Relations between Japan and the European Union in the Mirror of World and National Historiography

The development of relations between Japan and Europe after the Second World War in the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century has become the subject of numerous historic- political and economic studies. The subject in question is of interest for researchers from Japan and Europe as well as to scientific communities from various other countries. Obvious spikes of researchers’ activity occurred in the times of transformation of relations such as the shift to neoliberalism by the end of the 20th century, the formation of the European Union and the recent signing of the Economic Cooperation and Strategic Partnership agreements. Today researches of the matter at hand appear to be highly relevant. Japan and Western Europe have come a long way from trade wars and open standoff at international fora to successful economic cooperation and strategic partnership in relatively short time. Analyzing their experience will be useful for finding solutions to present day international crises. The present article presents the most relevant studies of relations between Japan and Western Europe in the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. The relevant publications are reviewed by the author in chronological order. This way the distinguishing features of researchers’ approaches to the subject in question in different time periods can be demonstrated more distinctly. The problematic-chronological method was used to carry out the research because it allows to trace the correlation between the topics of historical research papers and the stage of development of historical science. Additionally, the author made use of the periodization method.

European Union, Japan, historiography, EU-Japan relations