Book review : Japan's evolving foreign policy doctrine : from Yoshida to Miyazawa, and Japanese foreign policy : the emerging logic of multilateralism

This article reviews the books "Japan’s evolving foreign policy doctrine: from Yoshida to Miyazawa" by Bert Edström, and "Japanese foreign policy: the emerging logic of multilateralism" by Akiko Fukushima. Does Japan have a foreign policy? Since Japan clearly does have relationships, whether treaty-based or otherwise, with foreign countries and international bodies, the answer to this questionshould obviously be positive, yet the frequency with which this question is raised suggests thatdoubts still exist about whether there are any principles or goals underlying Japan’s externalrelationships and whether it has been active in pursuing those principles and goals in the postwarera. From different directions, both these books attempt to investigate these issues.