Japan still wants North Slope gas

Wake up call: Alaska needs proactive effort to maintain and expand trade with Japan, consul general says

Steve Sutherlin

PNA Managing Editor

Alaskans should not be too quick to count Japan out as a market for North Slope natural gas, Japanese Consul General Yoshinori Tsujimoto told an international forum of the World Trade Center Alaska Jan. 10 in Anchorage.

“Alaska gas is a hot topic at present; we understand the interest in transporting gas to the Lower 48,” Tsujimoto said.

Tsujimoto said it is important for Alaska to offer assurances that Japan will not be forgotten as the state pursues its preferred pipeline routing along the Alaska Highway.

“The highway route doesn’t seem to contradict exports to Japan,” he said, adding that a line taking gas to tidewater for shipment to Japan probably would also be routed through Fairbanks.

Tsujimoto said that energy security was a large concern for Japan because 79 percent of its energy imports and 86 percent of its oil supplies originate in the Middle East. Australia, Alaska, Malaysia and Indonesia have potential for gas imports and the Japanese government is very keen to secure all of these sources to reduce its dependency on the Middle East, he said.

In addition, gas is seen as a clean burning fuel and is a part of Japan’s efforts to reduce emissions, he said.

Relationships drive Japanese trade

He expressed concern about the Japan-Alaska relationship in the face of major changes taking place in Japan.

“Japan can’t remain stagnant in the face of the challenges of the 21st century,” he said.

Tsujimoto said trading partners must be aware that Japan’s rapidly aging society and declining birth rate will lead to sweeping changes in its consumption patterns.

He recalled that Alaska’s Commissioner of the Department of Commerce and Economic Development Debbie Sedwick once told him, ‘Perception becomes reality.’

“If Alaska perceives Japan as fixed and unchanging (Alaska) may be perceived in Japan as uninvolved,” Tsujimoto said.

It’s not enough to mount a trade mission or two and expect that to be sufficient to build the relationship, he said.

“Alaska must become proactive to insure that the Alaska-Japan relationship continues to grow,” Tsujimoto said.

“Trade relations can’t be taken for granted,” he said.

In any good customer relations, the merchant must be sure to tell the customer that the business is appreciated, and the Alaska-Japan relationship is no different, he said.

Japan is a very big customer for Alaska, Tsujimoto said. “Alaska sends 55 percent of all of its exports to Japan, and 71 percent of its seafood exports,” he said.

“For Japan, Alaska represents a small percentage of imports, only 0.4 percent of all Japanese imports and 0.6 percent of oil and gas,” he said.

“Alaska is one of many trade options for Japan,” Tsujimoto said, adding that expansion of trade with Japan depends on Alaska’s efforts.

Tsujimoto announced that he was leaving Alaska after a three-year term and returning to Japan. He has served in Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1961 and has had assignments in San Francisco, Atlanta, Toronto, Australia, Kuwait and Oman.