‘Better to be a chicken’s head than an ox’s tail’: Japanese envoy diplomacy in the mediation of Konfrontasi (1965)

Abstract

This article examines a lesser-known episode of the Cold War in Asia, namely Japan’s mediation in the Konfrontasi crisis between Indonesia and Malaysia, focusing on Prime Minister Satō’s appointment of a special envoy, Kawashima Shōjirō, in spring 1965. Drawing on multi-archival research in Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, it shows how Japan’s envoy diplomacy initiative was shaped by unilateralism, partisanship and a brazen diplomatic style that defied ‘low-profile’ expectations and revealed regional leadership aspirations. Kawashima’s (eventually unsuccessful) endeavour played out as a remarkably ‘interventionist’ initiative, mirroring domestic tensions over the definition of Japan’s post-war role in Asia.