Introduction: dynamics of change. -- Contending with regional uncertainty: Japan's response to contemporary East Asian security challenges. -- Japan: balancing between a hegemon and would-be hegemon. -- Shifting incentives for political leadership. -- The construction of citizenship through volunteering: the case of lifelong learning. -- Foreign aid as a tool for peace building: is the goal security or poverty reduction? -- Peace diplomacy by ODA: rhetoric and reality. -- The changing political economy of defence production: the rise of a military-industrial complex? -- Stability and the status quo: changing power structures in the optics industry. -- Sources and processes of change: the case of the game sofeware industry. -- Conclusion: perspectives on change.

1. Japan -- Foreign economic relations
2. Japan -- Foreign relations
3. Japan -- Economic policy
4. Japan -- Politics and governemnt