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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, APRIL 19, 1985
Low-interest loans are available to businesses favored by the
bureaucrats in the finance ministry or the ministry of trade and
industry. Since Japan is a country almost naked of natural re
sources, the bureaucrats inevitably favor industries which can
export abroad, thus earning the foreign currency the country
needs to buy such vital raw materials as food, oil and coal.
Despite Prime Minister Nakasone's nationwide appeal urging Japanese citi
zens to buy at least $100 of foreign-made products each year, the April 22,
1985 U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, in an article datelined Tokyo and titled "Why
Japan Won't Cave In to U.S. Trade Demands," reveals how difficult it is to
penetrate the Japanese market, even with good products--and instructions in
Japanese.
American hopes that pressure from the U.S. will force Japan to
suddenly dismantle its trade barriers are almost certain to evap
orate in disappointment. The fact is that Washington•••must buck
centuries-old, deeply ingrained Japanese customs.
To move the
Japanese government, Washington must move an entire nation••••
"The whole concept that we .£2!! � this around right now is
patently ridiculous,ir-'sa.ys an American trader who has lived and
worked here since 1952. "The vested interests are being shaken
and slowly moved, but at a pace too slow for the eye to follow."
That view is echoed by a U.S. diplomat closely involved in the
efforts to open Japanese markets to American goods••.• "Japan is
a relationship society rather than a transactional society," he
says. "You cannot alter that kind of a system with a television
speech or a batch of general proposals, no matter how well inten
tioned they are." Beyond specific tariffs or other official bar
riers to imports, experts here say that the U.S. faces these ob
stacles: Nearly total domination of the Japanese market ]2y � few
dozen giant conglomerates that strongly oppose even token compe
tition--be it from abroad or emerging domestic firms; •••a long
time relationship between business and government that critics
say fosters collusion and hinders foreign entry into domestic
markets••••
Still another means of Establishment control criticized by out
siders is Japan's complicated system of commodity distribution.
Directly or indirectly, it also is run by corporate giants. Most
retail outlets here are small and rely heavily on a regular
source of supply up the distribution ladder. Thus, retailers
must maintain relations with wholesalers who need to stay in good
stead with big Japanese companies••••
It is this determination to hang on to Japanese traditions that
could delay indefinitely any meaningful removal of trade bar
riers.
South Africa Hysteria
A very dangerous mood is beginning to sweep America: "cut all ties to South
Africa." In some places the mood--not a general one but one stirred up by
radical leftists--approaches near hysteria.
Wednesday (April 17) about
3,000 people (not all students by any means) demonstrated at the Berkeley