Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/213888 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
Working Papers on East Asian Studies No. 126/2020
Publisher: 
University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute of East Asian Studies (IN-EAST), Duisburg
Abstract: 
The paper deals with the issue of how Japan is positioning itself in the emerging and contested field of international connectivity initiatives. It starts with surveying the emergence of the connectivity topic in recent years, paying attention to recent infrastructure initiatives in the Asia-Pacific and Eurasian regions. Although the current public debate on connectivity is dominated by an attention on China's 2013 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Japan has actually been engaged in international infrastructure schemes at least since the 1980s. This does not only hold for the Japanese state, but also for major multinational corporations of Japan. One is tempted to speak of a "Silk Subway": Japan has always been a very important, but not very visible player in international infrastructure connectivity. Several reasons for this low-key profile are pointed out. The recent upturn of Japan's engagement (PQI - Partnership for Quality Infrastructure, FOIP - Free and Open Indo-Pacific) is to some extent due to a shift of strategy: Whereas the country followed a rather unilateral approach in recent decades, the focus has shifted to strategic alliances embedded in a multilateral framework. Policy has become much more effective that way, while the role of Japan for international infrastructure connectivity still seems considerably underrated.
Subjects: 
Japan
infrastructure initiative
connectivity
Partnership for Quality Infrastructure (PQI)
Free and OpenIndo-Pacific (FOIP)
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
JEL: 
F53
F55
H87
L91
O19
P45
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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