Japan's foreign policy and historical and cultural factors shaping it
The article notes that the policy of the state is largely shaped by its culture. Political elites determine the foreign policy course of the state on the basis of political and strategic culture, taking into account specific circumstances and political realities. Japan is a country of ancient culture that has maintained continuity throughout its history. Japanese politicians put forward the concept of the East Asian Sphere of Prosperity, which included Japan, China, Korea, Manchuria, Tibet, Mongolia, Eastern Siberia, the Far East, Northern Sakhalin, the Kuriles, Burma, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and other territories. As a result of the defeat during the Second World War, the principles of a peaceful policy were established in the Constitution of Japan. The fundamental consequences of the defeat did not fundamentally change the cultural factors of Japanese politics. The ruling political circles of Japan are conservative in their ideology, in foreign policy they advocate cooperation with the United States and an active policy in the Asia-Pacific region. If in the second half of the XX century this activity was mainly of an economic nature, then in the XXI century. The Japanese government began to focus on foreign policy through the prism of military and political security. At the center of Japanese foreign policy and security issues lies the further strengthening of the alliance with the United States and the development of the QUAD bloc, which includes the United States, Japan, India, and Australia. The modern military and political activity of Japan is based on the idea of the Indo-Pacific region. In addition to Japan, it includes India, the countries of Central Asia, the Korean Peninsula, Mongolia and the countries of Southeast Asia. The main threat to the prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region, according to the Japanese, are China, Russia and North Korea. In Japanese-Russian relations, the so-called “northern territories”, which Japan considers its historical territories illegally occupied by the USSR as a result of World War II, pose a special problem. The author of the article comes to the conclusion that Japanese foreign policy has an imperial character, it will proceed in the medium and long term from achieving dominant positions in the Asia-Pacific region and the presence of powerful geopolitical influence in Eurasia and the world as a whole. Japan considers the United States and NATO as its main allies in the near and medium term, and China and Russia as its opponents. The conclusion of a peace treaty between Russia and Japan is unlikely, since Japanese claims extend to all the Kuril Islands, Southern Sakhalin and other “historical northern territories”.