"For the first time, Japanese diplomacy is being initiated by public opinion," Satoshi Morimoto, professor of international affairs at Takushoku University, said today.

"Japanese diplomacy has, so to speak, been abducted by the abduction issue," Mr. Taniguchi added.

"This will be a test not only of the environment but also of Japanese diplomacy."

He viewed the accord as a symbol of independent Japanese diplomacy and as a way to solidify close relations with Washington.

Cambodia, however, is the focus of Japan's concern, in part because it has used the Cambodian peace process as a test case for more active Japanese diplomacy.

You have served as a kind of moral compass for Japanese diplomacy towards Asia, and for Japanese comprehension of fellow Asian peoples.

Mr. Abe warned North Korea against the test in stern terms rarely heard in the cautious language of Japanese diplomacy.

Prisoners from Nambu : reality and make-believe in seventeenth-century Japanese diplomacy.

By deciphering the code, American intelligence was able to spy on crucial aspects of Japanese diplomacy as well as German intentions and capabilities in Europe.

When Hiranuma assumed his position, the German-Soviet non-aggression Pact of August 23, 1939 shook the basis of Japanese diplomacy.