Over the past few months, concerns have been expressed in Japan over the possible "protectionist" tendencies of the Obama administration. It appears that these concerns have two roots: One is related to the values of the Japan-U.S. military strategic alliance, and the other to the economic ideology of the Democrats in the United States.
The first concern is based on the assumption that the importance attached by the Bush administration to its strategic alliance with Japan has somewhat mitigated U.S. demands on some economic or trade issues involving Japan. This argument is not plausible, as one might argue that the strong strategic alliance has simply made it easier for the two countries to resolve trade issues.
The more important problem is related to Obama's economic philosophy. Unlike the Bush administration, Obama has been emphasizing workers' rights, adjustment of income disparity, creation of employment and stronger financial regulations rather than market principles, free trade and deregulation in the capital market.