Both China and Japan have strong assets to claim for the leadership in Asia, but neither of them meets all the requirements for an unquestionable hegemony in the region. Indeed each one stands in an opposite situation as compared to the other. The competition between the two countries will continue during the next two decades.

A stimulating essay to open a debate about their respective assets and drawbacks for claiming such domination.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 – Genealogies of two economic giants
The Dragon's awakening
The Sumo's resilience
Intertwined destinies

Chapter 2 – Powerful but vulnerable giants
The tools of economic power
Heavy challenges for the next decades
Two giants in the world crisis: diverging effects and prospects

Chapter 3 - Japan, an economic leader looking for "normalization"
The economic leader of Asia
Japan's aspiration to a strategic "normalization"

Chapter 4 - China, a global power in the making
The quest for global leadership as an economic superpower
China’s "peaceful rise" in the world as a global player