Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

JAPAN’S ACCESSION TO THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE • 145
students. By the end of the 19th century, several hundred Japanese had
studied at American high schools and colleges, including West Point
and the U.S. Naval Academy. The number of Japanese students in the
United States gradually increased throughout the 20th century, except
during World War II when Japanese citizens and even many American
citizens of Japanese ancestry were forced to stop their studies by the
United States government, despite the objections of many college presidents.
By the early 1990s, the number of Japanese students in America
exceeded 40,000. Many Japanese K–12 students are the children of
Japanese businessmen at American-based factories, such as Honda, Nissan,
Sony, etc., while Japanese college students decide to attend an
American college for both educational and social reasons. Many Japanese
graduate and post-graduate students attend American colleges to
study business or one of the sciences. Japanese students can be found at
almost any sizeable university or college in America, with the largest
number on the West Coast and in the Northeastern United States. See
also IMMIGRATION; MAKINO, NOBUAKI; MATSUDAIRA,
TADAATSU; MORI, ARINORI; MURRAY, DAVID; NAGAI,
SHIGEKO; NIIJIMA, JO; NITOBE, INAZO; TSUDA, UMEKO;
UCHIMURA, KANZO; YAMAKAWA, SUTEMATSU.
JAPAN’S ACCESSION TO THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON
TARIFFS AND TRADE (GATT). The United States established a
liberal, multilateral world economic structure in the postwar era centered
on General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), and the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (IBRD). Japan joined the IMF and the
IBRD in August 1952 without much difficulty. However, it was very
difficult to join GATT.
Because the Japanese economy depended on foreign trade, Tokyo
had a strong interest in GATT even during the occupation. In July
1952, 10 months after signing the peace treaty, Tokyo applied to join
GATT; however, Great Britain objected to Japan’s membership, insisting
that Japan should carry out formal multilateral tariff negotiations.
Consequently, Japan’s accession to GATT was pending. In
1953, Japan became a pro tempore member of GATT and acquired
the right to participate in GATT conferences. In October 1954, GATT
made a resolution to start tariff negotiations with Japan. Finally, in