ionship is perhaps the most consequential and the most tumultuous in the world. Government and business leaders devote substantial time and effort to resolving the stream of disputes that arise between the two allies and trading partners. Many of the issues are rooted in the perception that Japan's impressive economic success may be due in some degree to anticompetitive practices through which Japan's domestic markets are protected, and that an unfair advantage is granted to Japanese companies as they expand abroad. Regardless of the validity of these opinions, their existence exerts a negative influence upon this important bilateral relationship.