Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) have helped Japan advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank of second most technologically powerful economy in the world after the US and third largest economy in the world after the US and China. Japan has a total population of 127 million inhabitants living in area the size of Montana or roughly 380,000 square kilometers. In 2010, the total Gross Domestic Products (GDP) was approximately US $ 5.07 trillion. The US ranks second behind Asia at 29.7% in exports from Japan, worth roughly US $780 billion. Japan's per capita income is about US $32,400.00.

The Japanese economy continues to be characterized by low economic growth, structural rigidity, excessive regulation, and market access barriers. Japan experienced a 0.3% decline in real GDP in the fourth quarter of 2010. Also Japan is facing two major long-term problems. The first is the crowding of habitable land area, and the second is an aging work force. The Japan Accreditation Board is continuously working on Conformity Assessments procedures for Japan, in order to increase trade with countries around the world.