Are there any theories of international relations in Japan?

This article argues that there are theories of internationalrelations (IR) in Japan and that these theories are mostly ofmiddle range type. I first give a brief survey of IR studiesin Japan and its disciplinary backgrounds. On that basis, thenI focus on the three outstanding cases of fledgling theoriesof IR as developed in the 1920s and 1930s, namely Nishida asan innate constructivist, Tabata as an international law theoristpresupposing the natural freedom of individuals, and Hiranoas an economist placing regional integration higher than statesovereignty, to develop the argument that there are indeed theoriesof IR in a fledgling form already before World War II. Received for publication May 16, 2006. Accepted for publication June 27, 2007.