Japanese Prime Ministers' Ideas on Foreign Aid during the Cold War Period

Abstract

This article analyses the speeches of Japanese prime ministers during the Cold War period to clarify their ideas on foreign aid, including ODA. During this period no single document existed to provide a definitive policy on foreign aid, whereas in the post-Cold War period the ODA Charter of 1992 plays such a role. In light of this, some have argued that there existed no clear doctrine in Japanese foreign assistance during the period. After examining the prime ministers' speeches the author set up a hypothesis regarding the ideas on foreign aid held by each prime minister. This article is an attempt to explain policy-makers' doctrines on foreign aid on the basis of primary sources. The author concentrates his attention on the ideas which clarify the primary motives concerning foreign aid for each prime minister.

The conclusions of this article are as follows. It is possible to identify key words or phrases for each prime minister which represent his ideas on foreign aid, such as Asia, trade, free world, international society, responsibility, contribution, comprehensive security and interdependence. As an attempt to understand better the mutual relations of such key words or phrases, three coordinate axes may be established. The first axis has Asian solidarity on one end and cooperation with Europe and America on the other. The second axis has external economic interests on one end and national security on the other. The third axis is extended upward from the intersection point of the first and second axes and indicates the degree of comprehensiveness. Each prime minister's ideas on foreign aid can be positioned within such a coordinate system by considering mainly the key words and phrases described above.