The American-Japanese Relationship

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the kind of partnership, which was forged between these two nations following Japan's defeat in the Second World War, is unprecedented, an unlikely alliance between conqueror and conquered, an unequal alliance that places both parties in a position of advantage. The author points out that a major social factor influencing American-Japanese relations is the sense of insecurity and vulnerability, which the Japanese have, being subject to earthquakes, typhoons, tidal waves and the possibility of domination by nations with greater military strength; whereas, to the Japanese, the high degree of self-confidence displayed by Americans comes across as being "mindless arrogance". The paper relates that the Japan's phenomenal economic growth in the span of a single generation, owing largely to its 1960 "income-doubling program", has raised serious problems for the American-Japanese relationship, especially since it was paralleled by a slow decline in the American economy up until the 1980s.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Historical Overview
Social and Cultural Dimensions
Economic Dimensions
Geopolitical Dimensions
Conclusion: The Future of U.S.-Japanese Relations

From the Paper:

"U.S.-Japanese relations date back to the middle of the nineteenth century, when, in 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry sailed into Tokyo Bay and opened up Japan to trade with the West. The U.S.-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce, signed in 1857, not only gave the United States an immediate advantage over its Western competitors, but also had the profound effect of re-instating the Japanese Emperor and launching Japan on the road to modernization. A more serious consequence, however, was Japan's emerging imperialist ambitions, which were early demonstrated in its launching of the Sino-Japanese War (1895-1895) with its resultant acquisition of Taiwan as well as in its success in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) and subsequent annexation of Korea (1910) and Manchuria (1931). "

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