Patricia E. Roy is the winner of the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award, Canadian Historical Association. Canada's early participation in the Asia-Pacific region was hindered by "contradictory impulses" shaping its approach. For over half a century, racist restrictions curtailed immigration from Japan, even as Canadians manoeuvred for access to the fabled wealth of the Orient. Canada's relations with Japan have changed profoundly since then. In Contradictory Impulses, leading scholars draw upon the most recent archival research to examine an important bilateral relationship that has matured in fits and starts over the past century. As they makes clear, the two countries' political, economic, and diplomatic interests are now more closely aligned than ever before and wrapped up in a web of reinforcing cultural and social ties. Contradictory Impulses is a comprehensive study of the social, political, and economic interactions between Canada and Japan from the late nineteenth century until today.

"Separated by an ocean, which with the advance of navigation grows narrower each year, are Japan and Canada, two countries which, in history, ideals, civilization, and culture, have nothing in common. One is a group of comparatively small islands off the Coast of Asia, limited in area, the other occupies almost half ot the Continent of North America. The inhabitants of the former belong to the Mongolian, those of the latter to the Caucasian race. One has an ancient civilzation which begins before the dawn of human history, the other's history goes back only a few centuries. One has the culture and the characteristics of the Orient, the other those of the Occident. To a casual observer, these countries have nothing in common. [...]" --

A collection of essays, written by scholars and policymakers from the countries involved, explores the evolving alliance among Canada, Japan, and the United States. The book examines the three market-oriented democracies in their changing roles toward each other and show how they have moved beyond their separate, special, bilateral relationships into a dynamic three-way engagement.