TOKYO - In mid-April, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs released its Diplomatic Bluebook 2023, its most important guidebook on international affairs.
Hours after Russian forces entered Ukraine, the Japanese government signed the Group of Seven statement that condemned the “large-scale military aggression” and called for “severe and coordinated economic and financial sanctions.”
The next day, Hayashi announced that Japan would sanction “designated individuals related to Russia,” freeze assets of three Russian banks, and sanction exports to Russia’s military.
In its Diplomatic Bluebook 2022, Japan condemned Russia and urged the Russian government to “withdraw its troops immediately, and comply with international law.” Russia’s war, the Japanese argued, “shakes the very foundation of the international order,” an order whose attrition, as the new Bluebook argues, has brought the world to this “turning point.”
Despite all the talk of sanctions, Japan continues to import energy from Russia. In 2022, 9.5% of Japan’s imported liquefied natural gas came from Russia (up from 8.8% in 2021). Most of this energy came from Russia’s Sakhalin Island, where Japanese companies and the government have made substantial investments.
The Diplomatic Bluebook 2023 makes three important points: that the post-Cold War era has ended, that China is Japan’s “greatest strategic challenge” (page 43), and that Global South countries must be taken seriously. The Bluebook highlights Japan’s confusion, caught between its reliance on Russian energy and the growing confidence of the Global South. ...continue reading
