Japan's relations with South East Asia differ significantly in quantity and quality from relations with its immediate neighbours in North East Asia. Since the opening of the country in the mid-nineteenth century, Japan's interest in this vast and geographically remote area has varied over time. The one hundred and thirty years under review in these two volumes can be divided into three historical periods:
· 1868 to the outbreak of the Second World War
· the Pacific War (1941-1945) and the effort to establish a greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
· the Cold War years (1947-1990) and the issues which have arisen since then.
This unique set gathers together over fifty journal and newspaper articles from otherwise scattered and difficult to obtain sources along with previously unpublished speeches, creating an invaluable reference tool for both researchers and students in the field.