ABSTRACT
In the early 1990s, Japan’s economic relations with its major trading partners had become increasingly acrimonious. In times of major economic uncertainty in most countries in the world, Japanese firms seemed to be blessed with continued economic growth, ongoing trade successes and able to accumulate apparently never-ending trade surpluses. In 1989, Japan had a trade surplus of $43 billion with the United States, $19 billion with the European Community, and $21 billion with Southeast Asia. At the same time, Japan appeared to assert itself in new ways, perhaps most clearly seen in the book co-authored by Shintaro Ishihara entitled The Japan That Can Say No [1].
