[Mase]

You are way off. Japan has a trade surplus every year with USA each year and a trade surplus with all it's other trade partners lumped together

Do you understand the difference between external debt and a trade surplus? I think we've found an important part of your misunderstanding.

[dennisw]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/External_debt

External debt is the sum total of nation's trade deficits. Japan does not have an external debt. Our is about 6 trillion. This entry say our external debt is 15 trillion
http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:QmhFOHfwPPkJ:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States+%22foreigners+are+estimated+at+%2415+trillion%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1