Eijiro Fukui

Mr Eijiro Fukui
Keio University, Japan

Japan's Perspective on European Integration

Abstract:

Ten years have passed since East Asia and Europe started the inter-regional relationship. In the framework of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM), both of the regions have deepened the good relations each other. Consequently, it is important to analyze how East Asia views Europe and how Europe recognizes East Asia. This paper focuses on Japan as a case study from the East Asian region, and examines how Japan observes and deals with European integration. The examination of the Japanese relationship with Europe is fruitful to the study of the European integration, given that Japan is one of the major powers in East Asia, and Japan and Europe has been important partners since 1970s.

The aim of this paper is twofold: first, to focus on the Japan’s perspective on regional integration as the case of East Asian integration, and second, to clarify the main trend of Japan’s view to the European integration by using the Japan’s regional integration above, rather than describing the details of this relationship based on legal arrangements. To do so, firstly, it confirms the outline of the history between Japan and European integration and of Japan’s perspective on European integration since the 1990s as a basic background. Secondly, it clears Japan’s perspective on regionalism thorough East Asian integration. Third, it clarifies how Japan has viewed European integration. Here, it argues that Japan has not paid attention to European integration, despite the fact that Europe has been an important partner for Japan in international relations. Finally, this paper introduces the contemporary trends of Japan's diplomacy towards European integration outside as well as inside the ASEM.

Biographical note:

Eijiro Fukui is a Ph. D student (Political Science, Graduate School of Law, Keio University, Japan), and a Research Assistant of the COE-CCC Programme (Centers of Excellence-Center for Civil Society with Comparative Perspective). His Ph. D thesis looks at European democracy in the EU from the perspective of the parliamentary system. He completed his Master of Laws degree (Political Science, Graduate School of Law, Keio University, Japan) in March 2004. The title of his Master thesis: A Consideration of the process to scrutinize the European Union Bills in the House of Common in the United Kingdom. This thesis clarifies the scrutiny process in the United Kingdom and its problems from the practical perspective. His research interests are European politics, especially the European governance, and regionalism especially in Europe and East Asia.

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