Pioneers of Sino-Japanese Relations

"For a decade the two most powerful states in East Asia, Japan and the People's Republic of China, carried on trade without recognizing each other diplomatically and this beginning only a short time after the conclusion of the bloodiest war between them in all history, and while Japan had diplomatic ties with China's archrival regime on Taiwan. This marvelous new book tells the story of how such an arrangement came into being and the two men who made it possible, Liao Chengzhi and Takasaki Tatsunosuke (known together as 'LT' for short). Surprisingly little has been written in English about these two men and their accomplishments, and Mayumi Itoh's new work now admirably fills the void."

Joshua A. Fogel, Canada Research Chair, York University

"In her meticulous and far-reaching analysis of the 1962 LT Accord, Itoh has constructed a compelling narrative of Sino-Japanese normalization by showing how the significant actors in this process, on both sides, were conscious of their responsibility to overcome the tragic legacy of the war."

Stephen Roddy, associate professor of Asian Studies, University of San Francisco