Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

Editor’s Foreword
Certainly the most important bilateral relationship of the latter half of
the 20th century into the early 21st is one of the most peculiar. Despite
the disparity in size and population, the United States and Japan have
been the anchor of relations in East Asia, and Asia more broadly, sometimes
having a worldwide impact. It is odd, first of all, because of the
huge disproportion in size and population between the two, to say nothing
of social and cultural differences. It is also odd in that the United
States was initially also much more dynamic economically and was actually
willing to tolerate Japan’s rise to economic prominence through
trade. But it is particularly unusual in that, just prior to its establishment,
the two countries were at war and the former occupied the latter, and
presently guarantees its defense. Yet, over the decades the ties have only
grown stronger, and along with political, economic, and military links,
there are increasingly close and amicable relations between the peoples,
due to travel and cultural exchange, as well more recently as intermarriage
and immigration.
The significance and duration of this relationship also makes the
Historical Dictionary of United States—Japan Relations one of the
most important in the series. Beginning with official and private contacts
between the United States and Japan in the first half of the 19th
century, the authors include more than 150 years of political, military,
economic, social, and cultural bilateral relations—including their multilateral
contexts. Thus, the dictionary section includes, among other
things, entries on a huge cast of actors, including presidents and prime
ministers, secretaries of state and foreign ministers, diplomats and individual
citizens, as well as major events, institutions, and organizations.
But the overall trends are easier to see through the introduction, while
the individual steps are traced over time in the chronology. The list of
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