Japan and Asian Monetary Regionalisation: Cultivating a New Regional Leadership after the Asian Financial Crisis

The Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 left many marks in the political economy of Asia, among which is the (re)emergence of Japan's interest in taking a leadership role in defining and strengthening regional monetary cooperation. Japan's new interest stems from its perspective on the causes of, and appropriate solutions to, the Asian crisis, especially in contrast to US-IMF views and responses which directly challenged Japan's economic and ideological interests in the regional economy. A journey to regional monetary leadership for Japan has just started, and it is not going to be an easy one. Much of the fate of Japan's regional monetary leadership hinges on whether or not Japan succeeds in cultivating a constituency among Asian members for its initiatives.