Japan and the Pacific Free Trade Area

by Pekka Korhonen

As the end of the century approaches, the Asian-Pacific region is becoming the most important economic area in the world. Since 1965, when the idea of a Pacific Free Trade Area (PAFTA) was proposed by Kojima Kiyoshi, there have been rising levels of integration and co-operation between the Asian-Pacific countries. Pekka Korhonen examines the nature of Japan's economic rise since the Second World War and its economic and political relations with other nations in the Pacific area as a result of its new-found economic strength. The study explains Japan's and the region's rapid economic development as having followed the pattern of Akamatsu Kaname's flying geese theory. This in turn led to an optimistic world outlook for Japan in terms of its prosperity and security. Political and military tensions could be wiped away as a result of sustained regional economic growth and the formation of an interdependent structure for Asian-Pacific countries. With the so-called Pacific century nearly upon