ABSTRACT
Two patterns of trade development since 1970 are especially dramatic in underscoring the Asian orientation of Japan and the mounting dependence of Tokyo on trade with the more politically volatile and unpredictable developing nations. Japan continues to dominate trade in the East Asian region to a startling degree. During the 1950s and 1960s, despite vestigial anti-Japanese feelings from World War II, Japan moved into a commanding trade position, displacing the former European colonial powers, completely overshadowing China, and eventually surpassing the United States. Just how fully the Japanese dominate intraregional trade is even more evident in the bilateral trade patterns between East Asian countries and Japan. The size of Japanese trade looks substantial from all of the capitals of Asia, and Asian trade is also important from the viewpoint of Tokyo. The rise in the amount of Japan's trade taken by the Asian region has taken place entirely during the decade of the 1970s.
