The United States and Japan are respectively the two largest economies in the world. Japan is the second leading market for American products, trailing only Canada.
Japan buys more U.S. goods than France, Germany, and Italy combined.
The U.S. is the leading foreign investor in Japan. The United States is the number one market in the world for Japanese products. Japan is the second leading foreign investor behind the British in this country. Given the high level of economic interaction between the two nations, it behooves educators to separate the rhetoric about U.S.-Japan economic relations from the reality. There is substantial evidence from public opinion polls that, as of the early 1990's, many Americans look upon Japan as an economic threat to America's economic well being.