Introduction

The past few years have been anything but typical, the world over. As economies start to pick up the pieces to rebuild for a stable future, it is pertinent to reflect on Canada’s international relations and the way forward. Since 2004, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada) has documented Canadian opinions of Canada-Asia relations through the National Opinion Polls (NOP). These NOPs provide an overview of the consistently stable, warm feelings expressed by Canadians towards Japan, particularly in comparison to other Asia Pacific economies in the surveys, and Japan’s economic importance for Canada’s future. Canadian opinions about Japan’s advances in technology, innovation, and high-skilled human capital further reflect this appreciation. Even the public is aware of Japan as a prime market for Canada’s future development and progress. While the polls situate Japan positively within the minds of Canadians, have the Canadian government or businesses taken advantage of the perceived or real opportunities to further engage? Likewise, are Japanese businesses willing to expand relations with Canada? Despite the recently signed Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the mega-trade agreement between Japan, Canada and several other Asia Pacific economies, a recent study by APF Canada finds that Japanese business leaders express a lukewarm interest in Canada. While there is conceivable interest from Japanese leaders to conduct business in Canada, a significant proportion are not interested and cite a lack of familiarity among the barriers to engagement. This paper provides an overview of Japanese business leaders’ perception of Canada’s business environment and market, perception of CPTPP, and Canada’s presence (or the lack of it) in Japan’s supply chain, therefore underscoring the need for Canada to explore ways to build awareness and brand presence in Japan to secure future growth. Together with the NOP, the Japanese business leaders’ survey helps to put Japan-Canada relations in perspective.

Canada and Japan relations

The shape of Canada-Japan relations has changed significantly since Ranald MacDonald became one of the first people from what is now Canada to go to Japan in 1848 and when the first Japanese immigrants began arriving in Canada in the 1870s (Holroyd & Coates, 1995; MacDonald, 1990). Even though the two countries opened diplomatic relations in 1929, robust and diverse interactions between the two countries have only developed since the end of World War II. When APF Canada was founded in 1984, Japan was front and centre in Canada’s business community’s thinking about Asia as bilateral trade and investment with Japan was increasing and many Canadians saw vast potential to deepen the relationship. The two countries have a diverse relationship developed and maintained through diplomatic relations, trade and investment, security, education, and people-to-people ties. They are both members of, and cooperate in, multilateral organizations such as the G7, G20, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and the United Nations. Japan and Canada are also members of one of the world’s largest free trade agreements, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Today, Japan is the world’s third-largest economy; Canada is the ninth. Canada is Japan’s 17th largest trading partner, and Japan is Canada’s fourth-largest. In 2021, Canadian exports to Japan reached C$14.1B, while imports to Canada reached C$15.4B (Government of Canada, 2022). While the main Canadian exports to Japan are agricultural products, meat, diverse ores, and bituminous coal, the major imports from Japan are vehicles, machinery, and electric equipment. And while Canada is Japan’s 15th largest investor globally, Japan is Canada’s sixth largest investor globally and largest from Asia (APF Canada, 2022; JETRO). While there is a high value of trade and investment and diversity of goods traded, Japan’s presence in Canada, ranging from everything from goods and investment to the number of tourists, students, and businesspeople, is more evident than Canada’s presence in Japan.

Despite such diverse and generally collegial bilateral connections, there has been an ongoing debate about how much the relationship has actually changed and deepened over the last sixty years and to what extent each side values and actively pursues opportunities to expand the relationship (Shultz & Miwa, 1991; Holroyd & Coates, 1995; Kurosawa, Kirton, & Fry, 1998; Meehan, 2003; Donaghy & Roy, 2008; Welch, 2019). Rather than trying to answer questions about the extent to which Canada and Japan have acted on the potential to further develop the bilateral relationship, we shift the focus to look at what we know about how Canadians and Japanese people view each other, and how these findings might inform the future relationship. One of the best sources of information on the matter is the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada’s polls and surveys.

Methodology

Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada has been conducting National Opinion Polls almost every year since 2004 to gauge Canadian views of Asia and assess how best to build relations that appeal to the Canadian public and are effective for our counterparts in Asia (Dey & Roy, 2020). The annual polls have been tracking Canadian opinions on certain issues such as feelings towards Asian countries and the economic importance of Asian jurisdictions for almost two decades. At the same time, the surveys also incorporated new, thematic topics of interest every year to allow for reflections on current events and issues to better analyze Canada-Asia relations. APF Canada conducted the National Opinion Polls in partnership with various market research partners over the years – Angus Reid (2008 – 2014), Ekos (2015-2020), and Leger (2021) – and used their online research panels that are representative of the Canadian public. The sample sizes varied over the years. Since 2010, on an average, more than 2,900 Canadians were surveyed for each of the opinion polls used in this research paper. The data were statistically weighted to Canada’s most recent census data on age, gender, and region, to ensure the sample’s representativeness.  

In 2018, the Foundation also began surveying and exploring Asian business leaders perspectives on economically engaging in Canada and published a survey report titled Asian Views on Economic Engagement with Canada (Dey, Roy, Ly, & Zhu, 2020). The research encompasses findings from six different Asian countries, including Japan. In this study, 1,082 business leaders from Japan were surveyed. Here business leaders are defined as senior managers, executives, staff members, and founders or board members of companies with some international economic engagement. The study focused on drawing an equal number of respondents from nine industrial sectors, namely agriculture, non-renewable energy, clean technology, environmental goods and services, education, finance and insurance, health care, information and communication, tourism. The sectors represent areas of bilateral interest that have the greatest potential for Canada’s economic growth. The study also involved interviewing ten policy experts on Canada-Japan relations who helped provide more context and complexity to our understanding of Japanese views of Canada. Using purposive and convenience sampling, the survey was conducted across 105 different trade shows that occurred across the six Asian countries. 

Drawing upon data from these two separate sets of surveys – NOP and the Asian business leader surveys - this paper seeks to provide a holistic overview of Canadian and Japanese perceptions of each other and discusses ways forward for building better Canada-Japan relations.

National Opinion Polls Key Findings

The NOPs have shown that Canadians have felt a varied connection to the Asia Pacific identity. Up till 2018, Canadians’ feelings towards their Asia Pacific identity was growing as more respondents agreed with the statement “I consider Canada to be part of the Asia Pacific region,” than the years before. However, in the most recent NOP in 2020, we see a dip in Canadians’ agreement about their Asia Pacific identity. Only 38% agree that Canada is a part of the Asia Pacific (52% disagreed). A five-percentage point drop from 2018, but still higher than a decade ago (33%). While being part of the Asia Pacific is still not a very large part of the Canadian identity, this can be seen as an opportunity to re-emphasize and build up Canada’s place and identity as a part of the Asia Pacific. Canadian views of the Asia Pacific countries at large, and Asia in particular, are pertinent to this identity building, making these public opinion polls important for policy-making.

Canadians’ feelings and perceptions of Japan 

When asked respondents to rate their feelings toward Asian countries on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 meaning “very warm, favourable feelings,” Canadians have consistently expressed the warmest feelings toward Japan of all Asian countries included in APF Canada’s National Opinion Polls. Over the years, Canadians’ feelings toward Japan has continued to improve from a 6.2 in 2010 to 7.4 in 2020 (see Figure 1). Compared to Japan, in the year 2020, the NOPs indicate that Canadians’ feelings toward China and the U.S. rapidly declined (not shown in graph) and the two were the most negatively perceived economies for Canadians among the list of jurisdictions presented in the survey. In the 2021 NOP, Canadians’ feelings toward Japan remained stable and warm at 7.3 (0.1 point lower than 2020).

Since 2012, Canadians increasingly perceive Japan, alongside South Korea and India, as important for the future economic well-being of Canada. Measured on a seven-point scale with 7 meaning “very important,” Japan’s average score was 5.1 in the 2020 NOP, the highest of all Asian countries listed in that year (Figure 1). Japan was only outranked by the United States (6.1), the European Union (5.7), and the United Kingdom (5.2). Interestingly, before 2018, the perception of China’s economic importance for Canada reached a high of 5.6, one that Japan is yet to achieve. 

To analyze why Canadians perceive Japan so favourably requires further exploratory research. But part of the reason may have to do with Canada’s own history about Canadians of Japanese descent who trace their lineage back hundreds of years, while another part could be media framing of Japan. When asked about their sources of information about Asian or Asians, a majority of Canadians elected mainstream news media sources, followed by online or social media sources (Dey & Roy, 2020, p. 19). And despite indicating that the Canadian media does not provide adequate coverage of Asian issues, more Canadians believed that the Canadian media coverage of Japan had a positive impact (60%) rather than a negative impact (8%) on their perception of Japan.

The stability in Canadians’ opinions about Japan in terms of feelings and economic importance points towards a generally positive outlook of Japan, one that can be further strengthened through efforts that can capitalize on this moment. One important aspect of  Japan and Canada relations is of course economics.

Canadian perceptions of Japanese FDI

Since 2006, more Canadians have agreed than disagreed that Canada would benefit from more Asian investment in the country (Dey & Roy 2020, p.24). In the 2020 NOP, 47% of Canadians agreed that “overall, Canada would benefit from more Asian investment in our country,” while 42% disagreed. Despite the value of investments from the Asia Pacific into Canada quadrupling over the past 17 years, many Canadians believe that their country could benefit further from more foreign direct investment (FDI) from Asia. In the same survey, 86% of Canadians indicate that they would like their government to diversify trade away from the U.S. 

Exploring Canadian sentiments on matters of economic engagement further, it was observed that the Canadian public would support allowing more investment into specific sectors from Japan. The 2020 NOP shows that Japan was a preferred source country of investment, more than the three other Asian economies identified in the survey, namely, China, India, and South Korea.

In light of the evolving public health crisis in 2020 and the resultant accelerated digitalization Canadians supported allowing more investment in the high-tech and biomedical and health care sectors (see Figure 2). Even in the real-estate and financial services sectors, more Canadians support rather than oppose Japanese FDI. But on the issue of non-renewable energy, there is more opposition (48%) than support (44%).

Japanese Views on Economic Engagement with Canada

In 2018, APF Canada conducted a six-country multinational survey to better understand Asian businesses’ views and perceptions of the Canadian market and their willingness to engage (Dey et al., 2020). One of the six Asian economies was Japan, a country with whom Canada has a long history of people-to-people ties and economic engagement. The survey provided a glimpse into the perspectives of 1,082 Japanese business leaders who have international business experience. Among them, 11% had some form of economic engagement with Canada (joint venture, greenfield investment, merger & acquisition, import/export, contractual relationship). 

The remaining 961 business leaders whose companies are currently not engaged in the Canadian market expressed varying levels of interest in Canada. About 4% exhibited an “active interest,” 39% “conceivable interest,” 31% said “not interested” and 15% “don’t know” (see Figure 3). For the purposes of further analysis, the respondents who said “active” and “conceivable” interest were combined into one group, and respondents who said “not interested” or “don’t know” into a second group.

Perception of Canada-experienced businesses

Among the Japanese businesses engaged in Canada, most were either engaged in exporting to Canada (67%) or contractual relationships (24%). Thirty-five percent of the Japanese companies engaged in Canada had established their relations over 20 years ago at the time of the survey, more than any other country surveyed as a part of this study. On the other hand, only 26% of the engaged Japanese businesses were established in Canada since 2008, which is significantly lower than the average of 50% or more from the other Asian countries surveyed (Dey et al., 2020, p. 37). Interestingly, among the 121 businesses engaged in Canada, 44% said they want to “expand business,” and 46% said they would like to “maintain business.” 

In Table 1, a breakdown of the data shows that the most engaged businesses were from the education sector, followed by environmental goods and services and tourism.

Drawing upon their experience of working in Canada, the Japanese business leaders found most factors associated with the Canadian business market were irrelevant to their business engagement with Canada. As shown in Table 2, very few factors were perceived positively by the majority. Factors such as mobility of “business travellers to Canada,” and knowledge about each other’s business culture were perceived positively by most. Interestingly, none of the factors were considered negative, including factors related to tariffs, the complexity of regulations and the legal framework for foreign business in Canada.

Perception of Canadian business operating environment

Thinking about the Canadian business operating environment, only 1% of the Japanese respondents said they had a “reasonably well” understanding, whereas 9% said “partially” and 90% said “not at all.” Even among business leaders who are engaged in Canada, 41% (n=121) said they do not understand the Canadian business operating environment. 

Against this backdrop of a reasonably low level of engagement and lack of an “active interest” from Japanese businesses, despite long-standing relations with Canada, the survey helped explore the Japanese perspectives on the Canadian market. It is of interest to note here that while the majority of respondents from the other five Asian economies had a relatively positive attitude towards the Canadian market, most respondents from Japan felt the contrary (Dey et al., 2020, p. 50). Japanese business leaders disagreed with all nine statements used in the survey to characterize the Canadian market. Such that 79% of Japanese respondents disagreed that “it is easy to establish a business in Canada,” compared to an average of around 22% from the other countries. Sixty-nine per cent disagreed that “It is easy to do business in Canada” compared to an average of around 22% disagreement from the other countries (Dey et al., 2020, p. 50).

Even when segregated by companies that are engaged, interested, and not interested, as can be seen in Figure 4, we observe that although “engaged” businesses agree more with each factor, the agreement levels are very low for some of the statements. For example, Japanese leaders do not see “Canada as a hub of international talent” and they do not perceive “Canadian firms at the technological forefront.” There is also a stark difference between Canada-experienced companies and those not interested in Canada, with the latter exhibiting the least agreement with any of the statements.

Barriers to engaging with Canada

Exploring the lack of interest expressed by many of the Japanese businesses, the survey found that 49% of the businesses who are “not interested” to engage in Canada identified “lack of networks” as the main barrier. “Lack of familiarity” was cited by just a quarter of the respondents “not interested” in Canada. Interestingly the “lack of networks,” particularly professional, was also identified by policy experts who were interviewed as a part of this study. Most Japanese policy experts advised that Canada needs to provide more networking opportunities, build a clear path to professional and government networks for prospective businesses, and in turn, these processes can help feed into familiarizing Asian businesses with the Canadian market.

Japanese policy experts further emphasized the “complexity of regulations and procedures for business operations in Canada.” They underscored how the Japanese businesses often find the Canadian federal-provincial differences in regulations quite complex, and there is a lack of understanding about the importance of provinces in Canada. As Satoshi N. stated, Japanese businesses need to make efforts to understand Canada better and their Canadian counterparts bear the responsibility to provide clarity.

I really think it’s the provincial-federal relationship that really stands out as a factor. To put it another way, perhaps some Japanese people including businesses should have a better understanding of the importance of the provinces in the Canadian economy.

– Satoshi N., Japanese diplomat (name anonymized)

Apart from the federal-provincial policies, most policy experts indicate that the policies and regulations related to Indigenous communities in Canada, the environment, and the mobility of business travellers further add to the complexity of engaging with Canada and become a barrier, particularly when compared to the United States.

Economic importance of Canada

When asked if their country’s relation with Canada is of importance to their industry/sector, we find only 26% of Japanese businesses see Canada-Japan relations as relevant for their industry, the remaining either find it not important or do not know. Similarly, about 21% of the 1,082 respondents believe Canada-Japan relations hold great to moderate potential for their industry (Figure 5). Broken down by sectors, 42% of Japanese businesses in the agriculture sector seem to find that Canada-Japan relations will be important for their sector, and 32% believe the relations have great to moderate potential for their industry. Generally, larger businesses, in terms of company size and revenue, seem to find more relevance in Canada-Japan relations compared to small or medium-sized businesses. Large businesses likely have the financial capacity for international businesses and, therefore, the increased likelihood of relevance. Apart from agriculture, businesses in the environmental goods and tourism sectors also find Canada-Japan relations important for their business, but the majority do not see much economic relevance of Canada.

Japanese business leaders’ lack of interest in Canada is also reflected in their perception of the benefits and risks of expanding Canada-Japan trade. The survey finds that only 5% are concerned that expanding Canada-Japan trade will benefit Canada more than Japan, and only 3% believe it will create any form of pressure on workers in Japan. On the other hand, just 6% of Japanese business leaders believe that expanding Canada-Japan trade is important “due to rising protectionist sentiments in the US and in Europe” (Dey et al., 2020, p.79). 

When asked about different forms of bilateral measures that can enhance Canada-Japan trade and investment relations, on average, most Japanese business leaders disagreed with the proposed policies indicating a lack of support for enhancing Canada-Japan economic relations. The proposed measures in the survey sought to enhance in-market knowledge of Japanese companies (28% agreed), build bilateral partnerships that promote entrepreneurship and innovation (26% agreed), facilitate discussions to reduce trade and investment barriers (21% agreed), and promote two-way talent flows through visa agreements and international mobility agreements (27% agreed). The average support for the policies fell to 24% compared to 60% or more from other Asian countries surveyed as a part of this study (Dey et al., 2020). Most Japanese business leaders disagreed about facilitating more trade and investment missions between the two countries (20% agreed), which contradicts what policy experts suggest as methods for deepening the engagement, as explored in the next section.

The Japanese business leaders’ perception of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (CPTPP) is a matter of interest for policymakers and researchers. Japan played a key role in finalizing the CPTPP, which was signed among 11 countries in March 2018. However, 77% of Japanese business leaders felt that CPTPP will have “no influence” on their business. And while the Canadian government estimated that CPTPP would benefit Canadian businesses to expand trade relations with Japan, only 11% of Japanese leaders believe that it is important to have Canada as a part of the CPTPP (Figure 6). Arguably, at the time of the study, CPTPP was still in its nascent stages, and as some policy experts note, many Japanese businesses are woefully unaware of trade and investment opportunities in Canada due to a lack of active Canadian presence and marketing. On the other hand, policy experts see multilateral fora and agreements most notably the CPTPP and leveraging CUSMA, as the main way to increase Japan-Canada bilateral economic engagement. Having said that, policy experts also pointed out that Canada’s “inclusive” and “progressive” approach to trade is hard to translate into Japanese or how it relates to trade. A few thought that perhaps it is more related and applicable to a domestic Canadian audience rather than international trade. Regardless, some said they are open to receiving a good explanation of what Canada means by inclusivity and progressive elements as part of trade relations.

Approaches to deeper engagement

Given the lack of interest and general apathy towards Canada-Japan relations, it is pertinent to reflect on how best to build fruitful economic relations alongside diplomatic ones. Many policy experts on Japan-Canada relations suggest making use of the almost a century-old diplomatic relationship between the two countries to work towards deeper engagement with Asian economies. 

The first and foremost advice is to facilitate more trade and investment missions between Canada and Japan. This stands in contrast to business leaders' perception where only 20% of them believe that the Japanese and Canadian governments should invest in more trade and investment missions to enhance their economic relations. Comparing Canada with its southern neighbour, the United States, Keidanren deputy director Teruko Wada emphasized the need to reach out to smaller, local areas in Japan to attract Japanese businesses, many of which are SMEs and are often overlooked due to their lack of marketing skills,

I recall that each U.S. state would send delegations to promote themselves to Japanese businesses. And they also participate in trade shows throughout Japan (not just Tokyo). So, if each (Canadian) province or state is interested, it could be good to bring a trade show around Japan to local areas to show what business opportunities are there in Canada. And there are many competitive SME industries in Japan that may be located near Nagoya, Osaka, Kyushu, or Hokkaido…

Teruko Wada, Keidanren 

A second suggestion was to reduce administrative obstacles to trade and investment that can impede business relations and the intention to engage with the Canadian market. This factor directly relates to the need to better explain the structure of the Canadian business environment and policies for foreign businesses and investors. Most notable points raised by the policy experts revolved around the federal-provincial relationship and Indigenous communities in Canada. 

Many respondents also reported having an inadequate understanding of Indigenous peoples in Canada, even for companies that have operated for years in the country (see Table 3 for a breakdown of demographic details of Japanese businesses surveyed). They said they were often not aware of Indigenous rights or issues. While they said that Japanese companies in the energy sector would likely know the most, it is still an area seen as an unknown and brings uncertainties for investment. Some Japanese experts indicated that they thought that Indigenous communities (in Canada) are a domestic issue and that their provisions should not interfere with international businesses. When in Canada, even if Japanese businesses try to understand the intricacies of these relations and policies, it can get complex. As former Ambassador to Canada Kenjiro Monji noted, this lack of awareness can take Japanese businesses by surprise. Monji, also suggested incorporating international views on business engagement with Indigenous communities as a step towards encouraging business growth and making others a part of the conversation. Others said that they expected the Canadian federal government to coordinate between investment and Indigenous peoples and their rights.

Enhancing political friendships and bilateral partnerships is also crucial for building more engagement between the two countries. To that end, Japanese policy experts emphasize the shared political objectives and policies that can lead to more collaborative partnerships at multilateral levels, such as the APEC, WTO, G7, G20, and the UN that play a key role in global environmental, economic, digital, and security issues, which are key objectives for both Japan and Canada.

Of course, bilateral cooperation is important, but on the other hand, we need to maintain the rules and the [multilateral] framework, including the U.S. and hopefully China. If you [Canada] can lead, we can cooperate. If we lead, we will need your cooperation.

Haru O.*, a ministry official with expertise in foreign affairs

Conclusion

APF Canada polls have consistently shown that out of all the countries in Asia, Canadians have the warmest feelings toward Japan. Yet, they also show that despite our longstanding diplomatic, business, and people-to-people ties, the two countries still do not seem to know much about each other. Perhaps the two countries will continue the path of being nothing more than polite fair-weather friends. There is, after all, nothing wrong with maintaining the stable and mature bilateral relationship if that is where both sides feel most comfortable. But if either side were so inclined to try and deepen the relationship further, results from APF Canada’s polls and surveys offer hints of where attention should be paid. These include Canadian efforts to go beyond Tokyo, to do a better job of explaining and helping to navigate federal-provincial relationships and jurisdictions and highlighting the importance of Indigenous peoples in Canada, and why all these factors matter for strengthening Canada’s international engagement.

References

APF Canada (2022). Investment Monitor 2022: Post-Pandemic Recovery and Canada-Asia FDI: Is the Rebound Sustainable? Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Retrieved June 24, 2022, from https://investmentmonitor.ca/insights-reports/investment-monitor-2022-post-pandemic-recovery-and-canada-asia-fdi-rebound 

Dey, S., & Roy, H. (2020). 2020 National Opinion Poll: Canadian Views on Asia. Vancouver: Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Retrieved April 15, 2022, from https://www.asiapacific.ca/publication/2020-national-opinion-poll-canadian-views-asia

Dey, S., Roy, H., Ly, T., & Zhu, Y. (2020). Asian Views on Economic Engagement with Canada. Vancouver: Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Retrieved April 15, 2022, from https://www.asiapacific.ca/publication/asian-views-economic-engagement-canada 

Donaghy, G. & Roy, P., eds. (2008). Contradictory Impulses: Canada and Japan in the Twentieth Century. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.

Government of Canada (2022). Canada-Japan Fact Sheet. Retrieved June 24, 2022, from https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/fact_sheet-fiche_documentaire/japan-japon.aspx?lang=eng

Government of Canada. (2022). Trade Data Online. Industry Canada. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/tdo-dcd.nsf/eng/Home 

Holroyd, C. & Coates, K. (1995). Pacific Partners: The Japanese Presence in Canadian              Business, Society, and Culture. Toronto: James Lorimer & Co.

JETRO (2022). Japanese Trade and Investment Statistics. Retrieved June 24, 2022, from https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/reports/statistics.html

Kurosawa, M., Kirton, J. & Fry, M., eds. (1998). The North Pacific Triangle: The United States, Japan, and Canada at Century's End. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

MacDonald, R. Ranald MacDonald: The Narrative of his Early Life on the Columbia under the Hudson's Bay Company's Regime: Of his Experiences in the Pacific Whale Fishery: And of his Great Adventure to Japan, With a Sketch of his Later Life on the Western Frontier, 1824-1899. Edited by William S. Lewis and Naojima Murakami. Portland, 1990.

Meehan, J. (2003). Dominion and the Rising Sun: Canada Encounters Japan, 1929-1941.  Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.

Shultz, J. & Miwa K., eds. (1991). Canada and Japan in the Twentieth Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Welch, D. (2019). “It’s Time to Think Boldly about Canada–Japan Security Cooperation.” International Journal: Canada's Journal of Global Policy Analysis, 74(3), 445–452.

NOTE: This article was first presented virtually by Dr. Sreyoshi Dey and me at the Japan Studies Association of Canada's annual conference at Thompson Rivers University on October 2, 2021. It was later published in the conference proceedings, which were published in December 2024. Japan Studies Association of Canada 2021 Proceedings: Catalyzing Change through Cultural, Economic, Political, and Sporting Events. https://tru.arcabc.ca/node/1325