Woolley Peter J. Geography and Japan's Strategic Choices։ From Seclusion to Internationalization

Potomac Books, Inc., 2005. — 217 р. — ISBN 1-57488-667-3In his classic work Japan: The Story of a Nation, the venerable Edwin O.
Reischauer, later to become the U.S. ambassador to Japan, asserted “neither geography nor resources can account for this nation’s greatness. It can only be attributed to a remarkable people and their unusual historical experi-ence.”1The people of Japan are remarkable and their historical experience is unusual but their geography and resources had a great deal to do with their unusual historical experience—and other people’s experiences of the Japanese. Reischauer’s own narratives of Japanese history make this clear.
The aim of these chapters is to offer a brief survey of Japan’s strategic choices over several centuries and of the ways in which these choices have been shaped by geopolitical pressures. This approach differs from many other explanations of Japan’s foreign and defense policies because of its recurring focus on geographical influences throughout otherwise distinct periods of Japanese history.
It is common to refer to gaiatsu, or outside pressure, as a phenomenon that sometimes shaped Japanese post–World War II politics. It is usually used to connote very specific demands made by outsiders to undertake very specific policies. But gaiatsu in a broader sense of external influences is a phe-nomenon that shapes every nation’s history. Japan is no exception, from the Age of Exploration to the Industrial Revolution to the Nuclear Age.
A survey by necessity leaves out important events and people. I have tried to be judicious and apologize for shortcomings that remain despite help and encouragement from a variety of friends and colleagues.