Commentary on the article `Options for Japan and the U.S. Toward North Korea in a Post-Iraq World`

In Keichi Honda 's HYPERLINK "http /www .glocom .org /opinions /essays /_honda_toward /index .html Toward an Economic Partnership Agreement for Japan and the U .S he supports the establishment of an economic partnership agreement (EPA between Japan and the United States in to bring about economic and societal integration between the two countries . He begins the discussion with a historical on how Japan 's and the United States economies have become more and more homogenous following the Structural Impediment Initiatives (SII ) between the two countries in 1980 . He then exposes the dangers

posed to this continuing homogenization by Japan 's growing economic ties with its Asian neighbors such a China . This is the justification that Honda uses to argue the need for an EPA . He then moves on to discuss the current EPA being deliberated upon by Nippon Keidanren 's Committee on the U .S . Affairs , the hindrances existing on the side of Japan in furthering an EPA , possible economic and political backlashes of an EPA such as Japan 's alienation from other Asian countries , and reasons why similar EPAs between Japan and its neighbors should not be resorted to at he moment

It is obvious that the goal of the article is to convince readers on the positive value for Japan of an economic partnership agreement with the United States . However , it was not clearly stated precisely how Japan was to benefit from such an agreement . While historical data does point out that Japan 's economy had become more and more homogenous with the United States since 1980 , it also points out that Japan 's economic success was not a direct result derived from the Structural Impediment Initiatives . It can easily be reasoned that rather than the SII , it was the combined aspects of close government-industry cooperation , strong work ethics , and aggressive development of high technology that made Japan the second largest economy in the world

If we look into Honda 's opposition towards Japan 's forming closer economic ties with other Asian countries , its main contention is that such moves would result in the dilution of Japanese economic ties with the United States , a value that was not proven to be positive in the first place . On the other hand , while Honda 's article claims that closer economic relations between Japan and China would be problematic ' because of their different socio-economic systems , it does not substantiate how such differences pose an actual hindrance to mutual economic progress . If we look at China , we see that despite its socio-political differences with most of its current trading partners it has been able to cooperate quite efficiently on the economic level and grow into the world 's 4th largest economy in 2006 . While the United States still remains to be the world 's largest economy , it is no secret that Asian countries such as China and India are currently growing at much faster rates than the U .S , and that some analysts do predict the possibility of China actually...