The APEC summit in Yokohama earlier this month was a key event by any standard. Leaders of 21 countries came to discuss how to integrate the world's most dynamic region in terms of trade.
For many Japanese, however, one issue overshadowed all the rest, and it didn't even take center stage. Rather, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) initiative was discussed by leaders of nine of the countries on the summit's sidelines. The initiative could become the building block for a free-trade zone throughout the entire Asia-Pacific region.
It's a huge issue for all the countries that decide to take part. But for Japan, the implications of TPP's membership are almost impossible to exaggerate. The business magazine Diamond (Nov. 20) says the decisions made now by Japan's policymakers on TPP will shape the very nature of this nation in the coming years.