A burgeoning Japanese rote in the Asia-Pacific region has been one of the most contentious issues to the Southeast Asian Countries in recent years with its positive and negative implications. It is thus timely and significant to come to terms with Japan's "design" in the region from a historical perspective. Attributing Japan's active involvement in Southeast Asian affairs to the proclamation o…
Tracing the historical development of Japan-Southeast Asia relations, this study explains the ASEAN factor in Japanese security policy. While actual security ties between Japan and ASEAN are quite rudimentary, the significance of the latters stability and prosperity in Japanese security policy has been growing in recent years. The paper concludes that, as Japans political role in the region bec…