Toward a Comprehensive Management of the Maritime Domain

This article examines Japan’s institutionalization of Maritime Domain Awareness as a non-military response to China’s gray zone tactics in the Indo-Pacific. Drawing on neoclassical realism, this analysis demonstrates how systemic threats, mediated by domestic variables—such as elite perceptions, media framing, and bureaucratic reforms—prompt information-centric adaptations rather than militarized responses. Constructivist insights highlight Japan’s shift toward proactive maritime engagement through its evolving sovereignty and identity narratives. Employing process tracing, this article analyzes key cases—the 2004 Chunxiao dispute, 2012 Senkaku crisis, and 2019 Umishiru launch—to examine how non-military pressures reshaped Japan’s maritime strategy from resource utilization to comprehensive governance. This study extends neoclassical realism to the study of hybrid threats and derives policy lessons for regional initiatives such as the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA).

bureaucratic reform · China · constructivism · elite perceptions · hybrid threats · Japan · maritime domain awareness · maritime sovereignty · media framing · National identity · neoclassical realism · Defense, Military, and Policy Studies · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Maritime Security and History