The 'Honne-Tatemae' Dimension in Japan's Foreign Aid Policy: Overseas Development Aid Allocations in Southeast Asia

This paper employs the socio-psychological concept of 'honne-tatemae' to analyse Japanese foreign aid policy. Tatemae refers to the 'fa ade' or 'appearances' while honne signifies the 'real intention'. The Japanese government has pledged to use foreign aid to promote economic development and political stability in developing countries. On the other hand, Japan's official development assistance (ODA) program has been repeatedly criticised for being employed as a tool to promote Japan's own commercial interests. In this context, altruism could be a superficial principle of Japanese foreign aid policy which forms the 'tatemae' dimension while selfishness could represent a true hidden motive for the aid giving and form the 'honne' dimension. The present paper uses panel data analysis to examine which element – honne or tatemae – has influenced the decision-making process of allocation of Japan's ODA to Southeast Asia. The findings indicate that the volumes of Japan's exports to and income levels in the aid recipient countries had a significant influence on foreign aid distribution. The Japanese government tended to allocate bigger amounts of money to Japan's major trade partners in ASEAN. At the same time, the poorer nations in the region received more of Japan's ODA compared to the comparatively well-off nations. In other words, both altruism (tatemae dimension) and selfishness (honne dimension) characterise Japan's ODA flows.