Japan should adopt a two-pronged trade strategy - participate in the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement and further deepen economic ties with the rest of Asia - to achieve economic growth, according to the top economist at the Asian Development Bank Institute.

Masahiro Kawai, dean and chief executive officer of the Tokyo-based think tank affiliated with the ADB, a multilateral financial institution headquartered in Manila, argues that Japan's participation in the TPP talks is imperative because the negotiations there may well set the future rules of trade for the entire world, not just the Pacific region.

At the same time, Japan should push for a multilateral economic cooperation framework with the so-called ASEAN Plus Three or ASEAN Plus Six nations, the latter of which includes both China and India, "to get an energy boost from the region," he said.

By pushing for the two free-trade agreements, Japan could be a "bridge" between the TPP members and the rest of Asia, because there would be no other major economic power participating in both, he maintained.