Editing Foreign relations of Japan (section)

==Foreign policy==
{{Main|Foreign policy of Japan}}

Beyond its immediate neighbors, Japan has pursued a more active foreign policy in recent years, recognizing the responsibility which accompanies its economic strength.<ref name=":0">{{citation-attribution|1={{Cite web|date=September 2001|title=Background Note: Japan|url=http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4142.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020606040246/http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4142.htm|archive-date=6 June 2002|publisher=[[U.S. State Department]]}} }}</ref> [[Prime Minister of Japan|Japanese Prime Minister]] [[Yasuo Fukuda]] stressed a changing direction in a policy speech to the [[National Diet]]: "Japan aspires to become a hub of human resource development as well as for research and intellectual contribution to further promote cooperation in the field of peace-building."<ref name="k2008">Komura, Masahiko. [http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/un/pko/symposium0803-s.html  "Building Peacebuilders for the Future,"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130505150457/http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/un/pko/symposium0803-s.html |date=5 May 2013 }} ''Tokyo Peacebuilders Symposium 2008''. 24 March 2008.</ref> This follows the modest success of a Japanese-conceived peace plan which became the foundation for nationwide elections in [[Cambodia]] in 1998.<ref name=":0" />