Wayzata World Factbook 1994/World Factbook - 1994 Edition - Wayzata Technology (1994).iso/pc/text/txtfiles/japan.bkg

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#CARD:Japan:Background Notes
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE BACKGROUND NOTES:  JAPAN

December 1990
Official Name: Japan

PROFILE
Geography:
Area: 377,765 sq. km. (145,856 sq. mi.); slightly smaller than
California. Cities: Capital-Tokyo. Other major cities-Yokohama, Osaka,
Nagoya, Sapporo, Kobe, Kyoto.  Terrain: Rugged, mountainous islands.
Climate: Varies from subtropical to temperate.
People: Nationality: Noun and adjective-Japanese. Population (mid-1987
est.): 123,100,000. Annual growth rate (1989): 0.5%. Ethnic groups:
Japanese; Korean 0.6%. Religions: Shintoism and Buddhism; Christian
0.8%. Language: Japanese. Education: Literacy-99%. Life expectancy
(1987)-males 75.5 yrs., females 81.3 yrs. Work force (60.7 million,
1988): Agriculture-7.9%. Trade, manufacturing, mining, and
construction-32.4%. Services-43.3%. Government-7.2%.

Government:
Type: Parliamentary democracy. Constitution: May 3, 1947. Branches:
Executive-prime minister (head of government). Legislative-bicameral
Diet (House of Representatives and House of Councillors). Judicial-Civil
law system with Anglo-American influence. Subdivisions: 47 prefectures.
Political parties: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Japan Socialist Party
(JSP), Democratic Socialist Party (DSP), Komeito (Clean Government
Party), Japan Communist Party (JCP). Suffrage: Universal over 20. Flag:
Red sun on white field.

Economy:
GNP (1989): $2.836 trillion. Real growth rate: 4.9% (1989); 4.4%
(1987-89).  Per capita GNP (1989): $23,040. Natural resources:
Negligible mineral resources, fish. Agriculture: Products-rice,
vegetables, fruits, milk, meat, silk. Industry: Types-machinery and
equipment, metals and metal products, textiles, autos, chemicals,
electrical and electronic equipment. Trade (1989): Exports-$269.7
billion: motor vehicles, machinery and equipment, electrical and
electronic products, metals and metal products.  Major markets-US 33.8%,
Western Europe 20.5%, developing countries 37.7%, communist countries
4.6%. Imports-$210.7 billion: fossil fuels, metal ore, raw materials,
foodstuffs, machinery and equipment. Major suppliers-US 22.9%, Western
Europe 16.7%, developing countries 47%, communist countries 7.4%. Fiscal
year: April 1-March 31. Exchange rate (avg. 1989): 138 yen= US$1. Total
net official development assistance: $8.9 billion (1989 disbursements,
0.3% of GNP).

Membership in International Organizations:
 UN and several of its specialized and related agencies, including the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Court of Justice (ICJ),
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), International Labor
Organization (ILO), International Energy Agency (IEA), Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), INTELSAT.

PEOPLE
 Japan is one of the most densely populated nations in the world, with
almost 318 persons per square kilometer (823 persons per sq. mi.). The
growth rate has stabilized at about 0.5% in recent years, giving rise to
some concern about the social implications of an increasingly aged
population.
 The Japanese are a Mongoloid people, closely related to the major
groups of East Asia. However, some evidence also exists of admixture
with Malayan and Caucasoid strains. About 675,000 Koreans and much
smaller groups of Chinese and Caucasians reside in Japan.
 Buddhism is important in Japan's religious life and has strongly
influenced fine arts, social institutions, and thought. Most Japanese
still consider themselves members of one of the major Buddhist sects.
 Shintoism is an indigenous religion founded on myths, legends, and
ritual practices of the early Japanese. Neither Buddhism nor Shintoism
is an exclusive religion; most Japanese observe both Buddhist and Shinto
rituals, the former for funerals and the latter for births, marriages,
and other occasions. Confucianism, more an ethical system than a
religion, profoundly  influences Japanese thought.
 About 1.5 million people in Japan are Christians, of whom approximately
60% are Protestant and 40% Roman Catholic.

Education
 Japan provides free public schooling for all children through junior
high school. Ninety-four percent of students go on to 3-year senior high
schools, and competition is fierce for entry into the best universities.
 Students may attend either public or private high schools, colleges,
and universities, but they must pay tuition. Japan enjoys one of the
world's highest literacy rates (99%); nearly 90% of Japanese students
complete high school.

Communications
 Mass communications in Japan are more extensive than those of most
other advanced, industrial nations. The mass media are highly
competitive, even though they are dominated by four national daily
newspapers-the Yomiuri, the Asahi, the Mainichi, and the Nihon Keizai
Shimbun-with individual circulations of 4-14 million (combined morning
and evening editions) daily. These newspapers and several smaller ones
publish weekly magazines and have interests in commercial radio and
television. The combined circulation of Japan's 178 newpapers totals
more than 65 million (in a nation of 120 million people), and Japan
publishes more than 3,500 magazines.
 Radio and television follow the British pattern, with a nationwide,
government-owned network competing with commercial networks. The
Japanese motion picture and publishing industries rank among the largest
in the world. The Japanese publishing industry creates more new titles
each year than the United States.

Social Welfare
 In Japan, as in other parts of Asia, care of the sick, aged, and infirm
until recently has been the responsibility of families, employers, or
private organizations. However, to meet the needs of a modern industrial
society, this system has changed greatly, and the government conducts a
broad range of modest, but successful, social welfare programs. These
include health insurance, old-age pensions, a minimum wage law, and the
operation of various hospitals and institutions for orphans, the
handicapped, and the elderly. All major political parties are committed
to providing increased and more effective social welfare services.

HISTORY
 Traditional Japanese records contain the legend that the nation was
founded in 600 BC by the Emperor Jimmu, a direct descendant of the sun
goddess and ancestor of the present ruling imperial family. About 405
AD, the Japanese court officially adopted the Chinese writing system.
During the sixth century, Buddhism was introduced. These two events
revolutionized Japanese culture and marked the beginning of a long
period of Chinese cultural influence, which resulted in a strong
affinity for China.
 From the establishment of the first fixed capital at Nara in 710 until
1867, the emperors of the Yamato dynasty were the nominal rulers, but
actual power was usually held by powerful court nobles, regents, or
"shoguns" (military governors).

Contact With the West
 The first contact with the West occurred about 1542, when a Portuguese
ship, blown off its course to China, landed in Japan. During the next
century, traders from Portugal, the Netherlands, England, and Spain
arrived, as did Jesuit, Dominican, and Franciscan missionaries. During
the early part of the 17th century, growing suspicions that the traders
and missionaries were actually forerunners of a military conquest by
European powers caused the shogunate to place foreigners under
progressively tighter restrictions. This culminated in the  expulsion of
all foreigners and the severing of all relations with the outside world,
except severely restricted commercial contacts with Dutch and Chinese
merchants at Nagasaki. This isolation lasted for 200 years, until
Commodore Matthew Perry of the US Navy forced the opening of Japan to
the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854.
 Renewed contact with the West profoundly altered Japanese society. In
1868, the shogun was forced to resign, and an emperor was restored to
power.  The feudal system subsequently was abolished, and many Western
institutions were adopted, including a Western legal system and
constitutional government along quasi-parliamentary lines.
 The Meiji Constitution initiated many reforms. Eventually, in 1898, the
last of the galling "unequal treaties" with Western powers was removed,
signaling Japan's new status among the nations of the world. In a few
decades, by creating modern social, educational, economic, military and
industrial systems, the Emperor Meiji's "controlled revolution" had
transformed a feudal and isolated state into a world power.

Wars with China and Russia
 Japanese leaders of the late 19th century  regarded the Korean
Peninsula as a "dagger pointed at the heart of Japan." It was over Korea
that Japan became involved in war with the Chinese Empire in 1894-95 and
with Russia in 1904-05. The war with China established Japan's dominant
interest in Korea, while giving it the Pescadores Islands and Formosa as
well. After Japan defeated Russia, the resulting Treaty of Portsmouth
awarded Japan certain rights in Manchuria and in southern Sakhalin,
which Russia had received in 1875 in exchange for the Kurile Islands.
Both wars gave Japan a free hand in Korea, which it formally annexed in
1910.

World War I to 1952
 World War I permitted Japan, which fought on the side of the victorious
Allies, to expand its influence in Asia and its territorial holdings in
the Pacific. The postwar era brought unprecedented prosperity to the
country. Japan went to the peace conference at Versailles in 1919 as one
of the great military and industrial powers of the world and received
official recognition as one of the "Big Five" of the new international
order. It joined the League of Nations and received a mandate over
Pacific islands north of the Equator formerly held by Germany.
 During the 1920s, the country progressed toward a democratic system of
government. However, parliamentary government was not rooted deeply
enough to withstand the economic and political pressures of the 1930s.
During this period, military leaders were increasingly influential.
 Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 and set up the state of Manchukuo. In
1933, it resigned from the League of Nations. The Japanese invasion of
China in 1937 followed Japan's signing the "anti-Comintern pact" with
Nazi Germany the previous year and was part of a chain of developments
culminating in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
After almost 4 years of war, resulting in the loss of 3 million Japanese
lives and including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan
signed an instrument of surrender on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Harbor on
September 2, 1945.
 As a result of World War II, Japan lost all of its overseas possessions
and retained only the home islands. Manchukuo was dissolved, and
Manchuria was returned to China; Japan renounced all claims to Formosa;
Korea was granted independence; southern Sakhalin and the Kuriles were
occupied by the USSR; and the United States became the sole
administering authority of the Ryukyu, Bonin, and Volcano Islands. The
United States returned control of these islands to Japan by 1972 with
the reversion of Okinawa.
 After the war, Japan was placed under international control of the
Allied Powers through the Supreme Commander,  Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
US objectives were to ensure that Japan would become a peaceful nation
and to establish democratic self-government supported by the freely
expressed will of the people. Political, economic, and social reforms
were introduced. The method of ruling through Japanese officials and a
freely elected Japanese Diet (legislature) afforded a progressive and
orderly transition from the stringent controls immediately following the
surrender to the restoration of full sovereignty when the treaty of
peace with Japan went into effect on April 28, 1952.

GOVERNMENT
 Japan's parliamentary government-a constitutional monarchy-operates
within the framework of a constitution that became effective on May 3,
1947.  Japan has universal adult suffrage with a secret ballot for all
elective offices. The government consists of an executive branch,
responsible to the Diet, and an independent judicial branch.
 Sovereignty, previously embodied in the emperor, is vested in the
Japanese people, and the emperor is defined as the symbol of the state.
The cultural prestige of the imperial institution remains great,
however, and the enthronement of Emperor Akihito in November 1990 was a
major national event.
  The government is essentially patterned on the British parliamentary
model, with a House of Representatives and a House of Councillors.
Executive power is vested in a cabinet composed of a prime minister and
ministers of state, all of whom must be civilians. The prime minister,
who must be a member of the Diet, is appointed by the emperor on
designation by the Diet and has the power to appoint and remove
ministers, the majority of whom must be from the Diet.
 Japan's judicial system, based on the model of Roman law, consists of
several levels of courts, with the Supreme Court as the final judicial
authority. The Japanese constitution includes a bill of rights similar
to the US Bill of Rights, and the Supreme Court has the right of
judicial review. Japanese courts do not use a jury system, and there are
no administrative courts or claims courts. Because of the system's basis
in Roman law, court decisions are made in accordance with statute law,
and only Supreme Court decisions have any direct effect on later
interpretation of points of law.
 Japan does not have a federal system, and its 47 prefectures are not
sovereign entities in the sense that US states are. Most are not
financially self-sufficient and depend on the central government for
subsidies. Governors of prefectures, mayors of municipalities, and
prefectural and municipal assembly members are popularly elected for
4-year terms.

Principal Government Officials
Prime Minister-Toshiki Kaifu
Minister of  Foreign Affairs-Taro Nakayama
Ambassador to the United States-Ryohei Murata
Ambassador to the United Nations-Yoshio Hatano

 Japan maintains an embassy in the United States at 2520 Massachusetts
Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20008 (tel. [phone]). Consulates
general are in Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Guam, Honolulu,
Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Portland,
San Francisco and Seattle; honorary consulates general are in Buffalo,
Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Nashville, Miami, Minneapolis, Mobile,
Phoenix, St. Louis, San Diego, and San Juan; and an honorary consulate
is in American Samoa.
 The Japan National Tourist Organization, at 630 Fifth Avenue, New York,
NY 10111, also maintains offices in Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Los
Angeles, and Honolulu.

POLITICAL CONDITIONS
 Japan is one of the most politically stable of all postwar democracies,
ruled for more than 40 years by moderate and conservative political
interests. A generally close cooperation among politicians, an efficient
and dedicated bureaucracy, and the business community have tended to
give cohesion to national policymaking. The political organization

representing Japanese moderate conservatism is the Liberal Democratic
Party (LDP). The party is a coalition of several well-organized
factions, the success of which depends on the factional leaders' ability
to obtain a position of power in the cabinet or party.
 In the February 1990 lower house election, the Socialist party (JSP)
increased its strength by 55 seats (from 83 to 138), making it
overwhelmingly the largest opposition party.   Continuing ideological
conflict between the Marxist class-struggle approach of its left wing
and the more pragmatic approach of the right wing has kept the JSP from
consolidating its own position in the Diet, while disputes with other
opposition parties have frustrated attempts to form more than temporary
alliances.  Although advocating reduction and eventual elimination of US
military forces in Japan, the JSP has moved to broaden its dialogue with
the United States.
 The Komeito (Clean Government Party) is a political affiliate of the
Buddhist Soka Gakkai sect but has attempted to expand its base. The
party grew rapidly in its early years, but membership has leveled off.
The Komeito is moderate but joins the other opposition parties in
parliamentary maneuvers against the LDP.
 The Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) is a moderate socialist party
patterned after the European social democrats. Its membership broke away
from the JSP in 1960. Much of its support is from private sector labor
unions.
 No longer stridently revolutionary, the Japan Communist Party (JCP)
rejects close ties with the Soviet Union and espouses a parliamentary
road to power like the major West European communist parties. However,
it remains hostile to the United States. It is highly unlikely that the
JCP ever will have a broad electoral base.
 The LDP has ruled Japan continuously since its founding in 1955.
Although Japanese politics are stable, the LDP cannot take its
parliamentary majority for granted. In the 1989 upper house elections,
the LDP lost its majority.  However, in the more powerful lower house,
the LDP scored an impressive victory in elections in February 1990.  It
won 275 races and, together with 11 conservative independents who
subsequently joined the party, the LDP's 286 seats in the 512-seat
chamber give it chairmanship and voting majorities in every committee.
The LDP counts on the inability of its opponents to unite. Its excellent
overall performance in achieving high levels of economic growth has
improved the lot of the people in the postwar era, and it is still the
only party that a majority of the public seems to trust to manage the
economy.

ECONOMY
 Japan's reservoir of industrial leadership and technicans, its
intelligent and industrious work force, its high savings and investment
rates, and its intensive promotion of industrial development and foreign
trade have resulted in a mature industrial economy. Along with North
America and Western Europe, Japan is one of the three major industrial
complexes among the market economies.
 Japan has few natural resources, and only 19% of its land is suitable
for cultivation. The agricultural economy is highly subsidized and
protected. With great ingenuity and technical skill, resulting in per
hectare crop yields among the highest in the world, Japan maintains an
overall agricultural self-sufficiency rate of about 50% on fewer than
5.6 million cultivated hectares (14 million acres). Japan produces a
slight surplus of rice but imports large quantities of wheat, sorghum,
and soybeans, primarily from the United States.
 Given its heavy dependence on imported energy,  Japan has aimed to
diversify its sources.  Since the oil shocks of the 1970s, Japan has
reduced dependence on petroleum as a source of energy from over 75% in
1973 to about 57%.  Other important energy sources are coal, liquefied
natural gas, nuclear, and hydropower.
 Gold, magnesium, and silver meet current minimum requirements, but
Japan is dependent on foreign sources for many of the minerals essential
to modern industry. Iron ore, coking coal, copper, and bauxite must be
imported, as well as many forest products.
 Japan's exports amount to less than 10% of its GNP,  less than the
percentage of some other major trading nations. Although small in terms
of GNP, the Japanese traditionally have seen this trade as necessary for
earning the foreign exchange needed to purchase raw materials for their
advanced economy.
 Compared with the performance of most industrial nations over the past
several years, the Japanese economy has performed well. Its 4.9% real
economic growth rate in 1989 is one of the highest of the developed
countries.

Transportation
 Japan has a well-developed international and domestic transportation
system, although highway development still lags. Tokyo and Osaka
International Airports and the ports of Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, and
Nagoya are important terminals for air and sea traffic in the western
Pacific. However, greatly increased traffic in the Pacific markets is
putting severe strains on Japan's airports.
 The domestic transportation system depends on the government-owned rail
network. Rail transportation is supplemented by private railways in
metropolitan areas, a developing highway system, coastal shipping, and
several airlines. The rail system is efficient and well distributed and
maintained throughout the country. The super express "bullet trains"
take as little as 3 hours between Tokyo and Osaka, a distance of 520
kilometers (325 mi.).

Labor
 Japan's labor force consists of approximately 60 million workers, 40%
of whom are women.  Members of labor unions number about 12 million
(about 27% of the nonagricultural labor force).
 In 1989, the 3-million member, predominantly public-sector union
confederation Sohyo (General Council of Trade Unions of Japan) merged
with the 5.5 million member Rengo (Japanese Private Sector Trade Union
Confederation) to form the 8-million member Japanese Trade Union
Confederation, also called Rengo.

US-Japanese Trade
 The United States is Japan's largest trading partner; Japan is the
second largest trading partner for the United States after Canada.
Bilateral trade totaled $138 billion in 1989.  Japan is the largest
market for US agricultural products, more than $8 billion annually.
Manufactured goods constitute 58% of US exports to Japan.  In 1989, the
leading US export to Japan was machinery and equipment.  Japan is the
first-  or second-best  market for many US manufactured goods, including
chemicals, pharmaceuticals, photo supplies, commercial aircraft,
nonferrous metals, plastics, and medical and scientific supplies.
 The US trade deficit with Japan has been a source of significant
bilateral friction.  US trade policy has concentrated on efforts to
encourage structural change to reduce Japan's export orientation and
increase imports; negotiation on specific market access problems;
coordination of macro-economic policies; and coordination in
multilateral fora such as the GATT and OECD.
 There have been some encouraging trends.  Japan's economic growth has
been generated more by domestic demand than exports. Between 1981 and
1989, US exports to Japan grew more than twice as fast as our exports to
the rest of the world.  And the $49 billion US merchandise trade deficit
with Japan in 1989 represented a 5% improvement over 1988.
Nevertheless, the United States is continuing to focus on opening
Japanese markets and increasing US exports.
 Significant bilateral trade negotiations have occurred. In 1988, the
United States signed agreements with Japan covering beef, citrus, other
agricultural products, and public works procurement.  In April 1990, the
two countries reached agreements on the three sectors-satellites,
supercomputers, and wood products-identified for trade liberalization
under the Super 301 provision of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness
Act of 1988.  In June 1990, the US and Japan concluded 9 months of
intensive talks under the Structural Impediments Initiative (SII) by
producing a final report which commits both countries to comprehensive
measures to reduce impediments to current account adjustment.
 Despite the lack of formal barriers to trade compared with other
countries, the Japanese market continues to be difficult for new firms
to penetrate.  Efforts to improve access to that market continue to take
place in semiannual bilateral meetings of the trade committee and
meetings related to the market-oriented sector-selective (MOSS) process.
 US follow-up talks with the Japanese government continue in medical
equipment, pharmaceuticals, auto parts, construction,  semiconductors,
intellectual property rights, and services.
 In August 1990, the US and Japan reached agreement on liberalizing the
Japanese telecommunications market for terminal equipment and
international value-added services.
 There are considerable investment flows between the United States and
Japan.  US direct investment in Japan rose by $1.4 billion from 1988 to
1989, much of it largely in finance, banking, and manufacturing.  The
total stock of US direct investment at the end of 1989 totaled $19.3
billion.  Japanese direct investment in the United States expanded by
$16 billion in 1989 over 1988 with substantial increases in real estate,
finance, and manufacturing.  The total stock of Japanese direct
investment in the United States at the end of 1989 was $69.7 billion.

DEFENSE
  After World War II, the Allies disarmed and occupied Japan. Article IX
of the Japanese constitution provides that "land, sea, and air forces,
as well as other war potential, will never be maintained." During the
Korean war, this position was modified by the establishment of a
national police reserve force. Before the end of the occupation in April
1952, the first steps had been taken to expand and transform the force
into the Self-Defense Force (SDF). At the same time, the Japanese
government derived from Article 51 of the UN Charter the doctrine that
each nation has the right of self-defense against armed attack and that
this right is consistent with Article IX of the Japanese constitution.
 In 1954, the Japan Defense Agency was created with the specific mission
of defending Japan against external aggression. Ground, maritime, and
air self-defense forces were established under a joint chiefs of staff
organization patterned after that of the United States.
 In recent years, the Japanese public has shown a substantially greater
awareness of security issues and increasing support for the security
treaty and the SDF. However, there are still significant political and
psychological constraints on strengthening Japan's defense. An important
minority in Japan advocates strict interpretation of Article IX of the
constitution. More generally, there continues to be a strong underlying
antipathy, resulting from Japan's experience in World War II, toward
military matters.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
 Japan is a major economic power not only in Asia but  also in the
world. Japanese foreign policy since 1952 aims to promote peace and
prosperity for the Japanese people by working closely with the West and
through strong support for the United Nations. Japan has diplomatic
relations with nearly all independent nations and has been an active
member of the United Nations since 1956.
 Although a military role for Japan in international affairs is
precluded by its constitution and government policy, Japanese
cooperation through the US-Japan security treaty has been important to
the peace and stability of East Asia. All Japanese governments in the
postwar period have relied on a close relationship with the United
States as the foundation of their foreign policy and on the mutual
security treaty for strategic protection. In recent years, within the
context of a close relationship with the United States, Japan has
diversified and expanded its ties with other nations.
 Good  relations with its neighbors continue to be of vital interest to
Tokyo. After the signing of the peace and friendship treaty with China
in 1978, ties between Tokyo and Beijing developed rapidly. Prior to the
June 1989 events in Tiananmen Square, the Japanese extended significant
economic assistance to the Chinese in various modernization projects. At
the same time, Japan has maintained economic but not diplomatic
relations with Taiwan, where a strong bilateral trade relationship
thrives.
 Japanese ties with the Republic of Korea have improved since an
exchange of visits in the mid-1980s by the Japanese and South Korean
political leaders.  Most recently, President Roh Tae Woo made a highly
successful visit to Japan in May 1990.  Japan has limited economic and
commercial ties with North Korea; the release in October 1990 of two
Japanese seamen held by Pyongyang since 1983 removed a key obstacle to a
normalization of relations.
 Although the Japanese have sought to improve relations with the Soviet
Union, relations between Tokyo and Moscow never have been close, because
the Soviets continue to occupy the Northern Territories-small islands
off the coast of Hokkaido that have been occupied by the USSR since the
end of World War II. The Japanese reacted strongly to the Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan and supported various initiatives, including
boycotting the Moscow Olympics, to express their opposition.
 Soviet President Gorbachev's scheduled visit to Tokyo in early 1991
will be the first by a Soviet leader in the post-war period.  It may
provide the occasion for movement toward a settlement of the territorial
dispute and major improvement in Soviet-Japanese relations.
 The Japanese have pursued a more active foreign policy in recent years,
recognizing the responsibility that accompanies Japan's economic
strength. Japan has expanded its ties with the Middle East, which
provides most of its oil. The Japanese also have been increasingly
active in Africa and Latin America and have extended significant support
to multilateral and bilateral development projects in both regions.
 After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, Japan rapidly
adopted tough sanctions against Iraq and strongly supported the UN
effort to roll back the aggression.  Initial Japanese contributions
included $2  billion  in  assistance to countries most affected
economically by the crisis, an additional $2 billion for the
multinational military force, and aid to refugees.
  Development assistance is a major tool of Japan's foreign policy.
Japan became the world's largest aid donor in 1989, surpassing the
United States with aid levels of $9 billion. Japanese aid to other Asian
countries far exceeds that of the United States, and Japan is also a
major donor to Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle
East, and the Philippines. Japan and the United States hold
subcabinet-level consultations regularly to coordinate foreign
assistance programs.  The United States supports Japan's efforts to open
its markets to developing nations' products.

US-JAPANESE RELATIONS
 The close and cooperative relationship with Japan is the cornerstone of
US policy in Asia and the basis of a strong, productive partnership in

addressing global issues. Despite different social and cultural
traditions, Japan and the United States have much in common. Both have
open, democratic societies, high literacy, freedom of expression,
multiparty political systems, universal suffrage, and open elections.
Both have highly developed free-market industrial economies and favor an
open and active international trading system.  Given Japan's economic
power and its growing international role, it clearly has become one of
the most important countries to the United States.
 In accordance with Japan's enhanced international influence and its
continued close ties with the United States, the two countries have
developed a close global partnership in supporting the many values they
share.  This global cooperation spans fields as diverse as
counter-terrorism, anti-narcotics collaboration, human rights,
development assistance, support for refugees, and international action
to protect the environment.
 Bilateral trade problems attract significant attention and often
generate considerable controversy within the relationship. The United
States is working hard to achieve greater access to Japan's markets and
has made much progress.  Trade problems may be the most visible and
contentious part of an extremely broad and important relationship.
Overall US policy toward Japan goes well beyond the problem areas and is
based on three principles.
 First, the United States has worked to achieve a close bilateral
relationship with Japan as an equal partner.  The past decade has
brought a significant expansion of Japan's economic and technological
prowess, an increase in its defense awareness and capability, and a
greater interest and involvement in international political and economic
affairs.  Although there still are differences in their relative
political, economic, and military positions in the world, both nations
approach and conduct their relationship as equals.
 Second, because of the two countries' combined economic and
technological impact on the world-together accounting for 40% of world
GNP and 60% of the Western industrialized nations' GNP-the US-Japan
relationship has become global in scope.  Although in the past the
partnership has been measured primarily in economic and technological
terms, in the future it will have a larger political dimension as Japan
assumes a greater international role and associates itself more actively
and closely with Western political and security goals.
 Third, Japan is becoming increasingly assertive in global matters and
is forging a wider international role.
 The United States encourages this trend toward a broader international
political and economic role by Japan, within the framework of a
continued close bilateral relationship. The United States has called for
a "global partnership" with Japan, in which the combined efforts of the
two countries can be utilized to promote peace and prosperity throughout
the world.

US-Japan Security Relationship
 The US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security is 30 years old.
The original security relationship dates from the early 1950s, when
Japan was virtually defenseless.  The present security  treaty, revised
on a broader basis of equality, came into force on June 23, 1960, and
became subject to abrogation by either party upon 1 year's notice in
June 1970. At the time, both governments declared their intention to
extend the treaty indefinitely.
 Under the treaty, Japan hosts elements of the US 7th Fleet. The bases
and facilities provided by Japan under the treaty do not exist solely
for the defense of Japan.  They are also  important to the US ability to
maintain commitments to other allies in Asia. US military assistance to
Japan was terminated at the end of 1967. Since 1952, US military forces
in Japan have decreased from more than 260,000 to the present level of
about 65,000, more than half of whom are stationed in Okinawa. For
Japan, the treaty provides a strategic guarantee against external
attack.
 As US forces were withdrawn, the Japanese SDF expanded its capabilities
and has assumed primary responsibility for the immediate conventional
defense of Japan. Japan's defense roles and missions, which the United
States supports, are the defense of its homeland, territorial seas and
skies, and sea lines of communication out to 1,000 nautical miles. Japan
has been increasing its defense budget annually and continues to make
qualitative force improvements. As a matter of policy, Japan has
foresworn nuclear armaments and forbids arms sales abroad. A bilateral
agreement signed in 1983, however, allows the export of Japanese defense
and dual-use technology to the United States.
 In addition to its own forces, Japan also provides bases and facilities
to US forces in Japan and contributes substantially to the support of US
forces (over $3 billion  in FY 1990).
 The US Embassy in Japan is located at 10-5 Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku,
Tokyo (107); tel [phone]; fax [phone]; mailing address:  American
Embassy Tokyo, APO San Francisco 96503. US Consulates General are in
Osaka, Sapporo, and Naha, and a Consulate is in Fukuoka. The American
Chamber of Commerce in Japan is at 7th floor, Fukide No. 2 Bldg., 1-21
Toranomon 4-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo (105).

Houston Economic Summit, July 9-11, 1990
 President Bush hosted  the 16th annual G-7 summit for the leaders of
the major industrialized democracies-Canada, France, Germany, Italy,
Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States-and the president of
the European Community, in Houston, Texas, July 9-11.  The summit was
held against the backdrop of movement toward democracy and freer markets
in many parts of the world, including elections in Eastern Europe and
Nicaragua, increasing momentum toward German unification, and political
reforms in the Soviet Union.  The summit leaders agreed on most
international economic and political issues, but intense discussions
were needed on agricultural subsidies in the Uruguay Round of
multilateral trade negotiations, economic assistance to the Soviet
Union, and global warming before consensus could be reached. Economic
Accomplishments
 --  Agreement on progressive reductions in internal and external
support and protection of agriculture and on a framework for conducting
agricultural negotiations in order to successfully conclude by December
1990 the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade talks under the auspices of
the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
 -- Request to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank,
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to undertake, in close
coordination with the European Community (EC), a study of the Soviet
economy, to make recommendations, to establish the criteria under which
Western economic assistance could effectively support Soviet reforms,
and to submit a report by the end of 1990.
 --  Support for aid to Central and Eastern European nations that are
firmly committed to political and economic reform, including freer
markets, and encouragement of foreign private investment in those
countries and improved markets for their exports by means of trade and
investment agreements.
 --  Pledge to begin negotiations, to be completed by 1992, on a global
forest convention to protect the world's forests.
Political Accomplishments
 -- Promotion of democracy throughout the world by assisting in the
drafting of laws, advising in fostering independent media, establishing
training programs, and expanding exchange programs.
 --  Endorsement of the maintenance of an effective international
nuclear nonproliferation system, including adoption of safeguards and
nuclear export control measures, and support for a complete ban on
chemical weapons.

Principal US Officials
Ambassador-Michael H. Armacost
Deputy Chief of Mission-William T. Breer
Economic Minister-Counselor-Joseph Winder
Political Minister-Rust M. Deming
Public Affairs Minister-Robert L. M. Nevitt
Administrative Minister-Jose J. Cao-Garcia
Commercial Minister-Keith R. Bovetti
Agricultural Minister-James V. Parker
Consul General-Nancy Sambaiew
Labor Counselor-John J. LaMazza
 Science Counselor-Edward Malloy
Defense Attache-Capt. S. A. Van Hoften
Customs Attache-Gary W. Waugh
Mutual Defense Office Director-Capt. Walter T. Dziedzic

Travel Notes
 Japan is one of the countries participating in the Nonimmigrant Visa
Waiver Pilot Program.  As such, visitors to Japan for either tourism or
business for a period of less than 90 days who possess round-trip or
onward tickets on a participating carrier do not need visas.  This
program expires September 30, 1991, unless it is extended by
legislation.  Meanwhile, for all other types of travel, including
official business, a visa is required and must be obtained from a
Japanese consulate or embassy before departure. Travelers transiting
Japan for less than a 72-hour stay may routinely apply for a special
landing permit upon arrival, provided their passport is properly visaed
for onward travel and entry and departure are from the same
international airport.  If travelers are in any doubt regarding specific
transit plans, a visa should be obtained before departure.  No
immunization is necessary for travel to Japan from the United States.
Detailed tourist information can be obtained from the Japan National
Tourist Organization, 630 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10111.

 Published by the United States Department  of State  --  Bureau of
Public Affairs  --  Office of  Public Communication  --  Washington, DC
--  December  1990  --  Editor: Peter A. Knecht
 Department of State Publication  7770.  Background Notes Series  --
This material is in the public domain and may  be reprinted without
permission; citation of this source is appreciated.  For  sale by the
Superintendent  of  Documents,  US Government  Printing  Office,
Washington, DC    20402  (###)


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