Author: Kenji Takita, Chuo University, Tokyo

President Obama’s election was widely welcomed in Japan, by the general public as well as the power elite.

Most in Japan abhorred the Bush administration’s unilateralist foreign policy and expect the Obama administration to shift America towards a more multilateralist course. Multilateralism is closely associated with smart power. The shift towards multilateralism is likely to have two effects in implementing American foreign policy. It will go some way towards erasing the damage that the Bush Administration’s unilateralism has done to American standing. It will also make it easier to the United States to call on the assistance of other countries, especially that of allied powers.

While many Japanese welcome the Obama administration, they remain concerned about the new administration’s foreign and trade policies. For Japan these concerns focus on questions like will the Obama administration seek a resolution to the abduction issue as well as denuclearization in North Korea? Who will be America’s primary partner in East Asia? Will the administration introduce protectionist trade policies to ‘defend’ the US economy in the face of the current economic downturn?
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