New Agenda Is Set for Bush’s Visit to Japan : Pacific Rim: It was to be a simple friendship mission, but a bad slip in the polls shifts emphasis to trade concessions. His hosts are not happy.

Less than two weeks before President Bush is scheduled to arrive here on a long-awaited visit, Japanese officials are struggling to cope with a sudden barrage of U.S. complaints on trade issues.

Instead of putting the finishing touches on a ringing declaration of U.S.-Japan friendship, as they had hoped, the officials are focused on the unpleasant trade frictions that long have been a major undercurrent in relations between the two countries but now have been thrust forward as a result of U.S. domestic politics and the end of the Cold War.

The activity reflects the fact that Bush, facing a slumping economy and falling popularity, has shifted the purpose of his trip. He previously had planned a mostly diplomatic mission, aimed at reaffirming the strategic value of the U.S.-Japan relationship. But now he is devoting major attention to opening overseas markets and expanding American exports in an effort to show his concern about U.S. domestic problems.

Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa noted the increasing Japanese unease at criticism from Washington, but struck a conciliatory posture this week, saying that Japan is ready to do whatever it can.

In an interview Tuesday with the news media from his home district, he said: “We have many complaints to make to President Bush when he comes to Japan about the way the U.S. government manages its economy. However, since the U.S. economy is showing signs of deterioration, we must do all we can to help.”

A columnist in the Yomiuri Shimbun, a major daily, noted that Japanese leaders are experiencing “a particularly gloomy holiday season” because of Bush’s decision to bring along an entourage of U.S. business executives in an effort to underscore his insistence that Asian countries should eliminate trade barriers and buy more American products.

The President will arrive Jan. 7 after visiting Australia, Singapore and South Korea.

As the U.S. pressure grows more intense, Tokyo is starting to yield on some issues while at the same time growing more resentful.

Japanese officials say, for example, that to help make Bush’s trip a success they are likely to accede to Washington’s request for Japan to help fund a major U.S. research project, the $8.25-billion atom smasher called the Superconducting Super Collider, after months of resistance. But they use words like “outrageous” to describe the U.S. request.

Last weekend, Japan’s top leadership, including Miyazawa, heard directly from a Bush emissary that more concessions are required on the economic front or the presidential trip’s original goal--cementing U.S.-Japan political ties--could be undermined.