Thanks to its bilateral trade balance with the U.S., and its current-account surplus with the rest of the world, Japan finds itself on America's watch list for currency manipulators at a time when the Trump administration is turning up the heat on economic friends and foes alike.
While there's no argument that Japan exports twice as much to the U.S. as it takes in imports, it has reason to grumble about taking flak over its current-account surplus, which also includes income from overseas investments.
Unlike the other nations on the watch list, Japan's current-account surplus mostly comprises returns from investments, in the U.S. and elsewhere, not just the profits from trade. Put another way, Japan finds itself in hot water partly because it's making money from such things as auto factories it has built in the U.S., creating American jobs.