A few weeks before President Bush brought his unprecedented trade mission to Japan, Tokyo's 30 million inhabitants were brought into the living rooms of middle class and they didn't like what they saw. On a congested street corner in Tokyo's famous Shinjuku business/entertainment district, an even more-than-normal crowd of Japanese pedestrians had congregated around a series of televisions screens, which upon closer inspection bore the familiar face of ABC Nightline's Ted Koppel. In a part of Tokyo where getting from one destination to another seems the only purpose in life, the crowd of Japanese, ranging from all ages, had been stopped dead in their tracks, their usually solemn faces revealing shock and dismay at what they were hearing and seeing. Through his high-tech populism, Koppel was searching for the message that the average American wanted President Bush to take with him to Japan. If what's good for General Motors is good for America, then Koppel's three guests-GM assembly line workers facing imminent layoffs under the recently announced cutbacks-were America personified. As for the message, it was the same one that the Japanese have had thrown at them repeatedly since President Bush brought his businessdominated entourage to Tokyo: if the American economy is to recover, then Japan must open its markets to free trade for American cars, computers, paper, and glass; otherwise, Japan will face the wrath of American legislators under pressure from increasingly protectionist constituencies and of an incumbent president looking for a re-election strategy in the depths of a recession. As the Japanese crowd endured a first glimpse of the kind of finger-pointing which was soon to be imported onto their shores, a Japanese friend turned to me and said, You Americans are incredibly