International Trade committee  Yes. If I could respond to your first comment on after the—

International Trade committee  I think there was a survival mode and it was the beginning of a very significant push towards an export-driven economy, and it suffered during that period. It wasn't that long a period before quality came back to the fore.

International Trade committee  If I comment on your first point, I think that the west, and I say the west more generally than just Canada, has always misjudged or not had an accurate contemporary appreciation of Japan. You're quite right that after the war there was distrust, obviously, for reasons related to

International Trade committee  I am generally aware of it. I am no expert on the insurance industry. I think you will find that a company like Manulife has done very well in Japan. As for the post office, it was wholly owned by government. It's not anymore. It is still government-controlled. The difference i

International Trade committee  In terms of the brand issue, branding is always an interesting subject and a challenge. It is fair to say that if you spoke to the average Japanese, some of whom will have been to Canada, some of whom will not, they have a very positive view of Canada. They have a very dreamy vi

International Trade committee  As I said, I thought it was unfortunate that we closed the consulate in Osaka. I would love to see it reopen. Obviously, boots on the ground always help. That being said, a lot of the work being done has to be done by the exporters and by the industry themselves. There are campa

International Trade committee  No, I didn't.

International Trade committee  Yes.

International Trade committee  You're quite right in terms of it being more management centric than shareholder centric. The idea of living quarter by quarter is a phenomenon that is not known really in Japan. They take a much longer view. In terms of R and D, you're absolutely right. Their R and D expenditur

International Trade committee  I agree entirely. The TPP is very much being driven by our friends south of the border, who are determined to get what they call a gold standard WTO-plus agreement. You currently have nine members. With Canada and Mexico joining, you will have 11 members. They range in economic d

International Trade committee  In a quick response to the quality issue, you're absolutely right that quality, quality, quality is everything. As I said, they have a sense of perfection in things, whether it is the freshness of the fish for the sushi or whether it is the J grade. I think you've probably heard

International Trade committee  I think it would make a difference were we to reopen it. This is an issue for the Kansai region as much as anything. It may not be noticed overall in Japan in any major way. It certainly would be noticed in the Kansai region. Having said that, I don't think there's great hurt or

International Trade committee  I agree. One point which I think is important and one of the things I didn't mention is that I'm a so-called distinguished fellow of the Asia Pacific Foundation. I was asked to chair a task force, which has just reported, and we'll make that report available to the committee. It

International Trade committee  I was just going to make one other comment that you may find interesting. After the earthquake, which of course had a significant effect in Tokyo, gaijin, as foreigners are known, basically left. The Europeans all left, with the exception of some of the Brits. The German embassy

International Trade committee  Well, I certainly know from some of my past work experience the challenges one has in budgetary constraints and considerations, but closing the consulate general in Osaka was a mistake and we should do something about reversing that. I don't think there was sufficient appreciat