---

This volume offers a comparative analysis of Japanese and Russian politics in the 2010s, examining both domestic dimensions and foreign policy. A bi-national collaborative effort, the volume is structured to offer perspectives on each country from both Russian and Japanese scholars. An introduction by Takashi Inoguchi gives a historical overview of the two countries´ paths to development as ´late comers´ vis-à-vis the West in the late nineteenth century. The analysis that follows reveals that Japan and Russia have come to acquire genuinely striking contrasting features: frequent leadership change despite extraordinary societal stability and continuity in Japan and infrequent leadership change despite extraordinary ups and downs in Russia.

---

1. Introduction - Japan and Russia; Takashi Inoguchi ? PART I: JAPANESE POLITICS: LEADERS, POLITICAL PARTIES AND ECONOMIC POLICY 2.1. Politics of Swings; Takashi Inoguchi 2.2. Political Parties in Disarray; Dmitry Streltsov PART II: RUSSIAN POLITICS: LEADERS, KREMLIN AND POLITICS OF VPERYOD (FORWARD) 3.1. Politics of Volatility; William Smirnov 3.2. Politics of Dictatorship and Pluralism; Nobuo Shimotomai PART III: JAPAN AND RUSSIA ECONOMICS 4.1. Economics Takes Command; Yutaka Harada 4.2. Politics of Modernization; Liubov Karelova PART IV: JAPANESE FOREIGN POLICY: "SEARCHING AN HONORABLE PLACE IN THE WORLD" 5.1. Never at Home Abroad; Shigeki Hakamada 5.2. Foreign Policy in Statu Nascendi; Sergey Chugrov PART V: RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY: VPERYOD (RUSSIA GO FORWARD) EASTWARD? 6.1. Improvising at Kremlin; Akio Kawato 6.2. Pragmatic Realism; Sergey Oznobishchev

---

Takashi Inoguchi, University of Tokyo, Japan Dmitry V Streltsov, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Russia William Smirnov, Russian Academy of Sciences and Russian Academy of National Economy and Civil Service, Russia Nobuo Shimotomai, Hosei University, Japan Yutaka Harada, Waseda University, Japan Karelova Liubov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia Hakamada Shigeki, University of Niigata Prefecture, Japan Sergei Chugrov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia Akio Kawato, Waseda University, Japan Sergey Oznobishchev, Institute for Strategic Assessments, Russia

---