Paper short abstract:

A turning-point to the Japan's trade policy was when the Japanese government decided to join the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). This treaty can be an important factor to change the Japanese economy, and it has seen as one of the economic policy pillars that has been called Abenomics.

Paper long abstract:

The Japanese government has denominated Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) the FTAs, as these agreements may include other stipulations besides trade in goods, as trade in services, investment, labor mobility, intellectual propriety rights, procurements, business facilitation, government aid, and technical assistance. With this long list of stipulations, Japan has had the possibility to negotiate different agreements with several configurations according to the trade partner. Hence, the coverage of the Japanese EPAs varies one from another, depending on the partner country.

Japan has already signed 15 EPAs, one agreement which negotiations have concluded, and six agreements are still under negotiation. Japan has already signed EPA with Singapore, Mexico, Malaysia, Chile, Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei, ASEAN, Philippines, Switzerland, Vietnam, India, Peru, Australia, and Mongolia. Hence, most of the EPAs have been signed with small economies.

However, there was a turning-point to this policy: when the Japanese government decided to join the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), despite of the opposition from some Japan's domestic economic sectors. The TPP is categorized as a mega agreement due to the number of economies involved (12), and the quantity of issues in negotiation. The TPP can be an important factor to change the Japanese economy, and it has seen as one of the economic policy pivotal pillars that has been implemented since 2013, called Abenomics. The TPP is part of the one of the three arrows, inside the structural reforms arrow.

In 2015, Japan and 11 countries, among them the United States that led the negotiation process, concluded the negotiation of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). In mid-November, 2016, the Japan's House of Representatives ratified the treaty even with the withdraw possibility of the United States from the TPP.

Specifically, the paper intends to answer the following question:

- What have the consequences been of the TPP on the Japan domestic political economy?