Wayzata World Factbook 1995/World Factbook - 1995 Edition - Wayzata Technology (1995).iso/mac/text/Build/orig BACKGR/BNOT0058.TXT

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National Trade Data Bank
ITEM ID     : ST BNOTES JAPAN
DATE        : Oct 28, 1994

AGENCY      : U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
PROGRAM     : BACKGROUND NOTES
TITLE       : Background Notes - JAPAN

Source key      : ST
Program key     : ST BNOTES
Update sched.   : Occasionally
Data type       : TEXT
End year        : 1992
Date of record  : 19941018
Keywords 3      :
Keywords 3      : | JAPAN

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE
BACKGROUND NOTES:  JAPAN


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.
202-939-6700). 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

(Released:  December 1990)