Japan Abandons Policy Of Corporate Protectionism Consul Says Action Signals Move Toward Greater Deregulation Of Japanese Economy

Japan’s consul general in Seattle, Yoshio Nomoto, told a Spokane audience Thursday the central government will no longer protect failing companies.

The decision last month not to intervene in the collapse of Yamaichi Securities Co. signals a move toward greater deregulation of the Japanese economy, he said.

A decade ago, the government would have helped the struggling brokerage, Nomoto said. Now the emphasis has shifted to protecting consumers.

“If they fail, they disappear,” he said of corporations.

On Wednesday, the Japanese government announced a $15 billion income tax rebate and infusion of funds into the bank deposit insurance system in an effort to jump-start an economy caught up in the downturn troubling much of east Asia.

“Japan is in a time of transition,” said Nomoto, who spoke to the Inland Northwest World Trade Council.

Nomoto was appointed to the Seattle post in August after an extensive diplomatic career that includes tours in China, Taiwan and France.

He had been in the U.S. twice before: once as a card dealer in Las Vegas, once as a student at Stanford University.

Nomoto stressed the long, strong ties between Japan and Washington that started with steamship trade a century ago.

One-third of the trade goods and services that pass through the state are bound for or come from Japan, he said.

Eastern Washington, Nomoto said, ships $2.2 billion in goods and produce to Japan, directly or indirectly supporting 46,000 jobs.

And 500 of the 3,000 Japanese students in the state are in Spokane-area colleges and universities, he said.

With former Rep. Tom Foley newly installed as U.S. ambassador to Japan, there will be many opportunities to expand those ties, he said.

Nomoto also said military bases in Washington contribute to the defense of Japan.

There are more U.S. troops in Japan, he said, than anywhere else except Germany, and the country provides $150,000 in support for each soldier, sailor or airman.

No other country contributes as much, he said, adding, “Japan wants the U.S. to be a strong leader.”

Nomoto said friction caused by the ongoing trade imbalance between the two countries hides another fact: Japanese spend more per capita on U.S. goods than Americans spend on Japanese goods.

, DataTimes