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In a world in which economic and trade performance are fast gaining acceptance as important components of national power and well being, Congress has become increasingly interested in the comparative success of U.S. business in the vast, rapidly growing Asia-Pacific region. For the most part, Congress has tended to view Japan as the main competitor of the United States in Asian markets and the standard against which U.S. success is measured. The stakes for the United States are considerable. Exclusive of Japan, the Asia-Pacific region accounted for $ 92 billion in U.S. exports in 1993 and $ 138 billion in imports, or about 20 percent of total U.S. exports and 24 percent of U.S. global imports. A number of projections indicate that Asia will account for the largest share of world trade growth in the next decade. Japan's growing economic presence has been accompanied by a relative increase in its political influence vis-a-vis that of the United States, a factor of considerable long term significance for U.S. interests, and it would appear the availability of alternative Asian markets has strengthened Japan's resistance to U.S. trade demands.

Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu's concurrent two-year term as president of the Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and Prime Minister of Japan expires at the end of October 1991. The May 1991 death of Shintaro Abe, the front runner to replace him, opened the field to nearly a dozen candidates. These include Kaifu for another term, senior LDP faction leaders Kiichi Miyazawa, Michio Watanabe, and Hiroshi Mitsuzuka, former Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, and several others. A clear favorite from this group has not emerged, in part because most except Kaifu are rumored to be involved in current and past stock market and banking scandals.

Japan's current political instability began in July 1993, when the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) -- in power since 1955 -- was voted out and replaced by a fragile multiparty coalition government under Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa. The new government faced turmoil in April 1994, when Hosokawa suddenly resigned amid a personal financial scandal. Then-deputy prime minister/foreign minister Tsutomu Hata succeeded, but only at the head of a minority government after the Socialist party, a key coalition partner, quit the coalition. Although beset by its own internal squabbles, the LDP remained the single largest party in Japan's bicameral Diet, or parliament. In late June, Hata was forced to resign under threat of an LDP-led no confidence motion.

The following references to the current periodical literature are taken from CRS, public policy literature file (PPLT). Congressional users may request full text of items by phoning 707-5700. Others users should consult their local library.

The United States and Japan have been deadlocked for over a year in an effort to reach agreements under the July 1993 Framework for a New Economic Relationship. The overriding obstacle has concerned the issue of how to measure progress under future agreements to open Japan's market further to foreign goods and services.

Front: Text describes action on various war fronts: Germany, Russia, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, New Georgia, New Guinea, Marcus Island. Maps show air offensive in western Europe, New Georgia Is., Russian front. Includes photographs: Army Air Forces report on Warnemunde; Tough customer [Gourmiers, Berber fighting men]; The first wave [Yanks at Rendova I.]. Back: Typical German infantry division. Illustration of a division with descriptive text keyed to the illustration. Regiments described including size, officers and enlisted men, types and numbers of weapons.

Front: Text describes action on various war fronts: Italy, Italian fleet, Mussolini, Russia, Rhodes, New Guinea, Paramushiro. Inset maps of Eastern Europe from France to Turkey and of Papua, Northeast New Guinea and New Britain. Includes photographs and captions "released by the Nazis and received in the United States through neutral Portugal and Sweden." Back: Battleground in Italy. Map of Italy with inset map of the countries surrounding Italy.

Front: Text describes American occupation of Japan beginning 28 August, 1945 and is keyed to map. Map shows eastern central coast of Japan. Inset shows map of Japan. Back: Armed forces radio. Text describes stations and programs. World maps shows locations of AFRS stations, AFRS hospital systems in the U.S., commercial and government stations airing AFRS programs.

Front: Text describes American advancement and control of Korean and Japanese cities after Japan's formal surrender on 1 Sept., United States time Map shows Japan and Korea. Photographs: Gen. MacArthur signs Japanese surrender terms on Battleship Missouri; Japanese foreign minister Shigemitsu signs at Tokyo Bay ceremony; Allied prisoners of war at Omori, Japan, hail their liberators. Back: Text and color illustrations show United States Marines' activities.

Front: Maps: Major bases proposed for postwar U.S. Navy; Japan: American troops invest the enemy homeland. Photograph: First U.S. Occupation Forces March Down Tokyo Street. Back: Comparison chart of non-commissioned grades and ratings of the armed forces (Army, Navy and Coast Guard, Marine Corps).

Front: Maps: Silhouette maps of Japan and Korea, U.S., and Germany and Austria help illustrate the distribution of men in the Army as of 1 July 1946. Back: Text and color illustrations show various shoulder insignia of United States Army combat divisions with a partial list of their combat locations (World War II).

Photograph relating to the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender that ended WWII. Allied military officers stand on the deck of the USS Missouri. From left to right on the front row are: Lt. General Kuzma Derevyando of the U.S.S.R.; General Sir Thomas Blamey of Australia; Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave of Canada; General Jacques LeClerc of France; Vice Admiral Conrad E.L. Helfrich of the Netherlands; and Air Vice Marshall Leonard M. Isitt of New Zealand.

Photograph relating to the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender which ended WWII. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander, address the crowd at the beginning of the ceremony. Behind him from left to right stand: General Hsu Yung-Chang of China; Admiral Sir Bruce A. Fraser, Royal Navy; Lt. General Kuzma Derevyanko of the U.S.S.R.; and General Sir Thomas Blamey of Australia.

Photograph relating to the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Army and Navy officials watch on as dignitaries leave the deck.

Photograph of Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signing the Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Toshikazu Kase overlooks Shigemitsu's shoulder.

This report addresses the September 1, 2008, resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and the resulting aftermath. It also addresses the September 22 Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) election of Fukuda's successor and the widely expected winner of said election, ex-Foreign Minister Taro Aso. Japanese policymaking is likely to enter a period of disarray, which could negatively affect several items of interest to the United States. This report analyzes the factors behind and implications of Japan's current political turmoil.

Japan's five bank bailout packages in the late 1990s may hold some lessons for the United States. Overcoming the crisis in Japan's banks took a combination of capital injections, new laws and regulations, stronger oversight, a reorganization of the banking sector, moderate economic recovery, and several years of banks working off their non-performing loans.

Photograph of the skyline at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan. A parking lot is visible in the foreground. Trees and buildings are visible in the background.

Photograph a stone walkway in Ueno Park in Tokyo, Japan. The walkway is part of the Museum Garden Walk.

Photograph of the Imerial Palace grounds in Tokyo, Japan. An enclosed body of water is visible in the foreground. The water is surrounded by rock walls and trees. Other buildings are visible in the background.

Photograph of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan. In the foreground, a woman stands by an enclosed body of water. The water is surrounded by stone walls. Trees and buildings are visible behind the walls.

Report containing environmental consequences of nuclear explosions with a primary focus on early effects such as exposure to blasts and radiation. Includes definitions of terms, the progression of an explosion, and graphs depicting the relationship between the effects of blasts and the distance of material from Ground Zero.

Interview with David Straus of San Antonio, Texas, a veteran from the United States Marine Corps during World War Two in the Pacific Theater as well as the Korean War. The interview includes some of Straus' background before the war and his personal experiences while in the Marines, including memories of Okinawa, various weapons, what happened at the end of World War Two, and his assignment in Korea.