This is a technical explanation of the Convention between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Japan for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income, signed at Washington on November 6, 2003 (the "Convention"), and the Protocol also signed at Washington on November 6, 2003, which forms an integral part thereto (the "Protocol"). In connection with the negotiation of the Convention, the delegations of the United States and Japan developed and agreed upon an exchange of Diplomatic Notes (the "Notes"). The Notes constitute an agreement between the two governments that shall enter into force at the same time as the entry into force of the Convention. The Notes are intended to give guidance both to the taxpayers and to the tax authorities of the Contracting States in interpreting the Convention. The Notes and Protocol are discussed below in connection with relevant provisions of the Convention. References are made to the Convention between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Japan for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income, signed at Tokyo on March 8, 1971 (the "prior Convention"). The Convention and Protocol replace the prior Convention. Negotiations took into account the U.S. Treasury Department's current tax treaty policy and the Treasury Department's Model Income Tax Convention, published on September 20, 1996 (the "U.S. Model"). Negotiations also took into account the Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital, published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as updated in January 2003 (the "OECD Model"), and recent tax treaties concluded by both countries. The Technical Explanation is an official guide to the Convention. It reflects the policies behind particular Convention provisions, as well as understandings reached with respect to the application and interpretation of the Convention. While the Convention does not include subject matter headings or titles for the Articles, such headings are included in the Technical Explanation for ease of use. The headings included generally correspond to headings of analogous articles of the U.S. Model where possible, and it is not intended that any legal effect be given to the headings or to the fact of their inclusion in the Technical Explanation. References in the Technical Explanation to "he" or "his" should be read to mean "he or she" or "his or her."