By Mandy Suhr

Staff Writer

If the ``Calvin bubble'' seems especially thick this week, students can pop a hole in it and get a glimpse of world issues by putting themselves in the shoes of 23 year old Japanese college student, Ayako Inaba. As up and coming Calvin graduates try to decide between jobs, Inaba has no job in sight. Inaba said of his situation, ``I was watching a television program where these guys from prestigious universities were saying they can't get jobs, and I thought, `That's me!'''

When George W. Bush's father visited Japan in 1992, Japanese finance officials gave the U.S. president tips on how to get out of a recession and what to do with a huge budget deficit. It seems the tables have turned as Japan now seeks advice from the current President Bush on how to deal with their crumbling economic situation.

Pay cuts, massive public debt, high unemployment, and dropping prices are a few of the many economic concerns for the citizens of Japan right now.

George W. Bush's Asia trip, originally planned for last year, was pushed back because of the events of September 11. His trip to Japan, China, and South Korea will likely focus on the war on terrorism; however, terror is not the only item on the agenda of the three countries that the president is currently visiting. Japan's drooping economy, Korea's split perceptions, and China's human rights and trade issues are also topics that may be addressed in meetings between President Bush and the leaders of the three nations.

Japan is the first country on Bush's agenda, as he sees it as the United States' strongest ally in Asia. According to BBC Tokyo correspondent Charles Scanlon, Mr. Bush planned to express his gratitude for Japan's support of the military action in Afghanistan.

Japanese leaders and President Bush do not agree on every issue, though. According to Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, feelings toward North Korea differ amongst the two nations. While President Bush has gone so far as to deem North Korea as part of the ``axis of evil'' with Iran and Iraq, Japanese leaders want communication with North Korea, fearing a return to problems with their communist neighbor.

Perhaps the most pressing concern amongst the Japanese is their presently shrinking economy. Japan hopes that President Bush will give them assistance in planning needed steps to get out of an economic slump.

Japan's public debt is the largest in the industrial world, but with 95 percent of the government bonds being held by the Japanese themselves, losing international confidence is, at least, not a large concern. This does not mean, however, that the international business community will not be a different place in this new Japan. As Marshall Glitter, the Japanese currency strategist for Bank of America, states, ``It seems that the world has managed to get along with Japan quite nicely.'' Mr. Glitter went on to say of Japan, ``You can say, if your economy is in serious trouble and if you don't get it under control, that gradually you're going to lose relevance in international politics.''

Not everyone in Japan is quite as pessimistic as Mr. Glitter is, however. Mr. Myauchi, chairman of Orix Corporation, predicted a more positive outlook: ``Many years from now, we will look back and see 2002 as the bottom.''

For the average Japanese citizen, like 55-year-old sales representative, Mr. Nozama, international issues and the future are not the closest issues at hand. Mr. Nozama was fired from his job, and he will be paid two-thirds less than what he has been earning for the past ten years at his new job, where he will be doing the same work. Mr. Nozama stated, ``That's the situation now--it is impossible to earn more money than at your former job.''

Mr. Nozama is not an exception, but he represents a growing trend amongst Japanese businesses facing an economic crisis. Seventy percent of Japanese executives said they planned to cut salaries this year, according to a Kyodo news agency poll. In addition, the Japanese trade union federation has said that, for the first time since World War II, wage cuts will be accepted in return for job security during spring wage negations.

Japan once prided itself on full employment. Now, the unemployment level there matches the United States, and it may be increasing.

While Japan looks forward to advice on how to solve economic problems with the United States President, citizens in North Korea will not be pleased by Mr. Bush's visit to their neighbor. North Korea's state-run radio has called Mr. Bush ``the most evil and war-crazed president in the history of the United States.'' President Bush will be meeting with U.S. troops who are supporting South Korean forces on the last Cold War border in the world.

Finally, Bush will end his Asian tour in China, where he and Chinese leaders will most likely be discussing trade, human rights and, of course, the war on terror.