From 1890, Japan embarked on the road of imperialism, relying on external expansion, constantly expanding its national strength, and almost realized the rise of a great country. However, due to the high strategic goal of the country and the wrong choice of development path, it has exceeded the affordability of the national economy and eventually failed, ruining the 80 years of efforts since the Meiji Restoration. 1945 On September 3rd, aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Shigemitsu Mamoru signed the surrender letter on behalf of the emperor and the government, and Umezu Yoshijiro signed the surrender letter on behalf of the Japanese base camp. Then, American troops landed in Japan. The rise of the Japanese nation has returned to the starting point. Yoshida strategy-the strategic choice of national rejuvenation after the destruction of 42% of Japan's national wealth in World War II. From 65438 to 0946, the gross national product and per capita consumption level were 62% and 57% of those before the war, industrial and agricultural production was also greatly damaged, foreign trade was almost completely cut off, inflation intensified, prices soared, millions of unemployed workers lived on the streets and people's lives deteriorated day by day. Not only that, the defeated Japan was occupied by the US military and completely lost its national independence. In the early post-war period, the task of Japan's national rise was to restore the economy, restore national independence and build a brand-new democratic country. In this situation, Yoshida strategy came into being. Ji Tianmao was a politician who had a far-reaching influence on Japanese politics after World War II. Under his organization and leadership, Japan realized the transformation from pre-war fascist militarism politics to post-war bourgeois and populist politics. Ji Tianmao participated in and presided over two political decisions that decided Japan's fate after the war. One was to formulate a new constitution, and the other was to conclude the San Francisco Peace Treaty and the Japan-US Security Treaty. The former abandoned the fascist militarism before the war, abandoned armaments and wars, established a new domestic politics, and put Japan on the road of a bourgeois peaceful and democratic country. The latter determined the alliance between Japan and the United States, determined Japan's position in the post-war world political structure, legally ended the occupation and restored Japan's independent state status. Japan's national development strategy, which was formed under the auspices of Ji Tianmao, was basically in line with Japan's international and domestic environment at that time, and ensured that Japan could successfully heal the wounds of war and rapidly develop into a world economic power. Yoshida strategy is gradually formed in various policy debates around peace and rearmament, and its basic contents can be summarized as follows: at the expense of national sovereignty, relying on the United States to defend its own security and rebuild its economy; Maintain a coordinated position with the "free world" led by the United States and confront the Soviet camp; Under the possible conditions, reduce the burden of armaments as much as possible, establish the necessary domestic normal order, concentrate on restoring and developing the economy, restore and expand foreign economic ties, and rebuild Japan into a modern world economic power that keeps pace with other developed countries. According to the arrangement of Yoshida strategy, Japan and the United States signed the Japan-US security treaty, allowing the United States to station troops in Japan and even have the power to suppress civil strife in Japan. This made Japan fall into semi-occupation again after gaining independence. Therefore, this treaty was strongly opposed by all walks of life in Japan, and even most people in the Conservative Party accused Ji Tianmao of engaging in collective defense and relying too much on the United States militarily, which would inevitably lead to its dependence on the United States in politics and economy and affect Japan's independent national status. In this regard, Ji Tianmao admitted: "The United States with strong force cannot be on an equal footing with Japan deprived of armaments." He believes that economic development is the premise of all other developments. A country's independence must be protected by strong force, and strong force must be backed by economic prosperity. After the war, Japan's economy was riddled with holes and people's lives were miserable. It is the primary task of the whole nation to quickly heal the wounds of war and restore Japan's economic independence. In order to keep the economy going, all means can be used, and even the independence of the country can be ignored for the time being. This is Ji Tianmao's Businessmen's International Political View. He believes that it is the best choice for Japan to entrust its own defense to others and use the saved funds to focus on economic development. The resulting unequal relationship between Japan and the United States is only temporary, and this relationship "will naturally change with the development of Japan's economy and the gradual strengthening of its strength." The contradictions and constraints that led to Yoshida's strategy always existed in the decades after the war. Therefore, successive Japanese governments have formulated their own policies on the basis of Yoshida strategy after the war. Although there are different formulations in different periods, they are not beyond the basic scope of Yoshida's strategy. The basic national defense policy formulated by 1957, the outline of the national defense plan formulated by 1976 and the comprehensive security strategy formulated in the late 1970s can all be regarded as the continuation of Yoshida's strategy. "International country"-the strategic choice of a political power After the war, Japan adopted Yoshida strategy, stayed away from international affairs, entrusted national security issues to the United States, maintained small-scale armaments, and concentrated on economic development. By the mid-1970s, the national development goal of catching up with Europe and America in economy was basically achieved. From 65438 to 0968, Japan's gross national product surpassed that of the Federal Republic of Germany and became the second largest economy in the western world. Since 1980s, Japan's economic strength has been enhanced, with its gross national product accounting for more than 10% of the world, and its total foreign trade volume ranking third in the world, becoming the second largest economic country in the world, surpassing the Soviet Union. Japan has changed from a chaser to an object to be chased. With the continuous growth of economic strength and the continuous expansion of the right to speak in the international community, Japan's sense of great power, which has been suppressed for a long time after the war, began to recover. The original Yoshida strategy can no longer meet the requirements of reality. The development of Japanese society has entered the stage of "sailing without charts". Japan is facing a new turning point. Finding and determining new national development goals and formulating new national development strategies have become an important topic in Japanese politics. As a "special country" after the war, Japan acted as the beneficiary of the post-war international order to the greatest extent. After the war, Japan took "building a country through trade" as its foundation, and became an "economic power" and a "merchant club" in Europe and America as its only national development goal. To this end, it tries to avoid being involved in international disputes and conflicts politically, especially economically, and pays little attention to its international reputation, status and autonomy. But in the 1970s, this situation began to change. After the impact of two oil crises, the Japanese ruling group realized that it was increasingly difficult to continue to be a "special country". In addition, with the continuous growth of Japan's economic strength, the Japanese have been unwilling to succumb to the status of "economic power and small political country", and have become a "normal country" from a "special country", and their desire to play a role commensurate with their economic strength in international affairs is growing. Therefore, as a political trend of thought, "international state theory" appeared in Japanese political forums. In 1980s, there was a great discussion about "American hegemony" in Japanese academic circles. On the surface, this statement seems to be talking about the development of "American hegemony", but in fact it closely follows the basic proposition of what role Japan will play in the future international order, and theoretically demonstrates Japan's move towards "international country". The conclusion of this discussion is that the "American hegemonic order" has been shaken; "American hegemonic order" will be followed by "the same management order"; At the turning point of the international order, when "American hegemony" is declining and multi-country "condominium" is inevitable, Japan must become a powerful member of creating a new international order. After Zeng Gen came to power in the early 1980s, he put forward the political program of "final accounts of postwar politics", emphasizing that "Japan is at a major turning point in postwar history" and advocating "not setting up a forbidden zone, and truly re-understanding the basic system and pattern of history with new ideas and viewpoints". During Nakasone's five years in power, Japan has clearly made "international country" its new strategic goal facing the 2 1 century, and acting as an "international country" has become its conscious action. The essence of "international country" is to fundamentally get rid of the "special country" status in the post-war era, become a political power, and become a world pole on an equal footing with the United States and the Soviet Union. Nakasone is mainly committed to the following aspects: First, adjust the system. That is, adjust the economic, political and social systems on which Japan's post-war development depends to meet the needs of the international era. The second is to correct the route. That is, through "active participation" and "sharing responsibility" in diplomacy and defense, the political line of "emphasizing economy over military affairs" adhered to by the conservative regime after the war was revised, and a national strategy adapted to Japan's economic strength was constructed. The third is to change the trend of thought. That is, by breaking through the "political taboo", the history of "humiliating" defeated countries can rest in peace and create an "upright" Japanese era on the international stage. In order to unite the national will and carry out the national strategy of "political power", the Nakasone regime set off a new nationalist trend of thought in Japanese society. Some right-wing forces also took the opportunity to clamor. They tried to overcome the "sequela of defeated country" by affirming the pre-war aggression and reversing the case for the war of aggression; Carry out narrow nationalism such as "imperial history view" and "Yamato national superiority theory" to improve Japan's international status; To challenge the "political forbidden zone" and deny pacifism. Japan's right-wing forces have been resisted by Japan's domestic progressive forces, but also aroused the vigilance of Japan's neighboring countries. In view of this situation, Nakasone reflected on it in the later period of his administration. He said that "we should adhere to the doctrine of the mean nationalism combining nationalism with internationalism" and proposed that Japan should advance in the "safe navigation zone". Nakasone's successor has repeatedly declared that Japan will never be a "military power", trying to dispel the doubts of international public opinion, especially Asian countries, about the revival of Japanese militarism. "Borrowing a boat to go to sea"-the strategic choice of a global power In the late 1980s, the cold war suddenly ended and the international situation changed dramatically. At the same time, in Japan, anti-American nationalism reached a climax, economic friction between Japan and the United States intensified, and the Japanese people's sense of being a big country was further enhanced. Where Japan will go after the Cold War has become a new topic for the Japanese. In the first half of 1990s, Japan reconsidered its strategic choice under the new international strategic situation. Three factors played a key role in the process of Japanese deciding their own strategic choice. First, the American economy did not decline after the Cold War, but firmly occupied the commanding heights of science and technology through the information industry revolution, and the world hegemonic position could not be shaken for a long time; Second, after entering the 1990s, Japan's bubble economy burst, the economy fell into zero growth, and the ambition of big countries was once frustrated. Third, Japan's ambition to dominate Asia again has been strongly questioned by Asian countries such as China and South Korea. After a long time of thinking, the Japanese finally realized that any attempt to get rid of the shackles of the United States and become a big country in Asia alone is an unrealistic fantasy. Only with the help of the platform of Japan-US alliance can Japan realize its ideal of becoming a political power. After the Cold War, Japanese society generally questioned the necessity of continuing to maintain the Japan-US alliance. Shintaro Ishihara, a rightist, said that when human civilization entered a new era, "Japan is a country that is most capable of playing a major role. Japan can plan to make its own contribution to the establishment of a new world order. Japan has the ability to go its own way today. Japan has the ability to formulate a global strategy and should do the same. " After the 1990s, a new generation of Japanese politicians stepped into the political arena and gradually grasped the core departments of the government. These people have a strong sense of national independence and dignity, advocate establishing the image of a big country, highlight their national interests and independence, and strive to "seek a more brilliant role" for Japan on the international stage. Some people with ultra-nationalist ideas think that Japan's subordinate role as it is now is an open insult to Japan's national pride, and advocate expanding armaments and developing Japan's independent containment to enhance its national status. On the other hand, the economic friction between Japan and the United States has also reached its peak. Anti-Japanese sentiment among Americans is high. Although Japan hopes to get rid of the control of the United States and play the role of a big country independently, most politicians with realistic views clearly realize that Japan's economic strength is far from being able to confront the United States, and any attempt by Japan to dominate Asia will be resisted by major Asian countries. Moreover, there are still many unresolved issues in Japan's domestic political field. Japan does not yet have the conditions to formulate a big country strategy that will break away from the Japan-US alliance and play an independent role in the world. There are also some people in the United States who realize the importance of the US-Japan alliance. Joseph, who is in charge of formulating Asian policy? Nye also believes that the US-Japan relationship cannot be abandoned as a relic of the Cold War. The global balance of power is tilted towards Asia, which makes Japan's position in the global strategy of the United States not decline, but rise. Therefore, it is necessary to create a more balanced alliance to adapt to the development and changes of 2 1 century. 1In February, 1995, the United States published a report on East Asia security strategy, and in March, it published a report on Japan-US security relations. The report pointed out that "there is no more important bilateral relationship than the US-Japan alliance", which is the basis for the United States to maintain Pacific security and achieve global strategic goals. One of the purposes of Japan-US security guarantee is to support Japan to assume greater responsibilities on a global and regional scale. 1in April 1996, Japan and the United States issued the "Japan-US Joint Declaration on Security Assurance-Alliance Facing 2 1 century" in Tokyo, which repositioned Japan-US relations. The United States recognizes that "Japan has the responsibility to lead the world" and Japan will participate in international affairs with the United States as an "equal partner". At the same time, the nature of Japan-US security system has also undergone fundamental changes, from the original "one-way" defense system in which Japan provides bases to the United States and the United States defends Japan to a "two-way" defense cooperation system between Japan and the United States. The scope of Japan-US defense cooperation has changed from "local defense" to "intervention in regional conflicts", and from bilateral military arrangements between Japan and the United States to joint intervention in third countries and regions. Since then, Japan and the United States have jointly acted as "world police". It seems that Japan's dream of being a great power for more than 0/00 years has come true. Few countries in the world pursue the status of a big country as persistently as Japan, and no big country has gone as tortuous as Japan's rise. Its first rise depended on the expansion of force and ended in failure because of its poor strength; The second rise took the road of peace and relied on the protection of superpowers. Japan's congenital deficiency has made it always doubt the sincerity of other big countries. In the process of pursuing the status of a great power, Japan seems unable to get rid of the role of confronting other great powers. Throughout the process of Japan's two rises, at least two lessons are worth paying attention to. First, don't pursue the absolutization of your own interests. The 30 years from the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 to the First World War was the golden age of Japan's national development. In addition to invading and expanding the Asian continent by force, maintaining "interest coordination" with other big countries is also an important factor for its success. However, after the 1930s, Japan stubbornly insisted on never giving in to its vested interests and expanded its interests by force, which backfired. Second, we must do a good job in controlling nationalism. Nationalism plays different roles in different countries and different historical periods. During the Meiji Restoration, Japan made full use of nationalism to mobilize the enthusiasm of the whole people, but later nationalism developed to extremes, leading Japanese society to war. Today's Japanese society is quite similar to that before World War II, and politicians are using new nationalism to win people's support for the strategy of a big country. Will this new nationalism push Japan back to the old road before World War II? The whole world is waiting to see.