The book describes and analyses Japanese economic activities in all the countries of Eastern Europe and successor countries of the former Soviet Union, predominantly since the break-up of the former Soviet Union, on the basis of wide-ranging and multilingual materials. Japanese investment, aid, trade, advice, collaborative action, contacts and other types of economic involvement, also reciprocal actions by those countries, are related in substantial detail.

Factors which have concentrated Japanese attention upon particular countries are explored and explained, as are types of involved institutions, and analogous activities are outlined for the immediately preceding periods. The earlier history of Russian-Japanese geographical contacts is outlined.

The basically economic narrative is diversified by the inclusion of non-economic factors including cultural and historical comparisons between Japan and individual countries, many of which have been never previously compared with Japan.