Japan's Aid Diplomacy and the Pacific Islands

Abstract

In the 1980s Japan rose to prominence as a leading aid donor to the Pacific island countries. In this study the factors that have motivated and shaped Japan's official development assistance towards the Pacific islands are explored. The unique characteristics of this region and Japan's interests—primarily as a fishing power— are shown to have profoundly influenced and politicised Japan's role as an aid donor. Access to the region's rich resource of tuna has been the most enduring of reasons for Japan's steadily growing aid program. But over time new and competing agendas have emerged. The need to demonstrate allegiance to the United States in its containment of the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s introduced a fundamental reorientation in Japan's aid policies. More recently, the Japanese government has been compelled to address criticisms of its aid program from both donors and recipients, and to demonstrate 'leadership' in the field of development assistance. This Pacific Policy Paper reveals how Japan has responded to these criticisms and challenges, and examines the impact of competing interests and objectives on Japan's aid policies. It provides insights that are important not only to understanding Japan's interests and role in the Pacific islands region, but also sheds new perspectives on what drives Japan's aid program, how its aid policies are formulated and the political outcomes of Japan's aid diplomacy.