Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Friday that Japan will take part in talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade scheme, noting that "the TPP is turning the Pacific into an inland sea and a huge economic zone."

With Japan’s participation, the TPP will account for about 40 percent of global GDP. Mr. Abe said the TPP will have a net positive effect on Japan’s economy. But Japan should not entertain the delusion that TPP participation will necessarily strengthen the Japanese economy and enhance people’s well-being, because it’s possible that TPP agreements could undermine some economic sectors and weaken the social policy fabric such as public health insurance, which Japan has painstakingly established over decades.

The government and Japanese citizens must keep in mind that the TPP, whose character differs completely from an ordinary free trade agreement, could entail painful structural changes to the Japanese economy and society.