In the mid-1950s, as part of Tokyo's goal of reinstating Japan as a full member of the international community, Japan sought and gained admittance to the United Nations. Since then, it has been a proactive member and a generous financial contributor to the organization. This study focuses on postwar Japan's foreign policy making in the political and security areas, the core UN missions. It analyzes these two policy arenas from three perspectives--international political structure, domestic political organization, and the psychology of policymakers.

The intent is to illustrate how policy goals forged by national security concerns, domestic politics, and psychological needs gave shape to Japan's complicated and sometimes incongruous policy toward the UN since World War II. In contrast to the usual emphasis on the role of the foreign-policy bureaucracy, however, the author argues that we must view the bureaucracy as functioning within a larger framework of party politics and interactions among government agencies, political parties, and other actors associated with these parties. The last part of the book addresses the psychological aspect of Japan's UN policymaking in an effort to elucidate the role of national prestige in generating Japanese policy toward the UN.

Contents
Acknowledgments		 									
													
	 vii
About Japanese and Chinese Names								
											 x
Abbreviations	 										
						 							
		 xiii
Introduction											
													
				1
Part 1		The UN and Japan?s Struggle for Peace and Security
1.	Japan and the UN?s Security Function in the Early Postwar Era		18
The Downfall of the UN-Centric Security Formula 20 / The UN?s 
Security Role in a Broader Sense 27 / The Brief D?tente and Japan?s 
Initial Policies 34
2.	The Burgeoning Disillusion								
											41
The Cold War Shadow 41 / The Shaky Bridge between the Orient and the Occident 52
3.	The Turbulent Days									
											 		 
65
A UN Transcending the Cold War or Serving It? 67 / Saving the UN from 
	Financial Crisis 72 / The Vietnam War and the Matsui Letter 74 / Coping 
with the Great Powers? Negligence 79 / Efforts to Revitalize the UN 87 / 
A ?Moderate Mediator? 89 / Jostled between the AA Group and the West 95 
/Targeted by the African Group 101 / Dismissed by Both the Orient and the 
Occident 116
4.	Toward a New Trend?									
											 119
Revamping the UN 121 / The Restoration of the UN?s Peace Function and the 
Takeshita Initiative 128 / Peacekeeping Efforts in Cambodia 133 / The End of the 
Cold War 138
Part 2		The UN and Japanese Party Politics
5.	The UN and Domestic Politics in the Occupation Era: 
	Developing a Security Formula								
								 142
Putting the Security and Peace Treaties into a UN Framework 142 / The UN in the 
JSP?s Counterproposal for Peace and Security 158 / The JCP?s Anti-UN Security 
Policy 167 / The Triumph of the Conservative Coalition 171
6.	The UN: A Political Panacea (i)							
									 174
Domestic Controversies over China and AA Policies 175 / PKO and an Overseas 
Mission for SDF 188 / The UN and the Opposition?s Alternative Security Scheme 
201
7.	The UN: A Political Panacea (2)							
									 223
SSD and the Opposition Parties? Coalition Dreams 223 / The UN
and the PKO Legislation 237
Part 3 		The UN and Japan?s International Status
8.	Fighting for Equal Status: The Road to the UN					
				 263	
Returning to the International Community through the UN 264 / An ?Associate? UN 
Membership? 267 / ?The Worst Day of My Life? 283 / The End of the Tunnel 292
9.	Seeking the Highest Status: The Unfinished Battle for UNSC 
	Permanent Membership									
											 302
The Awakening of Ambition 302 / The Economic Superpower?s Demand 317 	/?We 
will fight you and beat you? 329 / The Revival of the Bid 343
Conclusion	 	 										
													
	 	 354
Reference Matter
	Bibliography 										
													
		 361
	Index	 	 									
													
	 	 375