Japan and the OECD: How the sun rose on a global era Peter Carroll, Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, University of Tasmania, and William Hynes, OECD Development Co-operation Directorate
Still, the path to Japan’s accession was challenging, given the context of historical memories and continuing trade disputes. As, in the context of bilateral discussions, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Derick Heathcoat Amory noted, the problem of Japan was “a bit awkward” and would complicate trade issues if it was brought into a “European organisation”. German Economics Minister Ludwig Erhard also noted that European countries could not agree on how to treat Japan regarding
©OECD
The path to Japan’s accession was challenging, though a solution was found in the shape of Japanese membership of the Development Assistance Group
Haguiwara Toru and Thorkil Kristensen, Memorandum of Understanding to join the OECD, signature of the Convention, in the OECD Observer No 6, October 1963, page 3
OECD membership crowned Japan’s efforts to reintegrate into the international community after the Second World War, while helping to turn the organisation into a global, rather than European, player. But the country’s accession had to be managed with great care, reflecting tensions of the time. Japan joined the OECD on 28 April 1964, becoming the 21st member country of the organisation and the first Asian member country. The Cold War was at its most intense and in the US the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations were keen to see Japan firmly ensconced, politically and economically, among those countries opposed to what they saw as the Soviet and Chinese threat. Similarly, Japanese Prime Minister Hyato Ikeda had increasingly stressed the need to develop strong ties with Europe to accompany Japan’s already close relationship with the US, developing “three pillars”, to support the free world. This included a security aim; increased influence in international economic policy co-ordination, especially as regards trade; a further restoration
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of Japan’s international status; and an enhanced opportunity for policy learning. There were a number of motives at play in the Japanese decision to seek membership of the OECD which overlapped with those of other OECD countries: the desire to be in the “western”, anti-communist camp; the opportunity to access one another’s markets; the greater capacity to co-ordinate international economic policy that Japan’s membership would entail; and a means of persuading Japan to increase its aid efforts. In particular, one of the motives underlying the Eisenhower administration’s proposal to reorganise the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) was to open up the possibilities for full membership for itself, Canada and Japan, so creating a new, more global organisation. However, it was well aware of the difficulties it would face in gaining support for Japanese membership. On the domestic front, only the Japanese Socialist Party opposed accession, arguing it was an anti-communist move that would alienate the USSR and China, but there was no significant public opposition against joining.
trade and membership issues. On top of this, transforming the OEEC into the OECD was already a difficult and sensitive process, with several European countries opposing change, so much so that the new OECD Convention had to be drafted off the premises, in the Hotel Majestic in Paris. In the end, following a series of informal, bilateral discussions, the US administration agreed that it would not push for full Japanese membership of the OECD immediately on its creation. A solution to prepare entry was found in the shape of Japanese membership of the Development Assistance Group (DAG), established on 13 January 1960 to promote official aid to less developed countries. DAG had been proposed by US Under-Secretary of State Douglas Dillon to the December 1959 summit meeting of the US, the UK, France and West Germany. Initially it was not a part of the OEEC, with a membership restricted to the major aid donors associated with the OEEC. This smaller group had no difficulty in accepting the US proposal for Japan’s membership. The DAG became the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) on the establishment of the OECD in 1961. Japan’s second step toward membership took place in the 1961-62 period, with