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Views from Japan

February 2005

[Economy]

ECONOMY / "From Nationalism to Regionalism."

Tsutomu Toichi, managing director of the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan, urges the establishment of an energy cooperation system for Asian countries in "From Nationalism to Regionalism." According to Toichi, in 2003 oil accounted for 36% of energy supply in the Asian region as a whole, and 68% of this oil was imported. He notes that Asia depends on the Middle East for 83% of its oil imports, a high figure that observers believe is certain to rise further. China is taking steps to secure supplies of oil and natural gas, while Russia, which views Japan, China, and South Korea as new export markets, is aggressively developing oilfields in Sakhalin and Eastern Siberia. Regarding Japan's energy policy, Toichi stresses that amid these developments Japan must abandon thinking that focuses solely on its own interests and instead prioritize a regionalist perspective that considers the interests of Asia as a whole, as well as taking a comprehensive approach to related policy areas, including security, diplomacy, trade, and the environment. To this end, he asserts the need for the region to strengthen existing petroleum reserve systems and to introduce such systems to countries that lack them, to upgrade and enhance the functions of the oil market, and to make use of Japanese technology and expertise in energy conservation, new energy sources, nuclear power, and environmental fields. Noting that Japan does not have in place a system by which a national energy strategy can be drafted and implemented, Toichi urges the establishment of an energy strategy commission in the Cabinet Office and a national energy committee in both houses of the Diet. ("Ikkoku shugi kara 'chiiki shugi' e," Sekai, February 2005.)