ABSTRACT
Japanese strive to use foreign policy as a means to reconstruct national identity to realize a “normal Japan.” They do so largely through approaches to bilateral relations with the United States, China, South Korea, and Russia, in each case with history in mind. Conservatives and progressives differ in their thinking about statism, ethnic nationalism, internationalism, and pacifism—ways of thinking about identity applied to bilateral ties. China is seen as pursuing sinocentrism, denying Japan’s hope for Asianism and vilifying its ethnic national identity. South Korea is identified with playing the “comfort women” card also against Japan’s ethnic nationalism. Russia assists Japan to distant itself from internationalism, which opens more space for statism. The gap with the United States is most important and complex, serving the cause of both statism and ethnic nationalism but also narrowing to the extent internationalism is welcomed. It is manifest in how US leaders are seen, in responses to US pressure, and in concern about US criticisms of historical revisionism in Japan. Various dimensions of national identity are utilized to assess how the four, key bilateral relations have recently been evolving.
