<P> As of 2005, Japan is again a strong advocate of a UNSC reform, in a joint campaign with Germany, India, and Brazil . All four nations strive to gain a permanent seat in the chamber . While the United Kingdom and France, and the United States back Japan's candidacy, it faces strong opposition from its two closest neighbors, China and South Korea . </P> <P> In addition to its UN activities and its participation in Asian regional groupings, such as the Colombo Plan and the Asian Development Bank, Japan is also involved, beginning in the 1950s, in worldwide economic groupings largely made up of, or dominated by, the industrialized countries of Western Europe and North America . In 1952, Japan became a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and of the World Bank, where it played an increasingly important role . In 1955, it joined the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). In 1966, Japan was admitted to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which brought it into what was essentially a club of leading industrialized countries . Japan has participated actively since 1975 in the annual summit meetings of the seven largest capitalist countries, the Group of Seven, or G8, since Russia joined after the end of the Cold War . </P>

Permanent representative of japan to the united nations