Travel: Passports From Afar

When Americans travel abroad, they take with them a cherished link with their homeland: their passport. Soon, however, even that symbol of citizenship will not be all-American. The Government Printing Office disclosed last week that when it sought bids for a new machine to produce passports, only two firms responded. One was Japanese, the other West German. The winner: Uno Seisakusho Co. Ltd., whose $1 million machine will begin churning out up to 4,200 passports an hour in Washington this week. Yoi goryoko o. Or, as an American might say, “Have a nice trip.”