Abstract
The potential roles played by local governments in Japan regarding Sino-Japanese relations are often neglected. Drawing upon a few representative case studies by highlighting the interaction between local and international politics, the article aims at analyzing the possible impacts of Japan’s local governments on Sino-Japanese relations in the future. First, it reviews the theoretical framework of sub-national or paradiplomacy and the relevant literature on Japan’s local governments in such framework. Second, through showing how their local leaders attempted to pursue local or personal interests by taking Sino-Japanese relations as hostage, it uses four local governments in Japan that have peculiar interaction with China as case studies. Finally, it previews some patterns as derived from the cases, in order to draw some implications for both Tokyo and Beijing.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
This is not an isolated case. The embassy in Niigata also suffered a similar fate, and plans for the construction of a Chinatown in Sendai had been rejected by Mayor Katsuhiko Umehara. China Review (2011). “Zhongguo Zhuri Lingguan Jian Xinguan Yuzhu Huoshi Youyi Shili Caozong”. (China’s troubles in building new consulates in Japan might be planned by Japan rightists), 12 January.
References
Barston, R. (2006). Modern Diplomacy. (3rd Edition). New York: Pearson Longman.
BBC. (2013, February 9). Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands: Japan May Release China Radar Data.
BBC. (2013, August 6). Zhongri Mindao: Bici Yinxiang Bujia Gaoda Jiucheng (Poll in China and Japan: Mutual Negative Impression Records 90 %).
Beaumont, E. (1996). Domestic Consequences of Internationalization. In Jun et al. (Eds.) Globalization and Decentralization: Institutional Contexts, Policy Issues, and Intergovernmental Relations in Japan and the United States. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.
Bowles, P. & Woods, L. (Eds.). (2000). Japan after the Economic Miracle: in Search of New Directions. Boston : Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Bull, H. (2002). The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics. (3rd Edition). London: Macmillan. Brookings Institution.
Bush, R. (2012, September 5). Japan-China Territorial Tensions Should Ease with Island Deal.
Chiho Jichi Sogo Kenkyujo. (1996). Chiho benken no senryaku (Strategy of Local autonomy). Tokyo: Daiichi Shorin.
Chin, J. (2012, February 23). Chinese Outraged by Denial of Nanjing. Wall Street Journal.
Council of Local Authorities for International Relations. (2014). Retrieved from CLAIR website: http://www.clair.or.jp/e/index.html
Cui, J. (2013). Jianxi Riben Difang Zizhiti Jiji Yinjin Waiguo Zhijie Touzi Yu Difang Jingji Zhenxing (A Brief Analysis of Japan’s Local Autonomous Entities’ Introduction of Foreign Direct Investment and the Revival of Local Economy). Xiandai Riben Jingji, 24–29.
Francisco, A. & Keating, M. (Eds.). (1999). Paradiplomacy in Action: The Foreign Relations of Subnational Governments. London; Portland, OR.: F. Cass.
Fukada, Takahiro. (2011, February 8). Tokyo Governor: The Second Most Powerful Job. The Japan Times.
Fukumura, Y. & Matsuoka, M. (2002). Redefining Security: Okinawa Women’s Resistance to US Militarism. In Naples, Nancy and Desai, Manisha (Eds.) Women’s Activism and Globalization: Linking Local Struggles and Transnational Politics. New York: Routledge.
Gerrit, G. & Teo, V. (Eds.). (2010). Reconceptualising the Divide: Identity, Memory, and Nationalism in Sino-Japanese Relations. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars.
Glick, P. et al. (2006). Anti-American Sentiment and America’s Perceived Intent to Dominate: An 11-Nation Study. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 28(4), 363–373.
Global Times. (2012, March 7). Chinese Embassy in Japan Rejects Visit from Nagoya Mayor.
Global Times. (2013, May 16). Zhongguo Minjian Ying Zhichi Liuqiu Duli Yanjiuhui (Chinese Society Should Support Ryukyu Independence Research Association).
Grant, A. (2002). Local Governance: Politics below the Nation-State. In Axford et al. (Eds.) Politics: An Introduction. (2nd Edition). London: Routledge.
He, J. (2012, February 23). Zhongguo Difang Guanyuan Jixu Bushang Waijiao Suyangke (Local Officials in China Need to Retake Lessons on Diplomatic Quality). Nanfang Doushibao.
Hein, C. & Pelletier, P. (2006). Introduction: Decentralization and the Tension Between Global and Local Urban Japan. In Cities, Autonomy and Decentralization in Japan. New York: Routledge.
Hein, C. & Pelletier, P. (Eds.). (2006). Cities, Autonomy and Decentralization in Japan. London: Routledge.
Ishihara, S. (2001). Kokka naru gen’ei (An Illusion Called Nation), Tokyo: Bungei Shunju.
Jain, P. (1989). Local Politics and Policymaking in Japan. Dew Delhi: Commonwealth Publishers.
Jain, P. (2005). Japan’s Subnational Governments in International Affairs. New York : Routledge.
Japan Today. (2012, June 19). Ishihara Says Tokyo Plans to Buy Disputed Senkaku Islands.
Jiang, Fung. (2012, March 23). Riben Difang Shili Gaoju Zhongri Guanxi (Japan’s Local Powers Trouble Sino-Japanese Relations). Ribao Xinhua Qiaobao, 23 March.
Johnston, E. (2011, February 11). Kansai Biz Chiefs Call for TPP Entry. Japan Times.
Keck, M. & Sikkink, K. (1999). Transnational Advocacy Networks in International and Regional Politics. International Social Science Journal, 51(159), 89–101.
Keohane, R. & Nye, J. (1989). Power and Interdependence. (2nd Edition). New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
Kyodo News (2012, June 19).
Lianhe Zaobao (2012, July 4). Buke Xiaochu Riben Difang Shili De Jueqi (Do not underestimate the rise of Japan’s local political forces).
Lim, C.T. (2007, March, 9). “A Comparison of Identity in Okinawa and Taiwan: A Quantitative Analysis from the “Peripheral East Asia” Survey in 2005-2006”, paper presented at Okinawa-Taiwan Relations Workshop, Japan-Taiwan Relationship International Joint Research Project by Taiwan Research Institute, Waseda University.
Lim, C.T. (2009 May). Chongshengren De Diaoyutai Guishu Renzhi (Understanding of Okinawans on Diaoyutai’s Belonging). Mingpao Monthly.
Liu, M. (2006). Riben Difang Zizhi De Biaolu (Surface and Substance of Japan’s Local autonomy). Ribenxue Luntan,4, 24–29.
McCormack, G. (2013, May 27). Much Ado over Small Islands. The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 11, Issue 21, No.3.
Mingpao. (2013, September 15). Dongjing Cu Meijun Jidi Bian Junmin Liangyong (Tokyo Urges US Military Base to be Shared with Civilians).
Misaki, R. (2000). Shintaro Ishihara To Tochiji No Isu (Governor Shintaro Ishihara’s Chair). Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten.
Muramatsu, M. (2001). Local Government Development in Postwar Japan. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Murayama, H. (2012, July 2). Toru Hashimoto: Nippon’s Bo Xilai? Nikkei.
Nakamura, A. (1996). The ‘Tokyo Problem’ and the Development of Urban Issues in Japan. In Jun, Jong et al. (Eds.) Globalization and Decentralization: Institutional Contexts, Policy Issues, and Intergovernmental Relations in Japan and the United States. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.
Nikkei. (2012, September 1). Final Version of the Eight Measures for Restoration.
Nownews. (2012, June 19). Riben xinxi waihai faxian youtian (The discovery of oil field in Niigata).
Reed, S. (1986). Japanese Prefectures and Policy Making. Pittsburg: University of Pittsburg Press.
Sharafutdinova, G. (2003). Paradiplomacy in the Russian Regions: Tatarstan’s Search for Statehood. Europe-Asia Studies, 55(4), 613–629.
Singtao Daily. (2012, January 27). Riben guohui yiyuan jianyi pairen changzhu diaoyutai (Japanese House of Parliament Members suggested to station at the Diaoyu islands).
Smith, S. (Ed.). (2000). Local Voices, National Issues: The Impact of Local Initiative in Japanese Policy-Making. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.
Sørensen, E. & Triantafillou, P. (Eds.). (2009). The Politics of Self-Governance. Burlington, VT : Ashgate.
South China Morning Post. (2013, January 29). Ex-ambassador Uichiro Niwa calls Japan too quick to buy Diaoyus.
The Japan Times. (2010, December 21). Dubious Referendum in Nagoya
The Japan Times. (2012, July 22). Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto: ‘What Japan needs now is dictatorship’.
Tokyo Weekender. (2012, October 13). Shintaro Ishihara Interview.
Tsukamoto, T. (2011). Devolution, New Regionalism and Economic Revitalization in Japan: Emerging Urban Political Economy and Politics of Scale in Osaka-Kansai. Cities, 28, 281–289.
Ulmer, S. (1957). Local Autonomy in Japan since the Occupation. The Journal of Politics, 19(1), 46–65.
Woronoff, J. (1992). Japanese Targeting: Successes, Failures, Lessons. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Wu, Xinbo. (2012, April 27). Yatai xinzhixu, jiujing sheilai zhudao? (Who dominates the new order in East Asia?). Xinwen Cenbao, 27 April.
Yahoda, M. (2006). The Limits of Economic Interdependence: Sino-Japanese Relations. In Johnston, Alastair Iain., &Ross, Robert. (Eds.). New Directions in the Study of China’s Foreign Policy. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Yang, J. (2007). “Riben difeng zizhi ti guojihua” (Japan’s Self-Governance and Internationalization). Taiwan International Studies Quarterly, 3(3), 215–231.
Yasuo, T. (1999). National Integration and Local Power in Japan. Brookfield: Ashgate.
Yomiuri Shumbun. (2012, April 20).
Zeng, X. (2005). Xin Riben Difang Zizhi Zhidu Yanjiu (A New Study on Japan’s Local Autonomy System). Beijing: Zhongguo Fazhi Chubanshe.
Zhao, H. (2012, June 1). Beijing Ruhe Xiang Riben Kaizhan Chengshi Gonggong Waijiao? (How Can Beijing Start City-level Public Diplomacy towards Japan?). Pubic Diplomacy Quarterly.
Zinberg, Y. (1996). The Vladivostok Curve: Subnational Intervention into Russo-Chinese Border Agreements. Boundary and Security Bulletin, 4, 76–87.
Zinberg, Y. (1998). The Moscow Declaration, the Year 2000 and Russo-Japanese Deadlock over the ‘Four Islands Dispute’. Boundary and Security Bulletin, 6, 66–104.
Acknowledgments
The author acknowledges Mingpao for publishing the concepts of part of this paper in Chinese in their rough versions, the assistance of Mr. Wing-lok Hung and Mr. Kipling Chang in researching and the comments given by the Japanese consulate in Hong Kong.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shen, S.X.H. Local Governments in Japan and Roles Played in Sino-Japanese Relations. East Asia 31, 49–65 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12140-014-9205-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12140-014-9205-3