From the Publisher

By Robert L. Miller

With breaking news, TIME's correspondents often have only a few hours to report a story. But in many ways senior correspondent Edwin M. Reingold has been preparing for the better part of two decades for the Business section's special report this week on Japanese trade practices and growing protectionist sentiment in the U.S. A native of Philadelphia, Reingold has followed Japan's rising economic star ever since 1969, when he was first assigned to TIME's Tokyo bureau as bureau chief. Back then, he recalls, most of what he knew about Japan was "World War II propaganda."

What Reingold found instead was a land of tremendous civility and efficiency. Even a trip to the gas station taught him something about the Japanese concept of service, as a platoon of well-mannered attendants took charge of the car, filled it up, washed it and checked the tires. His first reaction: "Why didn't someone tell me about this place before?"

Over the next several years, Reingold covered the growing trade tensions between Japan and the U.S. from both sides of the Pacific. From 1971 to 1978 he served as Detroit bureau chief, witnessing the wrenching decline of the American automobile industry. Then it was back to Japan, with his wife and two of their five daughters, again as Tokyo bureau chief in 1978. While in Tokyo, Reingold developed a penchant for typing his files standing up. He claims the habit encourages him to write succinctly and, of course, to keep on his toes.

So how does one cram 20 years' worth of experience into a single article? "It's frustrating," Reingold admits. "There are no absolutes. Even though the Japanese appear to be quite rigid, they can move quickly once they've decided it's to their advantage."

Now based in Los Angeles, Reingold enjoys peering ahead into the Pacific century. "Our main weakness in dealing with Japan is that we have not really understood it or had a coherent policy," he says. "We need to realize that its political economy is a type unto itself. It's not Keynesian or Marxist. It's Japanese."