Japan Aide Blames U.S. for Friction : Ignorance of Language, Culture Cited as Trade Hindrances

Foreign Minister Taro Nakayama said today that it is the Americans who are to blame for friction over trade because they do not understand Japan, speak its language or try hard enough to penetrate the Japanese market.

Many business leaders in the United States, however, believe that Americans cannot penetrate the market because the Japanese system will not let them.

Nakayama, a physician appointed Wednesday after Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu took office, said “U.S. efforts are lacking” and Japan’s distribution system should not be held responsible for tensions over trade.

‘Japan Must Speak Its Mind’

“While I am, of course, aware of the various opinions emanating from the U.S. side in regard to Japan’s distribution system, the distribution systems of the United States and Japan differ as the countries themselves differ,” he said.

He said “Japan must speak its mind” to bring the United States around to its way of thinking.

Americans, including members of Congress, often complain that Japan’s complex distribution system, in which longstanding relationships and delivery practices take precedence over efficiency and cost-cutting, are a major barrier to U.S. goods.

Japan’s trade surplus with the United States was $55 billion last year, according to U.S. government figures.

The foreign minister said Americans have made considerable progress in improving their understanding of the Japanese market, but depend too much on Japanese who speak English rather than learning the language themselves.

“How many Americans working in Japan can speak perfect Japanese?” he asked.

Nakayama was a member of a Liberal Democratic Party committee that negotiated in Washington on trade issues. Referring to that experience, he said:

“Americans then appeared to understand Japan, but in fact did not. That’s why it is so necessary to talk at length with the United States. If that is not done, the United States, as can be expected of them, will come up with various unilateral moves.”

In an interview with Kyodo News Service, Nakayama was also quoted as saying he expects the Soviet Union to offer to return a group of small islands off northern Japan in exchange for Japanese technology and investment.