Book Series: 'Nihon no Kaihatsukyoryokushi wo Toinaosu' (Reconsidering the History of Japan’s Development Cooperation)

Despite all the decades following World War II, the history of modern Japan in relation to Asia and the world remains unexplored. This seven-volume book series (available only in Japanese) presents the findings of a research project entitled “Japan’s Development Cooperation: A Historical Perspective,” headed by the JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development. The series provides a historical overview of Japan’s development cooperation.

The book series highlights development cooperation as a method used by Japan for the active establishment of international relations after World War II. Japan’s path to modernization commenced later than those of western nations. However, the nation achieved remarkable economic success and became the first non-western donor to contribute to development cooperation. Thus, Japan’s experience of economic growth and its development cooperation naturally differ from that of western donors. Based on the recognition of these facts, this series examines the 75-year history of Japan’s development cooperation with a focus on its uniqueness and universality.

To demonstrate that development cooperation is in itself worthy of intellectual pursuit, the book series is released in seven volumes to give voice to the perspectives of various authors.

The following links provide a detailed description of each volume.

Vol. 1: Policy History I: Evolution of the Japanese Model of Development Cooperation, 1945–89 (Shimomura Yasutami) (Published: December 2020)
*Vol. 2: Policy History II: The Rise and Decline of Japan as the Largest Donor
(Shimomura Yasutami)
*Vol. 3: History of Thoughts on Development Cooperation: From Imperial Days to the 21st Century (Takahashi Motoki)
*Vol. 4: History of Japan’s International Cooperation in Education: Its Principles, Policies, and Practices Crossing Borders (Kuroda Kazuo)
Vol. 5: Japan’s Cooperation to Infrastructure Development: Its History, Philosophy, and Contribution (Yamada Junichi) (Published: March 2021)
*Vol. 6: Oral History of Development Cooperation: Beyond Crises (Mine Yoichi)
Vol. 7: The Making of Development Cooperation: Ecological History of Dependency and Self-Reliance (Sato Jin) (Published: May 2021)

*provisional titles in English

Detailed description of each volume