in japan imports/ outports are traveled by plane and ship. japan imports nearly are half of its food supplies. the united states is japan's biggest trading partner. most trade in japan is organized and conducted by the nine very large, highly diversified commercial houses known as sogo shosha. which structure and facilitate the flow of services, goods, and money among client firms. these trading houses operate both within japan and internationally. the total sales of these nine firms is about 25 percent of japan's gnp, and the imports and exports handled by them amount to about half of the foreign trade. these companies originated in the Meiji period, and today maintain a system of domestic offices linked by the latest communication techniques to a worldwide network of overseas offices. japan's trade is characterized by the exports of finished products and imports of raw materials, of which oil is perhaps the most strategic. now the nation has an enormous trade surplus with most of its international trading partners.