Japan's Subnational Governments in International Affairs
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Japan’s Subnational Governments in International Affairs It is a common understanding that Japan’s international relations are firmly the preserve of the national government within a highly centralized political system. This book dispels this belief by examining examples of subnational governments (SNGs) which are highly instrumental in foreign affairs. It shows how SNGs are operating as largely independent bodies in the international arena. This activity is demonstrated through their involvement in trade, aid and economic cooperation as well as cultural and educational programmes. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and interviews, this book shows the valuable role that SNGs fulfil operating largely outside of national government in pursuit of both domestic and international goals. How, why and where these SNGs operate in Japan’s international relations is explored alongside a comparative discussion of other Asian examples, including China and India. In this seminal work, Jain brings to light the scope and consequences of the international actions of Japan’s SNGs. By doing so, he provides a more accurate and nuanced understanding of Japan’s foreign policy and international actions at a time when Japan is pursuing a broader and more active profile in international affairs. Purnendra Jain is Professor of Japanese Studies at the Centre for Asian Studies, University of Adelaide, Australia. He specializes in the domestic and international politics of contemporary Japan with other Asia–Pacific nations. Sheffield Centre for Japanese Studies/Routledge Series Series editor: Glenn D. Hook Professor of Japanese Studies, University of Sheffield This series, published by Routledge in association with the Centre for Japanese Studies at the University of Sheffield, both makes available original research on a wide range of subjects dealing with Japan and provides introductory overviews of key topics in Japanese Studies. The Internationalization of Japan Edited by Glenn D. Hook and Michael Weiner Race and Migration in Imperial Japan Michael Weiner Japan and the Pacific Free Trade Area Pekka Korhonen Greater China and Japan Prospects for an economic partnership? Robert Taylor The Steel Industry in Japan A comparison with the UK Hasegawa Harukiyo Race, Resistance and the Ainu of Japan Richard Siddle Japan’s Minorities The illusion of homogeneity Edited by Michael Weiner Japanese Business Management Restructuring for low growth and globalization Edited by Hasegawa Harukiyo and Glenn D. Hook Japan and Asia Pacific Integration Pacific romances 1968–1996 Pekka Korhonen Japan’s Economic Power and Security Japan and North Korea Christopher W. Hughes Japan’s Contested Constitution Documents and analysis Glenn D. Hook and Gavan McCormack Japan’s International Relations Politics, economics and security Glenn D. Hook, Julie Gilson, Christopher Hughes and Hugo Dobson Japanese Education Reform Nakasone’s legacy Christopher P. Hood The Political Economy of Japanese Globalisation Glenn D. Hook and Hasegawa Harukiyo Japan and Okinawa Structure and subjectivity Edited by Glenn D. Hook and Richard Siddle Japan and Britain in the Contemporary World Responses to common issues Edited by Hugo Dobson and Glenn D. Hook Japan and United Nations Peacekeeping New pressures, new responses Hugo Dobson Japanese Capitalism and Modernity in a Global Era Re-fabricating lifetime employment relations Peter C. D. Matanle Nikkeiren and Japanese Capitalism John Crump Production Networks in Asia and Europe Skill formation and technology transfer in the automobile industry Edited by Rogier Busser and Yuri Sadoi Japan and the G7/8 1975–2002 Hugo Dobson The Political Economy of Reproduction in Japan Between nation-state and everyday life Takeda Hiroko Grassroots Pacifism in Post-War Japan The rebirth of a nation Mari Yamamoto Interfirm Networks in the Japanese Electronics Industry Ralph Paprzycki Globalisation and Women in the Japanese Workforce Beverley Bishop Contested Governance in Japan Sites and issues Edited by Glenn D. Hook Japan’s International Relations Politics, economics and security Second Edition Glenn D. Hook, Julie Gilson, Christopher Hughes and Hugo Dobson Japan’s Changing Role in Humanitarian Crises Yukiko Nishikawa Japan’s Subnational Governments in International Affairs Purnendra Jain Japan’s Subnational Governments in International Affairs Purnendra Jain I~ ~~o~f!;n~~~up LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2005 by Routledge Published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © 2005 Purnendra Jain Typeset in Times New Roman by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd, Chennai, India The Open Access version of this book, available at www.tandfebooks.com, has been made availableunder a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial- No Derivatives 4.0 license. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Jain, Purnendra. Japan’s subnational governments in international affairs / by Purnendra Jain. p. cm. – (Sheffield Centre for Japanese studies/Routledge series) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Subnational governments–Japan–Foreign relations. 2. Japan–Foreign relations–1989– I. Title. II. Series. JZ4059.J35 2005 327.52–dc22 2005005627 ISBN 978-0-415-33367-2 (hbk) Contents Preface ix List of acronyms xiii An outline of local government in Japan xv Introduction 1 1 Contexts: conceptual, comparative and Japanese 12 2 Japanese SNGs as international actors: domestic dimensions 39 3 International exchanges: SNGs lead with a soft approach 63 4 International cooperation: a strategic edge 87 5 Economic diplomacy 113 6 Hard diplomacy: SNGs and national security 139 Conclusion 166 Notes 173 References 193 Index 205 Preface From the early 1990s, my interest in Japanese local government and Japan’s foreign affairs has continued to intersect for me, begging a comprehensive study of Japan’s local governments as international actors in their own right. This book is the result, a product of about a decade of thinking, questioning and researching on this relatively unexplored subject. I could more fully focus my attention on this study after I was awarded a large grant from the Australian Research Council for a three-year period, 2001–03. This enabled me to pursue systematic research with the help of part-time research assistants, and undertake empirical work through fieldtrips in Japan and elsewhere. Without this grant, the book would have been impossible, especially as the project needed frequent research trips to Japan to collect information through interviews in localities across the country and library research. The grant also provided me with teaching relief for one semester, which greatly facilitated my writing and timely completion of the project. My sincere thanks to the Australian Research Council. As with any research project, support from a number of people became crucial. Numerous national and local-level officials and politicians in Japan generously set aside time to talk with me, share their ideas and insights and answer my specific questions. Some also offered materials or supplied the ones that I requested. It is impossible to list all of their names and some, anyway, preferred to remain anonymous. I certainly acknowledge here with deep appreciation their coopera- tion, time and patience in carefully explaining some of the very complex issues in this little-examined epistemic landscape. I especially mention CLAIR officials in the Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul and Singapore offices, who generously gave their time and valuable verbal information and printed materials. Several officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs (now Somusho Home Affairs), JETRO, JICA and JIAM readily agreed to answer my questions on the wide-ranging issues examined in this book. Officials of Hokkaido, Miyagi, Gifu, Hyogo, Niigata, Okinawa, Oita and Fukuoka Prefectures and Sapporo, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Kobe, Kitakyushu and Niigata Cities were particularly generous with their time. Staff at the Tokyo Municipal Research Library were very obliging, especially Mr Tamura Yasuhiro and Mr Yanagihara Hirohiko. Inoguchi Takashi, Shinohara Hajime, Menju Toshihiro, Yoshida Hitoshi, Nakamura Akira, Kanbara Masaru, Tsujiyama Takanobu and Mizukami Tetsuo have advised, helped and encouraged me throughout the project. I offer all of them my sincerest thanks. x Preface During the course of writing this book, I published several papers on related topics, one of them with my colleague Yoshida Hitoshi. I have drawn on materials published in these papers and I would like to thank the apposite journal editors and my co-author for allowing me to reproduce some of the materials in various sections of the book. These journals are: Global Change, Peace & Security, Asian Profile and Policy and Society. Several research assistants helped me with this project from time to time in cataloguing materials, translating and advising on several aspects of this project. First and foremost I owe my deep gratitude to Maureen Todhunter for helping me with this project in many ways – as research assistant, critic and editor. I thank her for her crucial support, invaluable assistance and professional attention at every stage of this work. Carol Lawson, Midori Kagawa-Fox, Hidaka Tomoko and Mahara Akiko also assisted me at various stages with