TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=91TT2496> <title> Nov. 11, 1991: Japan:In This Corner -- Miyazawa </title> <history> TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1991 Nov. 11, 1991 Somebody's Watching </history> <article> <source>Time Magazine</source> <hdr> WORLD, Page 66 JAPAN In This Corner: Miyazawa </hdr><body> Japan's new Prime Minister talks like an American--direct, open and in English. That just may be a problem. "The U.S. could buy less from Japan and Europe, and American industry should step up its efforts to be more competitive." -- Kiichi Miyazawa Kiichi Miyazawa was 19 when he made his first trip to America. It was 1939, and tensions between Japan and the U.S. were running high, but the traveler liked what he saw. "My first impression of my American friends was that they were so free, so dynamic, so spontaneous," recalls Miyazawa. "The American boys and girls were their own masters. I was so impressed." As a young official in the Ministry of Finance after the war, Miyazawa often negotiated with American occupation forces, and during his next four decades of government service, he befriended a string of prominent Americans such as Henry Kissinger and David Rockefeller. Does all that mean that when Miyazawa takes over as Prime Minister of Japan this week, the U.S. can look forward to a new era of warm and cordial relations? Not necessarily. Yes, Miyazawa is extraordinarily fond of America and has an elegant command of English. But he is also a tough negotiator with firmly held convictions. He speaks his mind. Unlike many of his less sophisticated predecessors, he will not bow silently to pressure from Washington. "He is ready to be critical of unreasonable demands," says Seizaburo Sato, a political scientist at the University of Tokyo. As Trade Minister in 1970, Miyazawa broke off talks over a textile agreement because he felt the U.S. was demanding too much. His successor completed the deal--by giving Washington exactly what it wanted. Miyazawa's talk on trade remains blunt. The U.S. deficit with Japan has declined from a peak of $57 billion in 1987 to $41.1 billion in 1990, and Miyazawa credits both nations with engineering the impressive 28% drop. But he says that shrinking the gap further will be difficult because the U.S. economy has become overly dependent on Japanese imports. "The U.S. could buy less from Japan and more from the European Community," he says, "and American industry should step up its efforts to be more competitive." Miyazawa's outspokenness might lead some to call him anti-American. But while he may be tough on trade issues, he firmly believes that "Japan's alliance with the U.S. must be strengthened." He is willing to have Tokyo pay more of the cost of basing U.S. forces in Japan; he is eager to cooperate with Washington on diplomatic issues, such as Third World debt or U.N. peacekeeping operations. But he will insist that Japan be treated as a full partner in any joint effort and not merely be sent the bill afterward. The new Prime Minister is unlikely to change the course of U.S.-Japanese relations in a dramatic way. His basic political philosophy, after all, is much the same as that of previous leaders. But the language and tone of the debates between Tokyo and Washington will surely become sharper--whether or not that increased candor is helpful. By Barry Hillenbrand/ Tokyo. </body></article> </text>