Abstract
The Maekawa Commission Report was released amid a lot of domestic and international publicity on April 7, 1986, and, expectedly, it received a great deal of attention around the world. Most people abroad believed that this was the first time that the topic of internationalization of the economy was raised in Japan. Consequently, they characterized the report as a historic event. Undoubtedly, the report was important because it was prepared by Prime Minister Nakasone’s private “brain trust,” therefore reflecting his views. Moreover, the report was released at a time when Japan’s current and trade account surpluses had reached new heights.
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Notes
Industrial Structure Council, The Vision of MITI Policies in the 1980s ( Tokyo: Ministry of International Trade and Industry, March 1980 ).
Long Term Outlook Committee, Economic Council, Economic Planning Agency, Japan in the Year 2000 ( Tokyo: The Japan Times Ltd., 1983 ).
Outlook and Guidelines for the Economy and Society in the 1980s (Tokyo: Economic Planning Agency, August 1983).
Industrial Structure Council, Coordination Committee, Planning Subcommittee, An Outlook for Japan’s Industrial Society Towards the 21st Century (Interim Report Focusing on International Perspective), (Tokyo: Ministry of International Trade and Industry, February 1986 ).
Japan In the Global Community: Its Role and Contributions on the Eve of the Twenty-First Century,Report of Roundtable Discussions on “Japan in the Global Community” (Tokyo: Ministry of International Trade and Industry, April 1986).
How Can Japan Contribute to a Healthy World Economy (Tokyo: Keizai Koho Center, March 1986).
The Report of the Advisory Group on Economic Structural Adjustment for International Harmony (April 7, 1986), p. 2.
Ibid., p. 4.
Among others, the $23 billion measures included public works, the promotion of housing construction by individuals, the lowering of electricity and gas rates to pass on the exchange rate gains of the appreciated yen to consumers, and more relief to small-sized and medium-sized enterprises hurt by the stronger yen.
See for example, Business Week (May 5, 1986), p. 44.
For example, Kiichi Miyazawa, one of the Prime Minister’s major opponents in the debate over domestic demand stimulation, became Minister of Finance, a position which made it more difficult for him to argue against fiscal austerity because the ministry is one of the major proponents of such policy.
Asahi Evening News (September 16, 1986), p. 7.
Two sociologists have recently challenged most of the current nihonjinron. See Ross Mouer and Yoshio Sugimoto, Images of Japanese Society (London: KPI Limited, 1986).
See, for example, Susumu Ohara, “An Island Unto Itself: The Roots of Japan’s International Isolation,” Speaking of Japan (May 1986), pp. 18–21; also “Thoughts on August 15,” Asahi Shimbun (August 16, 1986 ), p. 9.
Theodore White, “The Danger of Japan,” The New York Times Magazine (July 28, 1985), pp. 18–22+.
The Japan Times (August 28, 1986), p. 14; Asahi Shimbun (August 2, 1986), p. 11.
The Japan Economic Journal (January 18, 1986), p. 6.
Asahi Evening News (September 13, 1986), p.7., and Asahi Shimbun (May 20, 1986), p. 11, respectively.
The Japan Economic Journal (December 13, 1986), p. 6.
Asahi Evening News (May 22, 1986), p. 3.
The Japan Economic Journal (October 11, 1986), p. 11, and (November 1, 1986), p. 3.
Takashi Hosomi, “The Ugly Japanese,” Tokyo Business Today (March 1986), p. 8; see also, Masahiko Ishizuka, “New Self-Assertion, But Whither,” The Japan Economic Journal (October 11, 1986), p. 6; Yoshio Okawara, “Constructive Approaches Are What We Need,” Tokyo Business Today (November 1986), p. 10; and “The Dangers of Neonationalism,” Tokyo Business Today (November 1986), pp. 22— 26.
See for example, Nathaniel B. Thayer, “Nakasone Is Not a Racist,” The Washington Post (September 30, 1986), p. A15; and “Japan Under Nakasone: Image of National Pride?” The New York Times (September 26, 1986), P. A13, as well as Carl T. Rowan, “The Real Issue Nakasone Raised,” The Washington Post (October 7, 1986 ), p. A17.
At the time of the visit, this was equal to approximately $400,000.
For a list of these recommendations, see The Japan Times (April 24, 1986), p. 1.
Asahi Evening News (December 20, 1986), p. 7.
Ministry of Education (Tokyo, March 1986).
An itIteresting case in point was the Canadian government’s decision to impose a 67 percent tariff on American corn on November 7, 1986. The Canadians argued that U.S. agricultural subsidies have driven corn prices so low that Canadian farmers were forced to sell their crop for less than it cost to grow in order to remain competitive. This was the first such duty ever imposed on the United States by any nation, and only the fifth time that the Canadians used such a measure in managing their trade relations.
Donna U. Vogt, “Japanese Import Barriers to U.S. Agricultural Exports,” Report No. 85–153 ENR (Washington D.C: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, 1986 ).
The Association also claimed that the liberalization of the Japanese rice market would double U.S. exports from the present 18 percent world-export share to 36 percent.
The policy was introduced in 1942 to stabilize prices and supplies of rice, and was continued after 1945 for essentially the same reasons.
The industries included, among others, nonferrous metals, shipbuilding, steel textiles, and chemicals.
U.S.-Japan Trade Study Group, Progress Report: 1986, op. cit.,p. 39.
Susumu Kato, “Three Scenarios for Economic Policy,” Economic Eye (September 1986), pp. 19–22.
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Higashi, C., Lauter, G.P. (1987). The Maekawa Commission Report and the Potential Constraints on Internationalization. In: The Internationalization of the Japanese Economy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7750-2_4
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