Japanese goodwill to N.Z. is not being fully exploited

Press, 12 April 1978, Page 17

Japanese goodwill to N.Z. is not being fully exploited

“A dwarf batting a giant over the head with a feather.” So a Western diplomat in Tokyo describes New Zealand's latest attempts to get greater trading access to Japan, now its second largest export market. This is the first in a

series of three articles by

LEONE STEWART.

Understanding the Japanese is not an easy task for New Zealanders. Any Westerner trying to come to grips with this verv complex society knows well the frustrating feeling of having just got hold of it, only to find it all slipping away again. Our politicians, desperately seeking a solution to economic woes in in» creased trade access to Japan, seem determined to simplify the issues tor New Zealanders. But as Graham Kitson, senior economic researcher at Lincoln College, and long familiar with Japan says: "When you grasp at an illusion you are bound to come up with a generalisation that often doesn't work.” New Zealanders have lately been reassuring themselves that in the post-war years the Japanese, apart from looking a little different, have turned out much like us. So why, we ask, do we not have more success in gaining acceptance for what seem to us quite reasonable propositions on trade? Even the lever we thought we had in proposing an exchange for access ;o our 2iH)-mile economic fishing zone for access to lapan's huge consumer market seems to be fatlBecause he has lived in Japan, speaks and reads

Japanese, and has made many friends there, New Zealanders are always asking Graham Kitson for the answers. Perhaps, he reflects, there is no answer. All the same, he firmly believes there is a fund of good will towards New Zealand among Japanese which we are not exploiting to the best advantage. “I’ve heard New Zealand’s case argued by Japanese on television there with an enthusiasm that made me blush,” he says. Foreign observers in Tokyo maintain there is considerable sympathy for New Zealand among a Japanese public keen to get cheaper food. When the Japanese have a concept of New Zealand it is of a dreamlike place — clean, healthy, almost idyllic. No advertising agency seeking to sell food from such a place could hope for a better image among the Japanese. Certainly, Mr Kitson is sure the answer to our trade dilemma with Japan does not lie in a breakdown of communications. If we cannot offer the Japanese politicians some persuasive solutions that meet their domestic needs, the resourceful Japanese will simply continue developing alternatives to fishing in our waters. If the New Zealand

Government has been nurturing the idea that Japan will be beset by a feeling of failure when their boats come home from our waters, then that is “wishful thinking.” While the Japanese are sensitive to opinion abroad, particularly in South-East Asia, it is re-

spect for their course of action they seek. Still an insular people, they' are often surprised when their policies meet hostility from other states. Their capacity for very genuine bewilderment at the other party’s failure to be reasonable is considerable. The fish-for-trade diplo-

matic initiative was worth a try. But it did not work, and now is the time, Mr Kitson believes, to concede a . little. Giving the Japanese limited access to our waters would at least keep the issue alive. Back-door diplomacy is now, in his mind, the only

way to obtain a long-term trading relationship that is mutually acceptable. We have not the might of the Americans; we cannot go banging on the front door, demanding entry, and expect anything but a polite rejection. The Japanese have never conceded to similar demands from other small countries. They show no

signs of setting a precedent now. The politicians of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party simply have too much to lose. The electoral boundaries in Japan have not been redrawn since the late 19405. The big cities have only 14.1 per cent of legislative seats; smaller urban areas have 19.6 per cent. Semirural and rural areas together contain 66 per cent erf the legislative seats. As the Socialists and Communists have gained support — subject to some fluctuation — in the cities, the L.D.P. depends increasingly on a less and less reliable rural vote. The huge agricultural cooperatives (Nokyo) which organise, and some say manipulate, that rural vote wield enormous political clout. Fishing industry interests, by contrast, are disorganised, with nothing like the tightly managed political lobby of agricultural interests. It is becoming increasingly clear that the direct dealing that comes most naturally to New Zealanders leaves the intricate Japanese systems unmoved. Japan is an enigmatic land of subtleties. Systems work within systems, power structures run parallel. Government and big business are on intimate terms. People with apparent status can actually have very little real influence. The Japanese are masters at masking the real sources of power. Minimising the appearance or arbitrary authority is,a corner stone of their culture. Change in Japan is generally achieved by a highly refined version of concensus politics. The years

the Japanese Government has been prepared to wait to allow opposition to its new Narita Airport in Tokyo either to dissipate or resolve itself is an example of its patience. New Zealand’s success seems to depend greatly on how convincingly we can make our case that what we want will not hurt the Japanese farmer, or other Japanese interests. New Zealand’s dealings with Japan have generally been on the official, political level. “We get on the track of one system and work it to death,” says Graham Kitson. The staff of the New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo have the necessary task of dealing almost exclusively with Japanese career diplomats. Mr Kitson categorises them as law graduates who have little idea of economic policy. “It is unwise to attach any faith to getting success through them.” So where do we turn? Alternatives do exist among the many concerned Japanese who are working to develop economic policies which will best serve all their people. While the vested interests at official level may seem impregnable, forces are operating behind the scenes which might be turned to New Zealand’s advantage. A top level committee within the Japanese government is even now formulating, unofficially, policy objectives which could help New Zealand’s case in the long term. Some of the radical thinking needed to penetratethe Japanese market will be discussed in tomorrow’s article.