In trade with the United States, the surplus shrank from $4.54 billion to $2.45 billion.

On a global basis, Japan's surplus shrank for the year.

Over all, its surplus shrank to $13.8 billion in March and $118 billion for the year.

It was the largest decline since October 1982, when the surplus shrank more than 54 percent.

The surplus is shrinking already, and that's not even the real problem.

Government officials acknowledge that the surplus is shrinking at a slower pace.

The surplus with the United States shrank 7.3 percent.

Retaliation would be mandatory unless the surpluses shrink by 10 percent each year.

Those surpluses have been shrinking in the last three years, but they are still large and a source of tension with the United States.

Over the 10 years following just a single year in which growth was 1 percent less than expected, the surplus will shrink by a cumulative $463 billion.