U.S.-Japanese Relations

In recent years, it has been asserted in the literature that Japan ought to "come into its own" on a more aggressive basis than has been the case since World War II. For example, ` makes a case for the idea that a thoroughly independent and strong Japan "is in America's best interests" (39), even though there is a possibility that Japan may reconfigure its geopolitical interests or even pursue foreign alliances inside Asia that to some degree eliminate the need or desire for US influence. Helweg's rationale is that it is only in the context of independence from US support that Japan's major institutions, whether political or corporate, can test the integrity of its real strengths. This involves institutional and cultural change. However, the consensus seems to be that Japan has avoided the prospect of change. That has led to a dire prediction of the future of Japan's ability to affect beneficial results in the country. The problem, basically, is perceived

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nal market share (Johnson 130ff). Lower-priced Japanese goods inure to the benefit of Japanese suppliers and penalize American suppliers of those same goods. Johnson points out that an American-imposed royalty on Japanese imports could dampen American demand for those goods, which could force Japanese attention to structuring a variety of forms of economic independence (131). The trouble is, that policy would not necessarily spur demand for American-made goods of the same kind. Rather, dampened demand for Japanese goods might lead to a withdrawal of demand for all goods across the board, fostering "global recession and disaster for high-debt developing countries" (Johnson 131). Anticipation of global recession, argues Johnson, has the effect of enabling Japan to claim that it is being victimized by US attempts to single out its goods for unfavorable trade treatment, even as it benefits from Cold War politics, whereby Japan is perceived as a US client state because of its geographical strategic position vis-a-vis the USSR. One reason that Japan's interests would be served if it were less perceived as an American client state in the geopolitical arena is that absence of independence implies an absence of geopolitical honesty that m
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Approximate Word count = 2222
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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