How to manage Sovereignty Restriction: Japan’s experience of the 19th century “Unequal Treaty” and postwar Japan-US Security Treaty
Despite prewar modernization and imperialism and postwar economic growth, Japanese diplomacy has long suffered from a sense of victimization. The sentiment derives from “Unequal Treaties” thrust upon Japan in the mid-nineteenth century. Japanese citizens relived the experience with the US-Japan Security Treaty after World War II, as incidents arose between Japanese citizens and American soldiers in Japan. This talk examines little known tactics used by Japanese officials to restore some sovereignty under both the “Unequal Treaties” and the US-Japan Security Alliance.
