Among non-Western international relations theories, the cultural perspective advocated by some Japanese scholars is quite promising, as it believes that “culture” instead of “nation-state” is a better starting point to explain East Asian international relations. Kenichiro Hirano stands out as a great example. He is a pioneer in contemporary international cultural studies in Japan, and his studies of Manchuria and East Asian community help him reflect on international relations. He distinguishes between “civilization” and “culture” to make an international relations theory of acculturation, which emphasizes resistance to an alien culture and alien cultural groups. Hirano’s understanding of culture reformulates the so-called ‘‘World History Standpoint’’ in Japan, which the pre-war Japanese authorities appropriated as a philosophical and cultural justification for the notorious ‘‘Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.’’ Thus Hirano’s international cultural theory helps repudiate and dispel the “aggressiveness” embodied in Japanese conception of “state” since the Meiji era.