Japan more than rugby and wasabi
If your social media feeds are anything like mine, you may have spotted some new Japan-themed promotions popping up in recent days. There are those Whittaker’s ‘‘Home and Away’’ chocolates, and the new wasabi mayo potato chips.
And there is #Nzsays39 – a campaign fronted by the All Blacks and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern that thanks Japan for hosting the Rugby World Cup, 39 (san kyu) being a popular play on the words ‘‘thank you’’ in Japan.
New Zealand businesses and agencies have clearly recognised that Japan’s hosting of the Rugby World Cup provides opportunities to raise the New Zealand brand.
And the RWC also provides New Zealanders with a chance to learn more about Japan from the comfort of their living-rooms – both by watching the TV and by sampling new flavours (such as the aforementioned chocolate and potato chips).
Asia New Zealand Foundation research shows New Zealanders are already well-disposed towards Japan. In fact, our research shows they feel warmer towards Japan than they do to any other country in Asia.
The evidence suggests that Japanese people like us too – research by the New Zealand Story group found New Zealanders were generally seen to be open, welcoming, relaxed and trustworthy.
Japanese surveyed for that research saw us as being physically strong and rugged because of the All Blacks and our executive director Asia New Zealand Foundation
farming heritage. They also placed value on Ma¯ ori culture, which they saw as resonating well with their own respect for tradition. The Asia New Zealand Foundation’s research into perceptions of Asia among Ma¯ ori found that this sense of cultural synergy goes both ways.
So, we like them and they like us. It is the basis for a real friendship.
Why do such warm feelings exist? In answering, I would point to what we in New Zealand often consider to be ‘‘soft stuff’’ – peopleto-people links and cultural connections.
Last week the Asia New Zealand Foundation released a report – New Zealand and Japan: To our future – to coincide with the opening of the Rugby World Cup and Ardern’s summit with Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The report highlights a series of initiatives that have helped build up the friendship: the longrunning working holiday scheme that has enabled tens of thousands of young Japanese and Kiwis to live in each other’s countries; numerous educational, sporting and cultural exchanges; 47 sister city relationships. The Japanese government’s JET programme has enabled more than 3000 young New Zealanders to teach English in Japanese schools.
New Zealanders have also embraced Japanese culture in their daily lives. Many Kiwis get an introduction to the country through martial arts like karate and judo; sushi is a favourite lunch option across the country; our young people lap up manga and anime; and Marie Kondo is a household name.
These strong people-to-people links have helped the New Zealand-japan relationship at times when other aspects of our engagement have been a bit tricky.
The relationship has at times suffered through Japan’s whaling in the Southern Ocean and through long-standing trade challenges around agricultural products.
But it remains a vital partner for New Zealand. It is our fourth largest trading partner and an important source of overseas students and tourists. Japanese investment in New Zealand is well-established and particularly important for the forestry, fisheries and aluminium sectors.
This investment has also helped New Zealand companies attain high product standards and quality control procedures to improve their export capabilities.
In the days before the Rugby World Cup, the Japan New Zealand Business Council met in Kashiwa City to discuss the potential areas for growth in the relationship, including in investment, sustainable development and renewable energy, and functional foods.
Likewise, the New Zealand and Japan: To our future report identifies new areas for growing the relationship, including through connections between Ma¯ ori and Japan’s indigenous Ainu people, and partnerships on initiatives to tackle climate change.
From a trade perspective, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has eased market access issues. This gave New Zealand preferential access to Japan as the world’s thirdlargest economy, and the results are positive for our honey, beef and wine exports. Japan is already New Zealand’s largest export market for kiwifruit, and that market is also growing.
Abe was a driving force in getting the CPTPP agreed, and our report points to many areas where the two countries have shared interests and values amid a more challenging international economic and security environment.
Ardern’s high-level visit to Japan last week saw several announcements, including cooperation in the Pacific and a strengthening of the security relationship.
Our relationship with Japan, like all relationships, has its ebbs and flows.
The visit of our prime minister is – thanks to her position and an alignment of the stars in an economic, political and security sense – an opportunity to take the relationship to a new level.
The question is whether New Zealanders grab that opportunity, beyond reaching for the wasabi chips.