ABSTRACT

This chapter addresses both stability and change in Japanese trade politics. It documents Japan’s transition from international trade “follower” to trade “leader,” identifying the domestic and external pressures and interests driving this transition and analysing how the evolution of Japanese trade policy has been shaped by these factors. At the same time, it identifies the unchanging structure of trade politics and those aspects of trade policy that remain particularly entrenched. The major contemporary focus of the chapter is on the Abe administration’s trade policy and how it has been managed as a contested issue in domestic politics and policymaking.