Even if each countries support their own car brands, it's still customers who decide what they buy. Protectionism is not good for any economies, don't you agree ?
Hmm, you are right, Japan also import massively. But it's mainly raw material and energy. With the added-value they get by transforming those goods into manufactured goods, the output value always outweight the input.
Take China for exemple. The chinese currency is undervalued. As a result, importing goods from China is so cheap that chinese exports are much more higher than they should be in standard conditions.
Japan WANT a devalued money.
check those graph EUR/JPY
EUR/JPY Quote & Charts, Currencies, Currency Markets, Rates on International Currency - CNBC.com
check the 1 year chart and look at what happened in october 2008
From 155 yen for 1 Euro it went to below 120yen for 1 euro.
This is an overvalution of the yen which it hurt Japanese economy very badly.
By the way, inflation is a natural economic phenomenon.
It is better to have a low inflation than a deflation.
Like I said, japan debt is mostly domestic debt contracted inside Japan, more money mean more capacity to pay those debt.
Maybe the buying power of the japanese people will decrease a little bit, but the cash flow will increase, so will the exportations.
More exportation mean more jobs, less unemployment.
Trust me on this one buddy, Japan economy will be fine and much better with a higher inflation for some time.