ABSTRACT
Economic interest and need were the primary bases for Japanese determination to participate in the development of Siberia. When the USSR started inducing the Japanese business community to participate in that development in the early 1960s, Japan was preoccupied with its rapid economic growth, and the volume of raw materials and energy resources needed for its economy to maintain its industrial activities was expected to grow larger and larger. The Japan-Soviet Economic Committee, set up by the Japanese business community in 1965, was exclusively responsible for conducting negotiations for Japanese participation in Siberian development, and it functioned as the only official channel with the Soviets. Viewed in the broader context of East-West trade as a whole, arguments concerned with Japan's dependence on the USSR for natural resources and security considerations are related to a common issue in the West regarding the wisdom of increasing trade relations with the USSR in energy.
