of which has growth potential, intensified their economic interdependence, the zone would be able to grow further as a whole.

They described the zone as a region which abounds in natural resources and scenic spots and offers great possibility of shipping and air service, as it has vast continental shelf (as the sea accounts for 80% of the total area) and has little time difference. If each country in the X Zone does not solely aim at its own development but endeavor to form a wide economic sphere through harmonization and cooperation with neighboring countries, vigorous growth of the region as a whole could be attained, they believed. And they argued that economic growth such as this would result in narrowing the gap between industrialized countries and developing countries.

However, many cast doubts on the feasibility of the X Zone centering on Japan, because the plan was announced just at the time when there arose concern about the future of ASEAN as a unity. In fact, there are some factors disturbing the formation of a sense of unification among ASEAN member countries, as each of them has its own history, culture, language, and religion. There are also differences in the economic level among them. Some people criticized the plan in association with the concept of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere advocated by Japan during World War II.

Certainly differences among the countries in the X Zone are great. However, the importance of Ohkita's proposal lay in that he saw a possibility of growth in such diversity as found among these countries. No doubt similarity will facilitate unification, but diversity could be a key factor for growth of a loose international organization through interdependence. However, the X Zone concept has been forgotten before long, though it included such an enlightening view as mentioned above.

Recently the concept of the Asia-Pacific Economic Corridor has become a subject of arguments.(Chart 2) These arguments are based on the perspective that dynamism of the economy in this region will be maintained in the future, thanks to the development in economic efficiency both in the public and private sectors and the improvement in infrastructure, coupled with an expansion of the domestic market. The concept, which may be thought as a variation of the X Zone plan, derives from the self-confidence of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region in potential of future growth in this region. It aims at expanding economic development of some countries in the region through interdependence to the whole region.

## From NICs to the X Zone

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has once released a thesis titled “The Defiance of Newly Industrializing Countries.” In this thesis, OECD has argued that some developing countries had succeeded in rapid industrialization of their economy and increased their export potential. OECD named Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore in Asia, Yugoslavia, Greece, Spain and Portugal in Europe, and Mexico and Brazil in Latin America, as countries endeavoring to catch up with industrialized countries. It has called them newly industrializing countries (NICs). However, in several years, above-mentioned countries in Europe and Latin America proved to be ineligible for the appellation of NICs. Mexico and Brazil began to suffer from debt accumulation. Economic