Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction / Paul Midford and Wilhelm Vosse -- Decentering and recentering in security strategy / Paul Midford -- Centered on the fight within : the inward-looking nature of the Japanese debate on constitutional reinterpretation with a diluted US focus / Bryce Wakefield -- Lifting the ban on defense industrial production cooperation with non-US partners / Christopher W. Hughes -- Japan's 'special' strategic partnership with Australia : 'decentering' underwrites 'recentering' / Thomas Wilkins -- Japan's policy toward India since 2000 and US leadership in East Asia / Natsuyo Ishibashi -- Japan's security cooperation with the Philippines and Vietnam / Bjørn Grønning -- From a decentering and recentering imperative : Japan's approach to Asian security multilateralism / Takeshi Yuzawa -- Is Japan's engagement in counter-piracy missions a step towards decentering of its security policy? / Wilhelm Vosse -- Japan's cooperation with the EU in the nexus of development and security / Marie Söderberg -- Evolution of Japan's non-US centric security strategy and European influences on Japan's peace-building policy / Yukiko Takezawa -- The continued centrality of the United States to Japan's security doctrine in an era of expanding security partnerships / Andrew L. Oros -- Non-US directions in Japan's security strategy : a Chinese view / Suisheng Zhao -- Conclusions / Paul Midford and Wilhelm Vosse. "While the US-Japan alliance has strengthened since the end of the Cold War Japan has, almost unnoticed, been building security ties with other partners, in the process reducing the centrality of the US in Japan's security; this book explains why this is happening. Japan pursued security isolationism during the Cold War, but the US was the exception. Japan hosted US bases and held joint military exercises even while shunning contacts with other militaries. Japan also made an exception to its weapons export ban to allow exports to the US. Yet, since the end of the Cold War Japan's security has undergone a quiet transformation moving away from a singular focus on the US as its sole security partner. Tokyo has begun diversifying its security ties. This text highlights this diversification. The country has initiated security dialogues with Asian neighbours, assumed a leadership role in promoting regional multilateral security cooperation and begun building bilateral security ties with a range of partners, from Australia and India to the European Union. Japan has even lifted its ban on weapons exports co-development with non-US partners. This edited collection explores this trend of decreasing centrality alongside the continued, and perhaps even growing, security (inter)dependence with the US. New Directions in Japan's Security is an essential resource for scholars focused on matters of Japan's national security. It will also interest on a wider basis those wishing to understand why Japan is developing non-American directions in its security strategy"--