Book Reviews : Japan and Western Europe, edited by Loukas Tsoukalis and Maureen White Francis Pinter 1982, £16.50
| DOI | 10.1177/004711788300700614 |
| Date | 01 October 1983 |
| Published date | 01 October 1983 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
2516
These
problems
comprise
the
common
thread
to
the
book,
but
as
its
editor
again
notes,
the
individual
pictures
show
considerable
variety
as
do
the
theoretical
approaches
of
their
authors.
While
some
of
the
claims
made by
the
editor
may
not,
therefore,
be
fully
borne
out,
the
book
does
serve
a
useful
function
in
providing
a
series
of
brief
economic
surveys
from
recognised
and
often
influential
experts.
Japan
and
Western
Europe
,
edited
by
Loukas
Tsoukalis
and
Maureen
White
Francis
Pinter
1982,
£16.50
This
is
an
extremely
useful
collection
of
papers
on
an
important
issue.
As
several
of
the
contributors
suggest
in
their
papers,
too
often
Euro-Japanese
relations
have
been
seen
simply
in
terms
of
trading
disputes.
This
collection,
which
grew
out
of
a
conference
held
in
1980
by
the
University
Association
of
Contemporary
European
Studies,
well
fulfils
its
primary
task
of
going
beyond
the
too
often,
simplistic
and
sensational
presentation
of
Euro-Japanese
relations
that
are
usually
found
in
the
press.
Japan
and
Western
Europe
begins
with
two
background
chapters
(by
Richard
Stony
and
Jean-Pierre
Lehmann)
on
the
European
influence
on
Japan
and
on
mutual
images
and
stereotypes.
They
make
an
important
starting
point:
mutual
misconceptions
and
antipathies
have
proved
a
positive
hindrance
to
improved
and
deeper
relations
and
they
persist,
at
the
highest
as
well
as
at
the
lowest
levels-
the
remarks
of
a
former
European
Commission
Director-General
for
External
Affairs
quoted
here
that
the
Japanese
are
a
nation
of
workaholics
living
in
rabbit
hutches
provides
merely
one
example.
But
the
emphasis
of
the
volume
is,
perhaps
inevitably,
on
economic
relations.
Part
II
is
devoted
to
an
examination
of
the
Japanese
economy,
and
Japanese
industrial
and
foreign
economic
policies.
However,
these
are
placed
very
firmly
in
the
wider
political
context
of
foreign
and
security
policy
demands.
Part
III,
on
bilateral
economic
issues,
opens
with
an
excellent
overview
of
the
problems
of
the
relationship
by
Benedict
Meynell
of
the
European
Commission.
He
suggests
that
too
often
problems
have
been
made
worse
by
the
fact
that
neither
side
behaves
as
if
aware
of
the
gravity
of
what
is
at
stake-except
when
obliged
to
by
acts
of
ommission
of
commission
on
the
part
of
the
United
States.
The
chapter
is
complemented
by
a
Japanese
view
(by
Masamichi
Hanabusa,
a
Foreign
Ministry
official)
which
is
highly
critical
of
Western
Europe’s
inadequacies
(in
adjusting
to
new
conditions,
marketing,
and
so
on),
and
the
emotional
element
in
the
West’s
responses.
More
sober
and
detailed
expositions
by
Geoffrey
Shepherd
and
Sueo
Sekiguchi
on
Japanese
exports
and
the
challenge
to
Europe’s
problem
industries
(both
traditional
and
higher
technology)
and
Japanese
direct
foreign
investment
respectively
point
to
one
of
the
most
difficult
problems
in
the
relationship
and
one
of
the
ways
being
used
to
resolve
or
at
least
ameliorate
it
The
section
also
includes
a
piece
by
John
Pinder
which
proposes
a
reversal
of
the
traditional
flow
of
ideas
by
suggesting
that
Europe
has
much
to
learn
from
the
Japanese;
not
only
would
it
b~e
good
for
European
industry,
it
might
also
be
good
for
the
construction
of
Europe.
The
last
part
of
the
book
is
concerned
with
conflict
and
cooperation.
It
is.
as
Yukio
Satoh
points
out,
increasingly
untenable
for
Euro-Japanese
relations
to
be
confined
to
trade
when
there
are
wide
and
equally
vital
issues
to
be
discussed-not
least
the
relative
decline
in
the
role
of
the
United
States
and
the
continued
build
up
of
Soviet
armed
strength.
Satoh’s
chapter
is
once
again
complemented
by
a
European
view,
by
Christian
Sautter,
who
tries
to
place
the
relationship
in
its
global
perspective.
The
book
ends
with
a
chapter
of conclusions
by
one
of
the
editors,
Loukas
Tsoukalis,
which
manages
to
touch
on
most
of
the
issues
dealt
with
in
the
book.
As
many
of
the
contributors
point
out,
there
is
a
considerable
need
for
the
establishment
of
better
channels
of
communication
between
Europe
and
Japan.
at
both
government
and
non-government
levels.
In
doing
so,
a
healthier
framework
might
be
established
in
which
trade
disputes
might
be
more
easily
resolved,
if
they
cannot
be
avoided.
Certainly
in
such
a
wealth
of
facts
and
variety
of
views,
this
volume
provides
an
excellent
contribution
to
the
process.
It
may
not
be
comprehensive
but
it
covers
most,
if
not
all,
of
the
important
irritants
and
problems
that
have
arisen.
It
thereby
allows
at
least
preliminary
conclusions
to
be
drawn
which
better
reflect
what
is
going
on
and
what
is
possible
or
likely
for
the
immediate
future.
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