1

Spring 2016

Japan and the World: Innovation, Economic Growth, Globalization, and International

Security Challenges (EASTASN 153/253 / ECON 120 / POLISCI 115E)

Instructors:

Takeo Hoshi

Phillip Lipscy

Tue, Thu 1:30 PM - 2:50 PM

Location: Littlefield 104

Office Hours by appointment:

Hoshi (Encina E314), Lipscy (Encina W411)

This course introduces the students to the economy, politics, and international relations of

contemporary Japan. The course puts a particular emphasis on several emerging issues in Japan

including innovation and economic dynamism, Japan’s contributions to international peace and

cooperation, and Japan’s response to international economic and geopolitical challenges. There

are no prerequisites for this course.

Each class session will be split roughly evenly between lectures and discussion. Following

several introductory lectures, we invite several guest instructors, each of whom is an expert on at

least one of the issues that Japan faces today, to give lectures and lead discussion. The guest

instructors will also be available outside classroom for further discussion during their stays at

Stanford.

In addition to the class, you are encouraged to attend Japan-related events on campus such as

panel discussions and seminars organized by the Japan Program at the Shorenstein Asia Pacific

Research Center (http://aparc.fsi.stanford.edu/japan). Many of those will be held in Encina Hall.

We also encourage you to keep up to date with current events related to Japan. The Japan Times

is geared towards ex-pats in Japan. NHK World is the English-language version of the Japanese

public broadcast channel. The major national newspapers of Japan, in order of circulation, are

the Yomiuri, Asahi, Mainichi, Nikkei, and Sankei, and many have English-language versions or

articles.

Textbooks:

There are no textbooks but each session specifies some required readings that are supposed to be

done before the class.

Grading:

The grade for this course will be determined by:

2

(1) Essays on contemporary Japan ---- 80%. Students enrolling for 5 units will complete four

essays, 20% each. Each essay should be 1000-1250 words, or about 5 pages. Suggested topics

will be provided by the instructors. Students may also enroll in the course for 4 or 3 units.

Students enrolling for 4 units are required to complete three essays, and students enrolling for 3

units are required to complete two essays. The essays in combination will still account for 80%

of the student’s grade, and each essay will be weighted equally.

(2) Class participation ---- 20%. Attendance and active participation in class discussion is

essential.

Students with Documented Disabilities:

Students who may need an academic accommodation based on the impact of a disability must

initiate the request with the Office of Accessible Education (OAE). Professional staff will

evaluate the request with required documentation, recommend reasonable accommodations, and

prepare an Accommodation Letter for faculty. For students who have disabilities that don't

typically change appreciably over time, the letter from the OAE will be for the entire academic

year; other letters will be for the current quarter only. Students should contact the OAE as soon

as possible since timely notice is needed to coordinate accommodations. The OAE is located at

563 Salvatierra Walk (phone: 723-1066, URL: http://oae.stanford.edu).

Essay Deadlines:

April 26, May 10, May 24, June 6

Schedule:

The schedule for the class is as follows.

1. March 29: Macroeconomic Overview of Japan (Takeo Hoshi)

We will review the conditions of the Japanese economy in recent years with special attention to

the macroeconomic policies.

Required Reading:

International Monetary Fund (2015). Japan: Staff Report for the 2015 Article IV Consultation.

(https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2015/cr15197.pdf)

Hoshi, Takeo, and Anil K Kashyap (2011). Why Did Japan Stop Growing? NIRA Report.

(Summary) | (Report) | (Appendix)

3

Hausman, Joshua K., and Johannes F. Wieland (2014). “Abenomics: Preliminary Analysis and

Outlook,” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity Spring 2014, 1-76.

(http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Projects/BPEA/Spring-2014/2014a_Hausman.pdf?la=en)

Recommended Readings:

Hoshi, Takeo, and Anil K Kashyap (2012). Policy Options for Japan’s Revival. NIRA Report.

(http://www.nira.or.jp/english/papers/e_120608.html)

Hausman, Joshua K., and Johannes F. Wieland (2015). “Abenomics: An Update,” Brookings

Papers on Economic Activity Fall 2015 Conference.

(http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/projects/bpea/fall-

2015_embargoed/conferencedraft_hausmanwieland_abenomics.pdf)

2. March 31: Silicon Valley and Japan (Kenji Kushida)

Japan's current political economy is in many ways the opposite of Silicon Valley in terms of the

firm structures, industries, and the regulations shaping innovation and competition. This class

session will reveal the underlying historical trajectory of political economic bargains in Japan

that shaped its development, and how Japan interacted with the historical development of Silicon

Valley and the US, leading to the current structural differences.

Required Readings:

Kenji Kushida and Kay Shimizu, "Introduction: Syncretism in Japan’s Political Economy Since

the 1990s--New, Traditional, and Hybrid Forms Coexisting" and "Overview: Japan’s Political

and Economic Transformations Since the 1990s" in Kushida, K. E., K. Shimizu and J. Oi, Eds.

(2014). Syncretism: Corporate Restructuring and Political Reform in Japan, Shorenstein

APARC.

Kushida, Kenji E. 2011. "Leading without Followers: How Politics and Market Dynamics

Trapped Innovations in Japan's Domestic "Galapagos" Telecommunications Sector." Journal of

Industry, Competition and Trade 11, no. 2: 279-307

Dasher, Richard, Nobuyuki Harada, Takeo Hoshi, Kenji E. Kushida, Tetsuji Okazaki. (2015)

"Institutional Foundation for Innovation-Based Economic Growth." National Institute for

Research Advancement (NIRA).

3. April 5: Aging and Public Finance (Karen Eggleston)

Required Readings:

4

Masahiko Aoki, “2015 — At the Starting Point of Regrowth, Make the Best Use of People to

Boost Productivity,” January 5th, 2015 Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Morning Edition), English

translation.

Naohiro Ogawa, Andrew Mason, Amonthep Chawla, Rikiya Matsukura, “Japan’s

Unprecedented Aging and Changing Intergenerational Transfers,” pp. 131-160 in The Economic

Consequences of Demographic Change in East Asia, NBER-EASE Volume 19 by Takatoshi Ito

and Andrew Rose, editors, University of Chicago Press 2010; Chapter URL:

http://www.nber.org/chapters/c8160

Jacob M. Schlesinger and Alexander Martin, “GRAYING JAPAN LOOKS FOR A SILVER

LINING [Graying Japan Tries to Embrace the Golden Years],” Wall Street Journal A1, A14,

November 30, 2015, http://www.wsj.com/articles/graying-japan-tries-to-embrace-the-golden-

years-1448808028?tesla=y&alg=y.

Chen et al, 2015. "Forecasting Trends in Disability in a Super-Aging Society: Adapting the

Future Elderly Model to Japan," NBER Working Paper 21870.

4. April 7: Japan and the World: Overview (Takeo Hoshi and Phillip Lipscy)

We will provide a basic overview of Japan’s contemporary place in the world, focusing on

security issues, cooperation, and international economic challenges.

Required Readings:

Kawai, Masahiro and Shujiro Urata (2012). “Changing Commercial Policy in Japan, 1985‒2010,”

in Mordechai E. Kreinin and Michael G. Plummer eds. Oxford Handbook of International

Commercial Policy, Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 225‒251. (ADBI Working Paper

Version).

Todo, Yasuyuki (2013). “Estimating the TPP’s Expected Growth Effects,” RIETI Policy Update

048 (http://www.rieti.go.jp/en/special/policy-update/048.html).

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan). 2015. Diplomatic Bluebook. “Chapter 1: International

Situation and Japan's Diplomacy.”

Shinzo Abe. “Toward an Alliance of Hope.” Address to a Joint Meeting of the U.S. Congress.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015.

(Transcript) http://japan.kantei.go.jp/97_abe/statement/201504/uscongress.html

(Video) http://www.c-span.org/video/?325576-2/japanese-prime-minister-shinzo-abe-addresses-

joint-meeting-congress

5. April 12: Overview of Japanese Politics (Phillip Lipscy)

5

In this session, we will examine the basic structure and recent history of the Japanese political

system. What is the role of politicians, bureaucrats, and private actors in Japanese politics?

How did the Japanese political system evolve over the past two decades? What led to the rise

and fall of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), and the return of Liberal Democratic Party

(LDP) government?

Required Reading:

Explore some of the basic features of Japanese government at the website of the Consulate-

General of Japan in San Francisco: http://www.sf.us.emb-japan.go.jp/en/e_m08_01_08.htm

Gerald L. Curtis. 1999. The Logic of Japanese Politics. New York: Columbia University Press,

“Chapter 1: The Politics of Complacency,” pp. 25-64

Frances Rosenbluth and Michael F. Thies. 2010. Japan Transformed: Political Change and

Economic Restructuring. Princeton: Princeton University Press, “Japan’s New Political

Economy,” pg. 123-154.

Kenji E. Kushida and Phillip Y. Lipscy. 2013. Japan Under the DPJ: The Politics of Transition

and Governance. Shorenstein APARC/Brookings Institution Press, “The Rise and Fall of the

Democratic Party of Japan,” pg. 3-42.

6. April 14: Evolution of Japanese Political Structure and Implications for the Abe

Government (Harukata Takenaka)

In this session, we will examine how prime minister’s power has enhanced and policy

formulation process has changed in these two decades as a result of two institutional reforms

carried out in 1994 and 2001. We put this transformation in comparative perspective and analyze

Prime Minister Abe’s leadership in particular vis-à-vis the LDP backbenchers.

Required Readings:

Arend Lijpart. 1999. Patterns of Democracy. New Haven: Yale University Press, “Chapter 1:

Introduction,” pp. 1-8, “Chapter 2: The Westminster Model of Democracy,” pp. 9-21, “Chapter

3: The Consensus Model of Democracy,” pp. 31-41.

Tomohito Shinoda. 2013. Contemporary Japanese Politics. New York: Columbia University

Press, “Chapter 2: The Politics of Institutional Reform,” pp. 47-75.

Harukata Takenaka. 2015. “The Frequent Turnover of Japanese Prime Ministers: Still a Long

Way to a Westminster Model” in Ryo Sahashi and James Gannon, Looking for Leadership.

Tokyo: Japan Center for International Exchange, pp. 46-82.

7. April 19: Politics of Tax Reform (Harukata Takenaka)

6

To understand changes in Japanese politics and policy formulation process, we take politics of

tax reform as the first case study. We cover three issues in this class. We start from reviewing the

history of the introduction of consumption tax into the Japanese tax system. Second, we examine

how the DPJ governments designed tax reform to raise the consumption tax, demonstrating the

effect of the rise of the two-party system on tax policies. Lastly, we show how prime minister’s

leadership has increased while the LDP politicians’ influences have diminished in formulating

tax policies under the Abe administration.

Required Readings:

Gerald L. Curtis. 1988. The Way of Japanese Politics. New York: Columbia University Press,

“Policymaking and the LDP“ in Chapter 3: LDP: Organization of Power,” pp. 80-116.

Kato Junko. 2003. Regressive Taxation and the Welfare State. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, “Japan: Strong Opposition to Revenue Raising in a Small Welfare State” in

“Chapter 4: Another Pattern of Path Dependence,” pp. 170-185.

Ministry of Finance, the Government of Japan. 2013. Let’s Learn More About Taxes.

http://www.mof.go.jp/english/tax_policy/publication/tax005/index.htm, “03 Current Status of

National Finance,” pp. 7-10, “04 Current Status of the Tax System,” pp.11-17.

8. April 21: TPP and Agricultural Reform (Harukata Takenaka)

To further grasp transformation of Japanese political system and policy devising practice, we

pick up recent agricultural reforms as well as policies in TPP negotiations as the second case

study. We go over three issues in this class. We first give an overview of traditional agricultural

policies aimed at protecting inefficient agricultural production, in particular, rice production.

Then, we show how the LDP governments have initiated reforms in agricultural policies, which

were changed under the DPJ governments. Third, we show how prime minister’s leadership has

increased in the field of agriculture by examining the agricultural policies and the TPP policies

designed under the Abe administration.

Required Readings:

Congressional Research Service. 2015. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), pp. 1-16. See also

how the US and Japan have agreed to lower tariffs on the American agricultural products in

“Read more about the overall US benefits” Read more about the overall U.S. benefits in “the

Trans-Pacific Partnership” on the USTR webpage on TPP https://ustr.gov/tpp/#what-is-tpp.

Aurelia George Mulgan. 2005.“Where Tradition Meets Change: Japan’s Agricultural Politics in

Transition,” in The Journal of Japanese Studies, pp. 261-297.

7

Hisanori Sasada. 2008.“Japan’s New Agricultural Trade Policy and Electoral Reform:

‘Agricultural Policy in Offensive Posture [seme no nosei],” in Japanese Journal of Political

Science, pp. 121-144.

Recommended Readings:

Kevin Granville. “The Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Accord Explained,” New York Times

Oct 6, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/business/international/the-trans-pacific-

partnership-trade-deal-explained.html?_r=0

Keith Bradsher and Andrew Pollack. “What Changes Lie Ahead From the Trans-Pacific

Partnership Pact.” New York Times. Oct. 5, 2015.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/business/international/what-changes-lie-ahead-from-the-

trans-pacific-partnership-pact.html

9. April 26: How did Japan Catch-Up to the West? (Kyoji Fukao)

This class discusses the historical origins of the core characteristics of the Japanese economy

such as tight customer-supplier relationships and the lifetime employment system. The class also

provides an overview of Japan’s catch-up process on the West, using long-run economic

statistics on Japan. Some of these core characteristics of the Japanese economy would become

obstacles to economic growth after the 1990s as the globalization and the aging of Japanese

population progress.

Required Readings:

Okazaki, Tatsuji and Masahiro Okuno-Fujiwara (eds.) (1999) The Japanese Economic System

and its Historical Origins, Oxford University Press, selected chapters.

Broadberry, Stephen N., Kyoji Fukao and Nick Zammit (2015) “How Did Japan Catch-Up on

the West? A Sectoral Analysis of Anglo-Japanese Productivity Differences, 1885-2000,” CEPR

Discussion Paper Series, No.10570, Economic History, Centre for Economic Policy Research.

Solow, Robert M. (1956) “A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth,” Quarterly

Journal of Economics, vol. 70, pp. 65-94.

10. April 28: Structural Causes of Japan’s Lost Decades (Kyoji Fukao)

This class examines causes of Japan’s economic stagnation from a long-term and structural

perspective and investigates whether it will be possible to remove those factors that caused

stagnation. Taking a long-term perspective that compares the two decades from the early 1990s

onward with the preceding two decades and, at the same time, taking advantage of databases

such as the JIP Database and the EU KLEMS Database, we will compare Japan’s performance

with that of the United States and other advanced economies.

8

Required Readings:

Fukao, Kyoji, Kenta Ikeuchi, HyeogUg Kwon, YoungGak Kim, Tatsuji Makino, Miho Takizawa

(2016) “The Structural Causes of Japan’s Lost Decades,” forthcoming in D. W. Jorgenson, K.

Fukao and M. P. Timmer, eds., Growth and Stagnation in the World Economy, Cambridge

University Press.

Krugman, Paul (1998) “It’s BAAACK! Japan’s Slump and the Return of the Liquidity Trap,”

Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, no. 2, pp. 137-205.

11. May 3: Japan’s Emergence as an Innovating Economy (Lee Branstetter)

Starting in the 1970s and continuing through the early 1990s, Japanese firms quickly emerged as

global technology leaders across a range of industries, including highly knowledge-intensive

sectors, such as information technology, that had formerly been overwhelmingly dominated by

American multinationals. The speed and extent of this emergence surprised economists,

industrialists, and policymakers, and it spawned an active debate on both sides of the Pacific

concerning the role Japanese government intervention might have played in Japan’s seemingly

unstoppable rise. As this debate unfolded, leading American policymakers challenged

America’s traditional commitment to open trade and investment rules, and a rising “new

generation” of economists challenged the traditional economic models upon which those

commitments were based.

This class will review the degree to which Japan was seen as presenting a “technological

challenge” to the industrial West. It will also review the claims made about the impact and

importance of Japanese industrial policy in light of existing empirical evidence, and it will

explore the other factors that drove the innovative success of Japanese firms during this period.

Required Readings:

Gary Saxonhouse, “What is All This about Industrial Targeting in Japan?” The World Economy,

Vol 6, Issue 3, pp. 253-274.

Recommended Readings:

Chalmers Johnson, MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy 1925-1975,

selected chapters.

Clyde Prestowitz, Trading Places: How We Allowed Japan to Take the Lead, selected chapters.

12. May 5: The Challenges Facing Japan’s Innovation System in the 21st Century (Lee

Branstetter)

In the second decade of the 21st century, the Japanese economy remains an important source of

new innovation, and Japanese firms remain important technology leaders across a range of

9

industries. Nevertheless, Japan does not appear to be the world-conquering innovation

superpower that many believed it to be in the 1980s, and, in some sectors, such as

semiconductors and information technology, the rapid retreat of Japanese firms from their former

positions of global prominence has been almost as surprising as their sudden rise in earlier

decades. What happened to Japan’s innovation system in the 1990s and 2000s? What policy

lessons can be learned from these more recent shifts? What does Japan’s experience suggest

about the future prospects for innovation-driven growth in other advanced East Asian nations

like South Korea and Taiwan? Are there lessons for less-developed Asian nations, such as

China?

Required Readings:

Arora, A., Branstetter, L., and Drev, M., "Going Soft: How the Rise of Software-Based

Innovation Led to the Decline of Japan's IT Industry and the Resurgence of Silicon Valley."

Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 95, no. 3, July 2013, pp. 757-775.

Branstetter, L, and Nakamura, Y., “Has Japan’s Innovative Capacity Declined?” in Anil Kashyap,

Jenny Corbett, Magnus Blomstrom, and Fumio Hayashi, (eds.), Structural Impediments to

Growth in Japan, 2003, University of Chicago Press and NBER.

13. May 10: Explaining Japan’s Unproductive Two Decades (Kyoji Fukao)

Following the burst of the “bubble economy” in the early 1990s, productivity growth in Japan

declined notably and has remained at a relatively low level for more than 20 years. This class

examines why Japan’s productivity growth has been slow for such a long time and how it can be

accelerated in the future. The class also investigates why information and communication

technology (ICT) investment in Japan has stagnated since the 1990s.

Required Readings:

Fukao, Kyoji (2013) “Explaining Japan’s Unproductive Two Decades,” Asian Economic Policy

Review, vol. 8, pp. 193-213.

Fukao, Kyoji, Kenta Ikeuchi, YoungGak Kim, and Hyeog Ug Kwon (forthcoming) “Why Was

Japan Left Behind in the ICT Revolution?” Telecommunication Policy.

14. May 12: Lessons from Japan’s Secular Stagnation (Kyoji Fukao)

Japan’s experience of the lost decades provides important lessons for other developed economies

that seem to have entered “secular stagnation.” Lessons from Japan’s experience are also useful

for Asian economics such as China and South Korea, which have high saving rates and declining

working age populations.

Required Readings:

10

Summers, Lawrence H. (2013) “Speech at IMF Fourteenth Annual Research Conference in

Honor of Stanley Fischer.” Available online: http://larrysummers.com/imf-fourteenth-annual-

research-conference-in-honor-of-stanley-fischer/.

Fukao, Kyoji and Tangjun Yuan (2015) “China’s Slowdown: Lessons from Japan’s Experience

and the Expected Impact on Japan’s Economy,” Paper presented at the Asian Development Bank

Institute Conference “Implications of a Possible PRC Growth Slowdown for Asia,” November

25-26, 2015.

15. May 17: The Cold War Origins of Japan’s International Relations (Adam Liff)

This class analyzes the impact of domestic and international political developments and

security/economic alignments during the 1945-1960 period. Contemporary Japanese foreign

policy/US-Japan/China-Japan/Korea-Japan/Russia-Japan relations continue to be significantly

shaped by these developments more than a half-century later.

Required Readings:

The Allied Occupation, the Korean War, and the San Francisco Peace Treaty

Michael Schaller, Altered States: The United States and Japan Since the Occupation (Oxford,

UK: Oxford Univ. Press, 1997), Chapters 1-2, pp 7-46.

“Japan: Its Future Lies With the West” Time Magazine, January 22, 1951, pp 32-35.

John W. Dower, “The San Francisco System: Past, Present, Future in U.S.-Japan-China

Relations,” The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 12, Issue 8, No. 2, February 24, 2014. Only Sections I

and II (pp 1-22).

Cold War Overview: Foreign Policy Institutions under the “1955 System,” the 1960 U.S.-Japan

Treaty Revision, and the “Yoshida Doctrine”

Michael Schaller. “Japan and the Cold War, 1960-1991.” In The Cambridge History of the Cold

War, edited by Melvyn P. Leffler and Odd Arne Westad, (Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 2010), pp 156-180.

Michael J. Green, Chapter 2 “Domestic Institutions and Foreign Policy” in Japan’s Reluctant

Realism (Palgrave, 2001): Read pages 35-41 closely; skim the rest quickly).

Edwin Reischauer, “Broken Dialogue with Japan,” Foreign Affairs 39, no. 1 (1960), pp. 11-26.

16. May 19: Coping with the End of Cold War (Adam Liff)

This class examines domestic and international developments in the 1980s and 1990s (esp. the

end of Cold War) and the domestic political debates they elicited about what role Japan should

11

play in the post-Cold War world as it concerns the US-Japan relationship (security and economic

affairs), ODA, and international institutions. The class also touches on the debates about

regionalism, human security, and an East Asian Community. We discuss how structural changes

set in motion the political debates that in turn paved the way for a gradual reorientation of

Japanese foreign policy/US-Japan Relations that continues to this day.

Required Readings:

Thomas U. Berger. “From Sword to Chrysanthemum: Japan’s Culture of Anti-Militarism.”

International Security 17, no. 4 (1993): 119–50.

Jennifer M. Lind. “Pacifism or Passing the Buck?: Testing Theories of Japanese Security Policy.”

International Security 29, no. 1 (2004): 92–121.

Michael J. Green, Igata Akira, (Chapter 9) “The Gulf War and Japan's National Security

Identity”, in Examining Japan's Lost Decades, edited by Yoichi Funabashi and Barak Kushner,

(Routledge, 2015), pp 158-175.

See also: March 14, 1991 (Unclassified) cable by U.S. Ambassador to Japan Michael Armacost

to the State Department. 7pp

T.J. Pempel, “Japan’s Search for the ‘Sweet Spot’: International Cooperation and Regional

Security in Northeast Asia,” Orbis, Spring 2011: pp. 255-273.

Joseph S. Nye Jr., “The Case for Deep Engagement,” Foreign Affairs, 74, no. 4 (1995), pp. 90-

102.

17. May 24: Contemporary Security Challenges to Japan (Adam Liff)

After examining more deeply the substance of the foreign policy evolution noted during the end

of the previous class, this class evaluates how effectively Japan has responded to several specific

regional issues, especially the challenges and opportunities presented by China's rise, the threat

of North Korea, and the motley assortment of political, economic, and security challenges

presented by festering regional territorial disputes.

Required Readings:

Overview

Christopher W. Hughes, “Japan’s Foreign Security Relations and Policies,” in The Oxford

Handbook of the International Relations of Asia, ed. Saadia Pekkanen, John Ravenhill, and

Rosemary Foot (Oxford, 2014), 11pp.

12

Ron Huisken, “The security outlook in the Asia Pacific: uncertain”, PacNet #69, October 14,

2015 2pp

Short Backgrounders on Regional Territorial Disputes

Korea-Japan: “Profile: Dokdo/Takeshima Islands,” BBC News, August 10, 2012. 2pp

Russia-Japan: “Kuril islands dispute between Russia and Japan,” BBC News, April 29, 2013. 2pp

Japan-China/Taiwan: “How uninhabited islands soured China-Japan ties,” BBC News, November

10, 2014. 2pp

South China Sea: “Everything You Need to Know about the South China Sea Conflict - in under

Five Minutes.” Reuters, June 10, 2015. 3pp

U.S. Strategy

Hillary Clinton,1 “America’s Pacific Century.” Foreign Policy, 189, November 2011, pp 56-63.

Ashton Carter, “Remarks on the Next Phase of the U.S. Rebalance to the Asia-Pacific.” U.S.

Department of Defense, April 6, 2015. 3pp

Daniel R. Russel. “Maritime Issues in East Asia.” Testimony before the senate Foreign Relations

Committee, Washington, D.C. May 13, 2015. 3pp (Please view online. Watch video first).

China

Jeffrey Hornung, “Japan’s Pushback of China,” The Washington Quarterly 38, no.1 (2015), pp

167-183.

Richard Katz. “Mutual Assured Production.” Foreign Affairs, 92 no. 4. 2013, pp. 18-24.

Adam P. Liff, and Andrew S. Erickson. “Crowding the Waters: The Need for Crisis Management

in the East China Sea.” Foreign Affairs, March 23, 2015. 3pp

Korean Peninsula

Sheila A. Smith, “North Korea in Japan’s Strategic Thinking,” Asan Forum October 7, 2013.

16pp

1 Secretary Clinton was President Obama’s first Secretary of State (2009-2012) and is a candidate for U.S.

president in 2016.

13

Scott W. Harold, “How Can Japan Improve Relations with South Korea?” Asia-Pacific Review

22, no. 1 (2015): 124–47. (Recommended reading)

Russia

Yomiuri Shimbun “Japan’s Future with Russia” 3-part article series, Jan 2016. 10pp

18. May 26: Is Japan “Back”? Abe and the Future of Japan’s Security Policy (Adam Liff)

This class evaluates the extent to which the Abe administration has truly transformed Japan's

politics and foreign policy and discusses the implications of current and future domestic and

international challenges (economics, demographics, China's slowdown, etc.). The class ends with

a debate about what this all means for the future trajectory of Japan's politics, foreign policy, and

the US-Japan alliance.

Required Readings:

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, “Japan is Back” Speech at the Center for Strategic and International

Studies, February 22, 2013. 6pp

Sheila Smith, “The Abe Factor,” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 16, no 1 (2015),

pp. 60-69.

Adam P. Liff. “Japan’s Defense Policy: Abe the Evolutionary.” The Washington Quarterly 38,

no. 2 (2015): 79-99.

Satoru Mori, “The New Security Legislation and Japanese Public Reaction,” Tokyo Foundation,

December 2, 2015. 5pp

Into the Future…

G. John Ikenberry, “From Hegemony to the Balance of Power,” International Journal of Korean

Unification Studies 23, no. 2 (2014), pp. 41–63.

Richard J. Samuels and Narushige Michishita, “Hugging and Hedging: Japanese Grand Strategy

in the 21st Century” in Worldviews of Aspiring Powers (Nau and Ollapally, Eds; Oxford, 2012),

pp. 146-180.

Michael D. Swaine, et al. “Executive Summary” in China’s Military and the U.S.-Japan Alliance

in 2030: A Strategic Net Assessment, (Carnegie Endowment, 2013) 25pp.

Yoichi Funabashi, “Japan’s Gray-haired Pacifism,” New York Times, August 12, 2015. 4pp

19. May 31: Wrap-up Discussion (Takeo Hoshi and Phillip Lipscy)