The Yoshida Doctrine, named after Japan's first Prime Minister after World War II Shigeru Yoshida, was a strategy adopted post World War II under Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, in which economics was to be concentrated upon to reconstruct Japan's domestic economy while the security alliance with the United States would be the guarantor of Japanese security. The Yoshida Doctrine shaped Japanese foreign policy throughout the Cold War era and beyond.
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Historic Background
Even after its surrender in World War II, the Japanese government continued to function. It held its first post-war election in the spring of 1946. This election was also the first time women were allowed to vote in Japan. Yoshida Shigeru emerged as the winner of the election, becoming Prime Minister. Around the same time, discontent grew over the previous Meiji Constitution, and a desire for an entirely new constitution grew. A small team from a section of SCAP helped draft a new constitution. After some revisions, the Japanese Diet approved this new Constitution in November 1946, it took effect in May 1947, and it continues on today. One important aspect of the Constitution was Article 9 which stated that "the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation" and that military forces "will never be maintained". When Yoshida Shigeru made his policies (the Yoshida Doctrine) Article 9 played a large role.
Reliance on the United States
The Yoshida doctrine and Japan's foreign policy of the time, emphasized mutual relations with the United States. Japan relied on the United States’ military for security, because of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, being denied the right to war-making potential. Repeated attempts by the United States, in following years, to get Japan to increase its military expenditure were rejected by Prime Minister Yoshida on the basis of Japan's pacifist post-war constitution. Military was not the only thing Japan relied on the United States for. During the Cold War, Japan's largest trading partner was the United States. Exports to the United States at the time played a large role in Japan's economic development.
Economic Emphasis
Prime Minister Yoshida's aim was to focus all available means on an economic recovery. Given the lack of military power, Japanese foreign policy naturally placed emphasis on economic policy. Yoshida envisioned a speedy economic recovery through which Japan would be able to once again become a major world power (at which point Japan would be in a position to rearm). His policy was thus not rooted in pacifism but was in line with the realist foreign policy that's been a dominating force in Japan's approach to international relations since the Meiji Restoration. Under Yoshida's leadership, Japan began to rebuild its lost industrial infrastructure and placed a premium on unrestrained economic growth. Many of these concepts still impact Japan's political and economic policies.