Week 3 - Japan -- Ralph Imatong

The Japanese grand strategy is something to be emulated by other Asian countries. In the article “Japan’s Grand Strategic Shift from Yoshida to Koizumi: Reflections on Japan’s Strategic Focus in the 21st Century” by Tang Siew Man, the Japanese government managed to recover from the devastations of WWII not through military might, but through economic development. The Yoshida and Koizumi Doctrines were able to uplift people’s spirit and the country’s economic power. The Japanese government knew their priorities which is to create jobs for returning soldiers from WWII and the civilians who were left devastated by the war. The Japanese government, then, focused on improving their economic power which lead to the creation of the grand strategies. For me, the reason why Japanese economy is such a success is because they thought of the well-being of their people and decided to make their lives better. What is more important is that the Japanese government and the people in general, managed to not heavily influenced by the United States’s power. In other words, the Japanese continued to be critical of the United States’s influence to the country. In addition, the Japanese government were flexible in changing their grand strategy once they saw that the Yoshida Doctrine is no longer applicable for the contemporary times. Meanwhile, this is a different story in the Philippines. The Filipinos, especially the government are complacent with the United States’ influence. In fact, the Philippines are heavily influenced by the US. This complacency is one of the reasons why the Philippine identity is hard to distinguish. I think that unless the Philippines learns to be independent from the United States, and look at the Japanese model of having an economically successful country, the progress in the Philippines will become stagnant.

How did the Japanese managed to not be complacent with US policy? How was the change in grand strategy advertised domestically and internationally? What did Japan sacrificed or exchanged to the US for its protection?

Bibliography

Man, Tang Siew. "Japan’s Grand Strategic Shift from Yoshida to Koizumi: Reflections on Japan’s Strategic Focus in the 21st Century." Akademika 70 (2007): 117-36. Web.

Photo:

"Peace and Japan Part 1: How Japan Got Militarized. Again. - Tofugu." Tofugu. 2014. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.