The origin, development and transfiguration of Japanese diplomacy for Africa

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K20872
• Project/Area Number (Other): 18H05670 (2018)
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund (2019); Single-year Grants (2018)
• Review Section: 0106:Political science and related fields
• Research Institution: Ritsumeikan University
• Principal Investigator: Shirato Keiichi 立命館大学, 国際関係学部, 教授 (30822738)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-08-24 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 対アフリカ外交 / TICAD / 開発 / 国連安全保障理事会 / 日本外交

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, I focused on clarifying how the International Conference on African Development (TICAD) was started in 1993. I had Interviews with nine former Japanese diplomats who had worked for creating first TICAD from the end of the 1980s to the beginning of the 90s. I found several diplomatic documents in Diplomatic Archives of Japan. I also found confidential government’s documents by applying for national information disclosure system.
As a result, it was revealed that TICAD was proposed by the Japanese Permanent Mission to the United Nations in 1990, and the concept was shared within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the African Ambassador's meeting in the same year. In addition, It was revealed that TICAD's original purpose was "election tactics" such as the collection of African votes in the United Nations, but through discussions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was refined into concrete measures for Japan to lead global development issues.

Free Research Field

アフリカ地域研究及び日本外交

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

日本政府の対アフリカ政策は、どのような動機に基づいて計画され、実行されてきたのか。特にアフリカ開発会議（TICAD）プロセスが1993年に開始された経緯については、これまで一次資料に基づく研究が存在しなかった。そこで、本研究では、外交文書の入手と分析、TICADの立ち上げに関わった複数の元外交官にインタビューを行い、TICAD誕生の経緯を初めて明らかにした。その結果、東西冷戦終結後の日本政府が、TICADを通じて国際社会の様々な課題に能動的に働きかける外交を展開しようとしていた事実が判明した。