Most of the research for this book was undertaken while I was a Research Fellow at the former Department of Social Sciences, the University of Napoli ‘L’Orientale’, Naples, Italy, and was developed further as part of an Italian ‘Research Project of National Relevance’ (PRIN), which started in 2008 and was co-funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research. I owe a special word of thanks to Professor Franco Mazzei, who encouraged me to focus my attention on this topic. His constant support is invaluable and his guidance helped me to overcome the initial difficulties I experienced in approaching this project.
I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to Professor Haba Kumiko, School of International Politics, Economics and Communications (SIPEC), Tokyo Aoyama Gakuin University, and Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University at Cambridge (Massachusetts), who believed in this project and offered me the chance to join the SIPEC as a Visiting Scholar. I am also especially grateful to Professor Yuichi Hosoya, Faculty of Law, Keiō University of Tokyo, for his enlightening works and friendly encouragement, who warmly agreed to write the foreword.
I also gratefully acknowledge the anonymous experts of Routledge who recommended this manuscript for publication after a long and meticulous peer-review process, which allowed me to greatly improve the contents of this book. Special thanks are due to Stephanie Rogers and Hannah Mack at Routledge for having supported and assisted me through the submission of the manuscript with enormous patience.
I am also indebted to Pietro for encouraging me, and to other colleagues who read parts of the text. Thanks are also due to the Department of Asia, Africa and the Mediterranean and to the Department of Social and Human Sciences, the University of Napoli ‘L’Orientale’, for all kinds of support.
Finally, a special word of thanks goes to Tiziana. Without her loving support and unreserved understanding, this adventure would not have been possible.
The Hepburn system has been adopted for all transliterations in this book. Japanese personal names appear in standard order, with the family name first.