ial branch: Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the monarch
after designation by the cabinet; all other justices are appointed by
the cabinet)

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Yukio
HATOYAMA, leader, Naoto KAN, secretary general]; Japan Communist Party or
JCP [Tetsuzo FUWA, chairman, Tadayeshi ICHIDA, secretary general]; Komeito
[Takenori KANZAKI, president, Tetsuzo FUYUSHIBA, secretary general];
Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Junichiro KOIZUMI, president, Taku
YAMASAKI, secretary general]; Liberal Party [Ichiro OZAWA, president,
Hirohisa FUJII, secretary general]; New Conservative Party or NCP
[Takeshi NODA, president, Toshihiro NIKAI, secretary general]; Social
Democratic Party or SDP [Takako DOI, chairperson, Mizuho FUKUSHIMA,
secretary general]

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: AfDB, APEC, ARF (dialogue
partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE
(observer), CERN (observer), CP, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8,
G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC,
IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest),
NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD,
UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UNRWA, UNU, UPU, WCL,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Ryozo
KATO FAX: [1] (202) 328-2187
Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands) consulate(s) general: Honolulu,
Houston, Kansas City (Missouri), Los Angeles, Miami,
New Orleans, New York, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, and Seattle
2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone:
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Howard H. BAKER, Jr. embassy: 1-10-5 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420
mailing address: Unit 45004, Box 205, APO AP 96337-5004 telephone: [81]
(03) 3224-5000 FAX: [81] (03) 3505-1862
Naha (Okinawa), Osaka-Kobe, Sapporo consulate(s):
Flag description: white with a large red disk (representing the sun
without rays) in the center

Economy Japan

Economy - overview: Government-industry cooperation, a strong work
ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense
allocation (1% of GDP) have helped Japan advance with extraordinary
rapidity to the rank of second most technologically powerful economy
in the world after the US and