The “Walk in Canada, Talk on Japan” panel event was held on October 4 at the Vivian and David Campbell Conference Facility in the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Now in its third consecutive year of promoting relations between Canada and Japan, this event was sponsored by the Centre for the Study of Global Japan at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and co-sponsored by the Consulate-General of Japan in Toronto, the Rotman Institute for International Business, and the Rotman School of Management. At the beginning of the event, Professor Louis W. Pauly, Interim Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Japan and former Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, extended a warm welcome to the guest speakers. Featuring Shotaro Oshima, former Japanese Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Korea, as well as three other guests, the event was comprised of panelists from diverse backgrounds in business consulting, finance, and one of the top academic institutions in Japan.
“Walk in Canada, Talk on Japan” is a program that seeks to develop an understanding of Japan in Canada through grass-roots exchanges. At this event, the guest speakers shared their perspectives on various topics that mirrored authentic Japanese culture and the progress of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics” policies. As the Delegation Leader, Ambassador Oshima is a seasoned diplomat who started his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in 1968. He served as the Economic Minister of the Japanese Embassy in the United States from 1997 to 2000 and as Deputy Foreign Minister from 2001 to 2002. After retiring from his post, he currently serves as Chairman of the Institute for International Economic Studies and is a Visiting Professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
First, Ambassador Oshima introduced his team to the audience members who would also be giving presentations during this panel. This included Mitsuko Takahashi, the owner of a consulting firm that provides services to small and medium-sized Japanese enterprises seeking to expand overseas; Rick Liu, a Taiwanese-Canadian that now works at a local bank in Japan, specializing in providing mortgages for foreigners living in the country; and Rie Sato, a student at Keio University majoring in business law, who shared her experiences from her exchange studies in Sydney, Australia.
Ambassador Oshima proceeded to highlight diplomatic events that saw cooperation between Canada and Japan. For instance, he mentioned the celebrations taking place this year to commemorate the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries as well as the recent G7 summit in Charlevoix, Quebec, during which Canada and Japan reaffirmed their commitment to a variety of global issues. Ambassador Oshima stressed that Japan and Canada are both neighbours in the Pacific with shared interests: militarily, the two countries have engaged in a regular series of high-level meetings to discuss regional security and bilateral cooperation since 2010; economically, Japan is the fourth largest trade partner with Canada, with over five hundred Japanese companies operating in Canada. Additionally, Ambassador Oshima’s talk touched upon the “Abenomics” policies Japan had implemented since 2012, targeting issues such as aging population, healthcare, and female employment. Japan has taken a pioneering role in tackling these issues and could be a good example for other countries facing similar challenges. At the end of his talk, Ambassador Oshima talked of his vision for a future with fewer barriers and more opportunities, and welcomed Canadians to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Mitsuko Takahashi shared her experiences about “[struggling] in a notorious male-dominated Japanese society”, and how institutional policy changes are triggering a cultural change in Japan. Her presentation shed light on “Womenomics”, a term that reflected Prime Minister Abe’s vigorous attempts to encourage women to join the workforce, take managerial positions in companies and create start-ups. A female role model, Takahashi believes that “women can shine”, quoting a study that claims that if women were to participate in the economy at levels identical to men, it could contribute as much as $28 trillion to global annual GDP 2025 (roughly equal to the economies of the U.S. and China combined).
The third presenter, Rick Liu, comes from an impressively diverse background. He is a Taiwanese immigrant to Canada who completed his undergraduate degree in the U.S. His decision to work in Japan resulted from his experiences as an exchange student there during his undergraduate studies. In his presentation, Liu covered his encounter with a friendly stranger in Japan that for him shattered the stereotype of Japanese workers as “hard robots”. Furthermore, he shared his struggles with learning the Japanese language, and how the City Office helped foreigners like him adapt to Japanese society and culture. In hearing his positive experiences, we got a better understanding of Japan’s immigration policy.
A very interesting topic came last when Rie Sato, a 23-year-old university student, presented on a Japanese traditional costume: the kimono. Her presentation shared the lesser known aspects of the kimono, in terms of the variety of styles, the cultural significance, and different occasions where one may wear it. During her exchange studies in Sydney, Sato had to act as a cultural ambassador, through which she deepened her thoughts on the kimono and Japanese identity.
The panel was followed by an hour-long Q&A session during which the guest speakers received questions on a range of issues including culture, the economy, and immigration policy. The panel ended with the guest of honour Takako Ito, Consul-General of Japan in Toronto, who delivered closing remarks in which she shared her insights from her own overseas experiences and expressed hope for more stimulating dialogue between Japan and Canada.
Nina Zhou studied History and East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto. She is currently serving as an Event Reporter for the Synergy Journal of Contemporary Asian Studies.
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