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Article: The suns sets on rice. (Japan's commercial policy)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- April 21, 1990
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1990 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A BOWL of sticky rice is as much a part of everyday life in Japan as a plate of pasta is in Italy or a hamburger is in America. The difference is that, unlike the Italians and the Americans, the Japanese have a government that makes them pay six times the world price for their favorite food. How squarely Japan's leaders now face up to the challenge of tearing down rice protectionism will tell a lot about how ready they are to open the country to the outside world, and to start looking after ordinary people instead of special interests.
Japanese politicians, who have dodged the rice issue for decades, knew this would be the decisive year. The Uruguay round of ...