Agenda for a Pacific Partnership: A Japanese-American Dialogue

Today's topic, "Agenda for a Pacific Partnership: A Japanese-American Dialogue", is a very positive and forward-looking one and it expresses what U.S. - Japanese relations ought to be. Working in Washington, D.C., however, I often wonder what the current status of our relationship is, because the perception of Japan held by many Americans is not necessarily good. In a poll taken a few months ago, Americans were asked which poses a more significant threat to the United States: the threat from Soviet missiles or the threat from the Japanese economy? More Americans answered that the Japanese economy is a more serious threat to the United States than Soviet missiles. This astonishes and discourages us. It is based on misconceptions among Americans about the importance and current status of cooperative relations between the two countries