According to recent economic figures, Japan has finally returned to positive growth, and the lingering recession is behind us. ... A plan to establish a free trade zone with the ten countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by 2010 is well under way, and in not so many years, we may even see a common currency in Asia.
――杏林大学 文芸学部(2月4日実施)――2005年