The aftermath of the Second World War led Japan to develop a soft power approach that would ensure its international presence: development aid, limited participation in peace-keeping operations, etc. Yet this soft power seems to have reached its limits. Japan is now hesitating before a policy of greater openness – creating a true immigration policy, ambitious free trade agreements – while simultaneously being confronted by the hard power realities of its regional space – its alliance with the United States and a growing militarization of East Asia.