There has long been a fundamental asymmetry between the attention given the U.S.-Japan security alliance in Japan, and the lack of attention given the issue in the United States. Indeed, there are probably only about 50 people in the United States who really follow the U.S.-Japan security relationship with any level of sophistication. The security relationship and the driving force or policy change, therefore, is basically an elite-driven dynamic. There is very little political participation in the alliance arrangement.