The United States and Japan in the Postwar World

University of Kentucky UKnowledge International Relations Political Science 12-21-1993 The United States and Japan in the Postwar World Akira Iriye Harvard University Warren I. Cohen University of Maryland, Baltimore County Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Iriye, Akira and Cohen, Warren I., "The United States and Japan in the Postwar World" (1993). International Relations. 22. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_political_science_international_relations/22 The United States and Japan in the Postwar World The United States and Japan IN THE POSTWAR WORLD Edited by Akira Iriye and Warren I. Cohen THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY This book is based upon papers presented at a conference sponsored by both the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Joint Comittee on Japanese Studies of the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies. Copyright © 1989 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarminc College, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Club, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. Editorial and Sales Offices: Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0336 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The United States and Japan in the postwar world / edited by Akira Iriye and Warren I. Cohen, p. cm. "Based upon papers presented at a [1984] conference sponsored by both the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Joint Committee on Japanese Studies of the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies"—P. iv. Includes index. ISBN 0-8131-1652-X (alk. paper) 1. United States—Foreign relations—Japan—Congresses. 2. Japan— Foreign relations—United States—Congresses. 3. United States— Foreign economic relations—Japan—Congresses. 4. Japan—Foreign economic relations—United States—Congresses. I. Iriye, Akira. II. Cohen, Warren I. E183.8.J3U723 1989 88-38372 327.73052—dcl9 Contents List of Tables vii Preface ix Abbreviations xi Part One. U.S.-Japanese Relations since 1945 1. The Global Context Robert G. Gilpin 3 2. From the Yoshida Letter to the Nixon Shock Chihiro Hosoya 21 3. China in Japanese-American Relations Warren I. Cohen 36 4. The Security Treaty Revision of 1960 Tadashi Aruga 61 5. Southeast Asia in U.S.-Japanese Relations Akio Watanabe 80 6. Decline of Relations during the Vietnam War Walter LaFeber 96 Part Two. The United States and Japan in the World Economy 7. Japan's Evolving Trade Posture Stephen Krasner and Daniel Okimoto 117 8. U.S.-Japanese Trade Relations, 1955-1982 Hideo Kanemitsu 145 9. Internationalization of Japanese Capital Markets Robert Alan Feldman 171 Part Three. Global Awareness 10. War, Peace, and U.S.-Japanese Relations Akira Iriye 191 11. America in the Mind of the Japanese Nagayo Homma 209 12. Beyond the Pressure-Response Cycle Mitsuru Yamamoto 223 Contributors 231 Index Tables 5.1 Percentage Shares of the Major Industrial Centers in the Imports of Southeast Asia and India 83 7.1 Imports as Percentages of Japanese Domestic Supply 130 7.2 Manufactured Imports as Percentages of GDP 131 7.3 Manufactured Imports as Percentage of Total Imports 132 7.4 Japanese and U.S. Trade in Machinery, 1982 134 8.1 Annual Percentage Changes in Production, Wholesale Prices, Wages, and Trade for the United States and Japan 150 8.2 Annual Percentage Growth of U.S., Japanese, and World Trade in Selected Commodities, 1955-82 152 8.3 Income Elasticities of U.S. and Japanese Exports for Selected Com- modities, 1955-82 152 8.4 Japan's Exports to the United States for Selected Years 154 8.5 Japan's Imports from the Unites States for Selected Years 155 8.6 Japan's Exports for Selected Years 156 8.7 Japan's Imports for Selected Years 157 8.8 Principal Commodities Exported by Japan to the United States in 1955, 1970, and 1982 160 8.9 Principal Commodities Imported by Japan from the United States in 1955, 1970, and 1982 161 8.10 Elasticities of Exports and Imports of the United States and Japan, 1955-82 166 8.11 Elasticitie of Japan's Exports and Imports in Its Trade with the United States, 1955-82 167 8.12 Appendix: Japanese and U.S. Merchandise Trade, 1955-82 168 9.1 Typical Balance Sheet 173 Preface In 1984 a group of distinguished American and Japanese scholars met under the auspices of the Social Science Research Council—with the support of the Ford Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Japan- United States Friendship Commission—to examine relations between their countries in a historical and global context. They recognized that the constantly growing issues between the two countries, which were becoming so complex that many across the Pacific were warning of a "drifting apart," if not a rupture, of two of the closest allies since the war, could only be understood if examined historically—in relation to the overall themes and trends in the past several decades—and globally—in the context of changing world and regional affairs. Such an effort is, if anything, needed even more today when one hears talk of a serious conflict, crisis of confidence, or misunderstanding between the United States and Japan that threatens to erode the Pacific alliance. The editors, therefore, have assembled some of the papers presented at the 1984 gathering to make them available to concerned citizens as well as to the specialists. The editors would like to express special thanks to the Social Science Research Council for its support of the initial gathering and to the University Press of Kentucky for its willingness to publish the essays in book form. The editing of the papers has been facilitated by the cheerful and efficient help of graduate assistants at the University of Chicago and Michigan State Univer- sity, in particular Alexa Hand and Barbara Welke. Abbreviations ANZUS Pacific Security Treaty [Australia, New Zealand, United States] ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASPAC Asian and Pacific Council CHINCOM China Committee COCOM Coordinating Committee for Export to Communist Areas DSP Democratic Socialist party (Japan) ECA Economic Cooperation Administration ECAFE Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East EEC European Economic Community ESB Economic Stabilization Board FIDA Foreign Investor Deposit Account FYA Free Yen Account FEC Far Eastern Commission GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade GDP Gross Domestic Product GNP Gross National Product IMF International Monetary Fund JCP Communist party (Japan) JSP Socialist party (Japan) LDP Liberal Democratic party (Japan) MITI Ministry of International Trade and Industry NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NDA Nonresident Deposit Account NIC newly industrialized countries NSC National Security Council NYDA Nonresident Yen Deposit Account OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development OIR Office of Intelligence Research (U.S. Department of State) OMA orderly market agreement OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries PRC People's Republic of China ROC Republic of China SEATO Southeast Asia Treaty Organization SITC Standard International Trade Classifications Sohyo General Council of Trade Unions (Japan) VER voluntary export restraint The United States and Japan in the Postwar World PART ONE U.S.-Japanese Relations since 1945 As the basic framework of international affairs since the end of World War II, Robert Gilpin proposes the concept of the "American System." According to this analysis, the postwar world was characterized by America's military, political, and economic predominance, and it continued to define the international system until the 1980s. Western European countries and Japan basically accepted this definition and generally fitted themselves into it. The American System, however, had two components—the U.S.-European and the U.S.-Japanese axes, each buttressed by security alliances and close economic ties—but these two were not always well coordinated, The third possible axis, the European-Japanese connection, was very tenuous. Gilpin shows that the American System faces a crisis in the mid-1980s not only because the supremacy of the United States in the strategic and economic fields has been undermined by the ascendance of Soviet military power and the challenge of European, Japanese, and NIC (newly industrialized countries') economies, but also because the tension between the two axes is reaching a near-breaking point, forcing upon Washington difficult choices in its dealings with its allies. In the meantime, the third axis, the European-Japanese connection is, if anything, more ridden with conflict than ever. The current state of U.S.-Japanese affairs, Gilpin argues, must be put in this broader context. The next five essays narrow the focus to East Asia, to United States efforts to integrate Japan into the American System. Two basic themes emerge: the development of a more equal relationship between Japan and the United States, referred to by Cohen (chapter 3) as "normal" and by LaFeber (chapter 6) as the end of an "aberration"; and the persistent asymmetry of American political, and Japanese economic, concerns. Not surprisingly, China loomed large in U.S.-Japanese relations from the prepa- rations for the peace conference in 1951 to Japan's recognition of the People's Republic of China in the aftermath of the "Nixon Shock." Cohen, Hosoya (chapter 2), and Aruga (chapter 4) all note competing pressures on the Japanese government and the way in which policy toward China became enmeshed in Japanese as well as American domestic politics, including the factional struggles within the ruling Liberal Democratic party.

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