adversary Japan. Thus the Japan became one of the United Sates closet allies and one of the strongest economies in the world.

By the early 1970’s one third of Japan's exports went to the United Sates, and about one fourth of Japanese imports were American products.  Friction between the United Sates and Japan began to rise as the balance of trade became overwhelmingly in favor of Japan as the US increased its imports of Japanese steel and electronic products.  Japan was criticized for having “unfair” trade practices, as Japan did not open its domestic markets to US goods.  Another area of complaint by the United Sates was centered on Japan's pricing policies on exports.  Owing to a protected domestic market, the Japanese were able to charge a high price for goods in Japan, but sell them at below market value in other countries.  This practice of “dumping” or selling goods abroad for below market value led to charges of unfair trade practices by the Japanese.  Also of concern to Americans in the 1980’s was a Japanese buying spree in the United States of real estate and businesses.
 

Okinawa continues to be an issue in Japanese-American relations as it remained in American hands.  After World War II the United States built a military base on Okinawa that was important to American security in the western Pacific.  Resentment was high in Japan over the American occupation of Okinawa.  Toward the end of the Vietnam War, Okinawa was no longer seen as strategic as it had been previously.  In 1972 Okinawa was returned to the Japanese.  However, an American military base remains on the island and there is continued resentment toward the presence of American troops on Japanese soil

The close bilateral relationship between the US and Japan that has guaranteed economic and military security in East Asia appears to be at a turning point.  Part of the questioning about the relationship between the United States and Japan is in response to the United States’ new economic and strategic relationship with China and what is perceived as our obsession with the Middle East.

According to Article 9 of Japan's constitution, Japan is not allowed to use forces other than for self-defense.  This clause of the Japanese constitution was written by General Douglas MacArthur after World War II in an effort to ensure that Japan not begin another offensive war.  However, during the Persian Gulf War Americans were outraged that a country such as Japan that was totally dependent on imports for its oil would not send a single soldier to fight the war against Saddam Hussein.  Eventually, Japan agreed to pay 1.5 trillion yen to help fund the war and the sent six minesweepers to the Gulf four months after it ended.

JAPAN’S ROLE IN THE INTERNATIONAL WORLD

Japan has been a member of the United Nations since 1956 and since 1992 it has contributed troops to peace-keeping operations.  Currently there are 600 Japanese troops taking part in the UN’s peace-keeping operations in East Timor.  Within Japan there is a growing movement to expand the definition of “self-defense.”  Recently, someone in the Koizumi cabinet suggested that perhaps that the development of nuclear weapons might be justified as a measure of self-defense, especially with North Korea’s continued nuclear program. However, the prospect of Japan repealing Article 9 of it constitution is unthinkable at this point in time.

Japan will continue to play a role in the international world in various capacities.  It has been a leading proponent for the environment, they are generous foreign aid donors, and they have also played a role in the war against terrorism.

Japan supports the U.S. war on terrorism and helps the fight on several levels.  As a member of the Great Eight (G-8) Japan pledged $200 million to the partnership created by the G-8 to stop the spread of weapons and materials of mass destruction.  Specifically, the group projects are to assist Moscow in getting rid of its stockpiled weapons left over from the former Soviet Union.   Following September 11, 2001, the Japanese legislature passed an anti-terrorism bill that, for the first time, allowed Japanese forces to be sent to a theater of operations for a reasons other than “survey or research.” (The Economist April 2002) Despite the constitutional restriction against using troops for offensive purposes, the Japanese, for the first time since World War II have naval ships that have been sent outside of Japan for operational purposes.  For the past year Japanese refueling ships have been operating along side of US and British Naval ships in the Indian Ocean.  Also, a Japanese warship was dispatched to join them.  This move by Japan has been encouraged by the United States.  However, other countries in the Asia-Pacific region are nervous about this change in Japanese military policy.  South Korea has termed Japan's willingness to fight terrorism as “unnecessary hurry.”  China and North Korea see this as a direct threat to their security.
 

Although Japan's economy has been faltering in the last ten years and its location is no longer strategic in the fight against Soviet aggression, Japan remains one of the United States closet and most dependable ally.  Japan continues to be the most important partner and ally to the U.S. in the Asian region.
 
 

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