abstract

One of the most noteworthy foreign policies launched by the new Japanese government is aimed at building an “East Asian Community;” however, little progress has been observed on economic regionalism since the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) came into power in 2009. Why has this policy not been more actively pursued by the DPJ cabinets, despite being one of the Prime Minister’s favored policies and in the absence of significant objections from opposition parties? This paper addresses this question by elucidating factors that promote or impede the building of an “East Asian Community” from the perspective of Japanese domestic politics. This paper shows that the DPJ government, having been an advocate of economic regionalism in East Asia, has, in fact, experienced strong dissent among its supporters.