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Introduction
In 1989, Japan became the largest foreign aid donor in the world. For the past
fifty years, Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) has played a prominent
role in Japan’s foreign policy, and Japan has applied a unique economic development
approach compared to other advanced industrial nations. However, The Japanese ODA
policy shares with its colonial policy similar economic development approach in Asia
even though the domestic political system and the external environment have experienced
significant change after World War II.
This study addresses the following questions: (1) why did Japan conduct its own
independent economic development policies in Asia, although Japan’s other foreign
policies were greatly influenced by the external environment, especially, the United
States?; (2) why did Japan's colonial and its Official Development Assistance (ODA)
policy toward Asia share similar unique economic development approaches, even though
historical contexts and purpose changed? This study examines theoretical explanations
for the continuity in foreign economic policy outcomes despite significant change in
international and domestic politics.
This research uses the role of institutions and ideas decision-makers held to
analyze Japan's colonial and foreign aid policies since the idea of Japan's economic
development approach caused the similarities in those economic policies in the prewar
and postwar period. The idea was carried out through the continuity of personnel and
institutionalized ideas in Japan’s ODA policy because “international and domestic
constraints and opportunities, however, do not exist outside of individual cognition;
rather they perceived by policy makers based on their conceptual framework.”
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In
addition, Japanese political and economic organizations enforced the continuity of the
ideas through organizational routines and stable bureaucratic political system in the
postwar period.
Through this research, six different ideas of Japan’s economic policy were
identified: (1) promoting a self-help effort system; (2) seeking mutual interests between
Japan and Asian countries; (3) a state-led economy and long-term development plan; (4)
efficient public-private cooperation; (5) utilizing foreign capital and technology; and (6)
an aim to establish an Asian economic bloc. The continuity of these ideas can be seen
even though historical contexts and purpose have changed.
Continuity in the ideas of Japan’s economic development approach was examined
by two historical case studies to provide empirical evidence: (1) Japan’s colonial
development policy for Manchuria between 1932 and 1945; and (2) Japan’s ODA
policies (focusing on 1965-90) for Indonesia. Personnel continuity explains intellectual
continuity in these case studies.
In conclusion, this study offers three important implications for Japanese foreign
policy. First, it is necessary to identify the origin of Japanese ODA policy because ODA
became the central pillar of Japanese foreign policy. By examining Japan's history, it was
also possible to understand how Japan chose the specific economic development
approach that differs from Western donors. Second, while this study provides a better
understanding of Japan's foreign aid policy, the case studies in this study show the
effective use of the ideas and institutions for Japanese foreign policy studies. The case
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Kathryn Sikkink, Ideas and Institutions (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991), 19.
Convention