This book evaluates the impact of the 2001 central government reforms on effective foreign
policy making in Japan. It puts a special focus on the evolution of the domestic institutional
factors and decision-making processes behind Japan's foreign policy while also analyzing the
development of Japan's external relations with various other countries such as the US China
and North Korea. Adhering to the neoclassical realist approach the authors show that thanks
to a more independent Kantei-based form of diplomacy Japan's prime ministers were able to
strategically respond to international developments and to pursue their own diplomatic
endeavors more boldly. At the same time they demonstrate that the effectiveness of this
proactive posture was still heavily dependent on the decision-makers' ability to form cohesive
coalitions and select suitable institutional tools which enabled them to influence domestic
and international affairs.
