Building community one JET at a time.

David Boling
Ibaraki-ken 1988-1989

After teaching as a JET Program participant in Ibaraki Prefecture in the late 1980s, David Boling worked as chief of staff for a congressional member, managed a U.S.-Japan exchange program, and emerged as one of the leading figures in US-Japan trade circles, serving as Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Japan in the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations. He played a frontline role in negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement, and the U.S.-Japan Digital Trade Agreement. In this issue of JETs on Japan, he reflects on how American perceptions of Japan and bilateral trade relations have dramatically shifted over the past four decades.

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