Dec. 14 - I recently flew from Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. to Narita Airport after a 10-day visit to the United States. Settling in to my comfortable airline seat, I thought how different life was for early 20th century American diplomats who needed to endure long sea voyages through the Panama Canal and then across the Pacific Ocean to travel to Japan. The journey was so long and arduous that these diplomats rarely returned home during their assignment to far-off Japan. What a contrast today, when I can enter my home in Tokyo just 16 hours after taking off in a large passenger jet from Washington, D.C.

Japan and the United States just signed what we call an "Open Skies" agreement to further liberalize civil aviation links between Japan and the United States. This agreement represents a market-oriented approach to aviation relations. Henceforth airlines, not governments, will decide which cities to serve, the frequency of flights, the equipment used, and prices charged. One of the most visible changes is that Japanese and American airlines can now fly from Tokyo's Haneda Airport directly to destinations in the United States such as Honolulu and New York.

This new agreement should strengthen the strong trade and tourism links between our two nations by making travel between us more convenient and cheaper. I hope that many blog readers will take advantage of this new agreement by traveling to the United States. If you do, please take a moment while you are airborne to celebrate our new U.S.-Japan civil aviation agreement.

Until next time,

Jim