Client State: Japan in the American Embrace

by Gavan McCormack

Japan is the world’s No. 2 economy, greater in GDP than Britain and France together and almost double that of China. It is also the most durable, generous, and unquestioning ally of the US, attaching priority to its Washington ties over all else. In Client State , Gavan McCormack examines the current transformation of Japan, designed to meet the demands from Washington that Japan become the “Great Britain of the Far East.” Exploring postwar Japan’s relationship with America, he contends that US pressure has been steadily applied to bring Japan in line with neoliberal principles. The Bush administration’s insistence on Japan’s thorough subordination has reached new levels, and is an agenda heavily in the American, rather than the Japanese, national interest. It includes comprehensive institutional reform, a thorough revamp of the security and defense relationship with the US, and—alarmingly—vigorous pursuit of Japan’s acquisition of nuclear weapons.

Genres: Japan, Politics, Nonfiction, History

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Chelsea Szendi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extending John Dower's metaphor of the American occupation of Japan as an "embrace", McCormack rips into the Koizumi-Bush dynamic that continued keep Japan outside Asia as somehow unique.

The conclusion of what this situation demands left me a little underwhelmed: “politicians are called for who can chart a fresh way forward, reconceptualizing Japan’s identity so as to transcend both the fantasies of Japanese essentialism and the impositions of American hegemonism, and redefining its Asian-ness without negating its friendly ties to the US.”