US-Japan Relations In A Changing World By Steven K. Vogel

Throughout recent history there are few countries that have evolved in the way that Japan has in the New World. Going from a country that was largely ignored by the rest of the world to one of the strongest nations on the planet, Japan's success after World War Two is seemingly unprecedented and largely thanks from the help of the United States. Once a bitter enemy of Japan, the US helped rebuild and strengthen the country, turning them into one of our biggest allies.

During the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, the United States had mixed feelings towards Japan. There was tension between the two nations, however both countries worked together to peacefully resolve issues and prevent war. For example, the countries recognized each

Despite the hostilities the two countries showed toward one another, the US was unusually forgiving in post war treaty negotiations. This was glaringly apparent in the negotiation of the San Francisco System of 1951. In his book, U.S.-Japan Relations in a Changing World, Steven K. Vogel does a great job showing how the United States negotiated this deal in a way that allowed the US and Japan to grow together as countries. He states, “Under this agreement, the United States incorporated Japan into the heart of its cold war strategy” (Vogel and Vogel 1). This integration would prove vital almost 40 years later and a speech given byVice President Dan Quayle supports this. In his speech in 1992, Quayle opens by saying, “Together, the United States, Japan, and our NATO allies won the Cold War, and we could not have done so without the contributions of Japan” (Quayle 1). Including Japan in the Cold War strategy wasn’t the only notable thing in this agreement. Vogel explains, “The United States also supported Japan’s economic recovery by allowing Japan to limit reparations paid to war victims, by creating liberal international trade regime, and by maintaining open markets at home while tolerating Japanese trade protection and an undervalued yen” (Vogel and Vogel 1). Vice President Quayle again supports this over 40 years later in his speech giving multiple quotes that show how interdependent the Japanese and American economies became. Quayle states, “US exports to Japan have risen since 1985 while Japanese exports to the United States have remained more or less flat. Also, the character of US exports to Japan has changed. Not only have US manufactured exports to Japan tripled--yes, tripled--but a full 64% of US exports to Japan are manufactured goods” (Quayle 1). Quayle continues on, “In