MTV’s Vanguard Award for outstanding contribu-
tion to music video production, the Special Award of
Achievement at the American Music Awards, hu-
manitarian awards from the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and
the National Urban League, and Artist of the De-
cade awards from organizations and publications as
diverse as the British television industry andVanity
Fairmagazine.
Further Reading
Halstead, Craig, and Chris Cadman.Michael Jackson:
The Solo Years. Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire, En-
gland: Authors OnLine, 2003. Heavily focused on
Jackson’s productivity and contributions to popu-
lar music in the 1980’s, at the peak of his solo ca-
reer. Features comprehensive discussion of Jack-
son’s output as a solo artist.
Jones, Bob, with Stacy Brown.Michael Jackson: The
Man Behind the Mask. New York: Select, 2005. In-
side look at Jackson’s private life and motivations
by the man who worked for thirty years as Jack-
son’s publicist. Pulls no punches but eschews
scandal-mongering.
Lewis (Jones), Jel D.Michael Jackson, the King of Pop:
The Big Picture—The Music! The Man! The Legend!
The Interviews!Phoenix: Amber, 2005. A richly
detailed exploration of Jackson’s career and lesser-
known personal side, including transcripts of in-
terviews with high-profile talk-show hosts, maga-
zines and newspapers, and television programs.
Devon Boan
See also African Americans; Music; Music videos;
Pop music; Prince; Richie, Lionel; Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame; USA for Africa.
Japan and North America
Definition Diplomatic and economic relations of
Japan with the United States and Canada
Throughout the 1980’s, Japan was a strong political ally of
the United States, helping confront communism in the last
decade of the Cold War. Failure to solve trade frictions
soured this relationship by the late 1980’s, however. Mean-
while, Japan and Canada enjoyed cordial relations, en-
riched by mutual interest in peacekeeping and developmen-
tal aid projects.
Indicative of the strength of its political alliance with
the United States throughout the 1980’s, Japan, like
Canada, promptly joined the U.S.-led boycott of the
1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. This boycott in
retaliation for the invasion of Afghanistan by the So-
viet Union in December, 1979, helped set the tone of
Cold War politics early in the decade.
A Strong Alliance In 1981, to strengthen Japan’s al-
liance with the United States, the two countries
signed a series of military agreements. Japan took on
a larger share of responsibility for its own maritime
defense, increased its support for U.S. troops sta-
tioned in Japan, and agreed to build up its self-
defense forces. These agreements relieved the
United States of a considerable burden. The period
from 1982 to 1987, when Japan was governed by
Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone while Ronald
Reagan continued as U.S. president, was marked by
great U.S.-Japanese diplomatic harmony. Pundits
spoke of the “Ron-Yasu” friendship, shortening the
leaders’ first names. Nakasone’s visit to Washington,
D.C., in April, 1987, was a highlight of this era.
In addition to close coordination of U.S. and Jap-
anese foreign policy toward the Soviet Union and
Asian trouble spots, the nations conducted joint mil-
itary exercises in Asia every year of the 1980’s. In
both 1980 and 1988, Japanese naval forces joined Pa-
cific Rim exercises (RIMPAC) that included Cana-
dian, Australian, and New Zealander forces in addi-
tion to those of the United States. Japan had never
before joined the RIMPAC exercises.
U.S.-Japanese relations became less warm and
personal at the end of the 1980’s. The vanishing So-
viet threat reduced the importance of the nations’
military alliance. Japanese political turmoil, such as
the recruit scandal that forced Nakasone’s 1987 suc-
cessor Noboru Takeshita to resign on June 3, 1989,
prevented continuation of a friendship between the
new leaders of the two nations, and economic fric-
tion clouded the relationship.
Economic Friction During the 1980’s, the Japanese
economy was robust and innovative, creating desir-
able goods for the American market at affordable
prices. For example, in 1982 Sony introduced the
first camcorder for professional use. Combined with
protective restrictions on the Japanese domestic mar-
ket, this innovation quickly led to a huge U.S. trade
deficit with Japan. According to U.S. calculations, the
trade deficit, which had been a mere $380 millionThe Eighties in America Japan and North America 543