The China Problem in Postwar Japan: Japanese National Identity and Sino-Japanese Relations [Paperback]

The 1970s were a period of dramatic change in relations between Japan and the People's Republic of China (PRC). The two countries established diplomatic relations for the first time, forged close economic ties and reached political agreements that still guide and constrain relations today. This book delivers a history of this foundational period in Sino-Japanese relations. It presents an up-to-date diplomatic history of the relationship but also goes beyond this to argue that Japan's relations with China must be understood in the context of a larger China problem that was inseparable from a domestic contest to define Japanese national identity.

The China Problem in Postwar Japanchallenges some common assertions or assumptions about the role of Japanese national identity in postwar Sino-Japanese relations, showing how the history of Japanese relations with China in the 1970s is shaped by the strength of Japanese national identity, not its weakness.

This review cannot do justice to the author's wide-ranging analysis of the nationalist discourse by many Japanese intellectuals and political leaders and its linkage to Japan's China policy ... This book is a major contribution to the study of post-war Japan-China relations ... Written and structured well, it will assist students as well as researchers to better understand the tortuous development of this important bilateral relationship. Reinhard Drifte,The China Quarterly

Hoppens' argument is backed by a solid base of Japanese, Chinese and English-language primary and secondary sources ... Hoppens is to be applauded for not merely relying on the official sources ... [as] in moving beyond just the official position, readers get a much more rich, nuanced analysis of how the Japanese general public viewed China in the 1970s ... [This book] will be tlS#