Despite a backlash from U.S. lawmakers Thursday over Japan's possible entry into trade negotiations with the United States, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Friday his nation would join the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership talks in pursuit of a Pacific trade pact.

House and Senate members opposing the move said in a letter to President Obama that they feared that if Japan joined the talks, it would do little to boost exports of U.S. cars to that country and that the one-sided vehicle trade between the two countries will remain a drag on American industry.

Japan is notorious for its low level of auto imports - less than 6 percent of total sales, compared with an average of about 40 percent in the developed world. The letter estimated that for every car the United States sells to Japan, Japan exports 120 to the United States.

The lopsided auto trade, which analysts say is a product of regulatory, cultural and other barriers, has been the subject of prior U.S. talks with Japan, but to little effect.

Abe has set an ambitious agenda to buoy the nation's economy, and some top Japanese analysts argue that a free-trade pact with the United States and other nations could be an important element in that. It could also guarantee Japan access to U.S. energy exports to help temper its rising power costs.

His decision to join the talks raised protests from farmers who have long enjoyed protected status in Japan.