【《UH・UR合同シシポジウム》報告】Japan-Pacific Linkages : A Perspective on Japan's approach to the Pacific aid industry

摘要

This paper focuses on how Japan approaches development aid in the Pacific region. Although attention is increasingly focused on the rise of China's engagement with the Pacific, Japan maintains a solid presence in the region, though with a dwindling aid budget and development programs that appear too small and apolitical to receive much attention. Along with standard policy approaches that avoid direct engagement with a country's political machinery, Japan's particular approach to Pacific Islands development is shaped by views of Japan's technical superiority, aid agency competition, and perceptions of the Pacific as paradise. I draw from my experience working for Japan's development aid program in Fiji where I was employed full-time as a development officer for Pacific regional programs.