“Postwar and Modern Japan’s Attitudes Toward Foreign Nations-With a Focus on US-Japan Relations”
Key questions
- What is characteristic of modern Japan’s attitude toward foreign nations?
- What is characteristic of postwar Japan’s attitude toward foreign nations?
Research Purpose and Approach
The purpose of this project is to examine multicultural conviviality in a historical perspective of Japanese politics. In the first place, culture is a product of history, and thus it is important to clarify its historical basis so as to examine globalization in the 21st century. For that purpose, this project will be divided into three research groups. The first group adopts methodologies of political history, diplomatic history, and history of idea, and places a major focus on the Japan-US relations after Perry’s arrival in Japanese waters. It also re-examines the Japan-US relations and Japanese foreign policy in Japan’s modern international history. Topics may include: revision of the unequal treaties in the Meiji period; party cabinets and the Japan-US relationship in the early Showa period; the role of female administrators in the U.S. occupation; Japanese immigrants to the United States and Canada; diplomatic negotiation with the United States on the South-Eastern Asia factors; and the Japan-US relations and multicultural conviviality in the media. The second group will use the oral history method to interview key political actors, and make records that may contribute to the research of the first group. The third group will critically examine the current status in Japan referring to the current status of multicultural conviviality in the United States and Islam societies in order to consider the entire project from the viewpoint of multicultural conviviality.
Research Activities
In FY2008, we held workshops that also served as preliminary meetings, in which we decided the core members of the oral history project. In 2009, we held workshops to discuss how to proceed with the oral history project, and we also undertook an oral history project for a woman who had played an important role in postwar Japan’s diplomacy. We also started research on a female administrator who internationalized postwar Japan’s administration. We will continue the above mentioned research in 2010.
Project Leader
MAKIHARA, Izuru
Affiliation
Professor, School of Law, Tohoku University
Research Fields
Politics study (Public administration study)
Results
Member
| Name | Affiliated Institution/Organization |
|---|---|
| HARA Yoshihisa | Tokyo International University, School of International Relations (Professor) |
| AMAKAWA Akira | The Open University of Japan, Faculty of Liberal Arts (Professor) |
| MIKURIYA Takashi | The University of Tokyo, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (Professor) |
| IKEUCHI Satoshi | The University of Tokyo, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (Associate Professor) |
| MIYAGI Taizo | Sophia University, Faculty of Foreign Studies (Associate Professor) |
| ITOH Masatsugu | Tokyo Metropolitan University, Graduate School of Social Sciences (Professor) |
| MURAI Ryota | Komazawa University, Faculty of Law (Associate Professor) |
| IOKIBE Kaoru | The University of Tokyo, Institute of Social Science (Associate Professor) |
| WATANABE Masahito | Hokkaido University, Research Faculty of Media and Communication (Associate Professor) |
| TEZUKA Yosuke | Kyoto Women’s University, Faculty for The Study of Contemporary Society (Lecturer) |
（As of March ’2011）
