JAPAN WARNS OF ANTI-U.S. SENTIMENT IN TRADE ROW

  Japan is sending a three-man team to
  Washington to try to halt threatened trade sanctions that
  officials warn could spark a wave of anti-U.S. Sentiment here.
      The team will lay the groundwork for high-level emergency
  talks next week aimed at defusing an increasingly bitter row
  over trade in computer microchips, officials said.
      "The sanctions are against the free trade system," Ministry
  of International Trade and Industry (MITI) director general
  Noboru Hatakeyama told reporters, adding: "If these measures are
  taken, the atmosphere in Japan against the United States would
  become not so good as before."
      Other officials were more blunt. "The U.S. Action will have
  a significant impact on the growing anti-U.S. Feeling (here),"
  another MITI official said.
      A senior Foreign Ministry official, who declined to be
  identified, told Reuters the U.S. Threats have undercut those
  in the government who argue for conciliation.
      "There is a very strong argument in Japan that since the
  United States is imposing tariffs unilaterally, why should we
  bother doing anything," he said. "Anything we do, we will be
  bashed."
      The senior official sounded pessimistic about the
  likelihood of Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone defusing U.S.
  Anger over Japanese trade practices when he visits Washington
  on April 29.
      "I don't think trade friction will be solved all of a sudden
  (by the visit)," he said.
      Nakasone is widely expected to present a package of
  measures to President Reagan to help contain U.S. Frustration
  over Japan's large trade surplus.
      But the senior official played down those expectations.
  

