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Profound Forces in the Making of Modern Japan
- The Journal of Japanese Studies
- Society for Japanese Studies
- Volume 32, Number 2, Summer 2006
- pp. 393-418
- 10.1353/jjs.2006.0060
- Article
- Additional Information
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The structure, governance, institutions, principles, and norms of the international system have decisively influenced modern Japan's international behavior and its domestic political structure. It is a common characteristic of the conservative elites to vigilantly monitor and to adapt to its workings. This strategic style is a legacy of premodern influences and the formative experience of the Meiji Restoration. Each of the major transformations of the international system since the mid-nineteenth century induced sweeping changes in Japan's foreign policy and domestic institutions. The end of the cold war system is doing likewise. Historiography should reflect this powerful influence.