5.
CONFIDENTIAL
The Department have already
suggested a preliminary meeting with the Secretary of State
to discuss the parameters of the problem
Japan
6. Two points struck me from a useful and busy programme
organised by the Embassy which allowed me to meet a large
number of people in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
political parties. First, I found discussion with MFA
officials more forthright and valuable than in my last.
experience of such exchanges several years ago. There was
a good session of talks with the Director-General
European and Oceanic Affairs (Mr Nishiyama) and the Director-General for Asia (Mr Goto) We have accepted (eg)
the recent Planning Paper) that we must seek to engage the Japanese in more political dialogue across the board (although distance tends to make this difficult to organise in practice). It is encouraging to find that increasingly
there are signs that this need not prove a sterile one-
sides exercise.
7:
The s
second major impression was to be reminded forcibly
of the "Japaneseness" of Japan. The Embassy confirmed my
own observation that, as the Japanese become increasingly
self-confident so they begin to assert more clearly their
own cultural uniqueness. This is in marked contrast to most
of the rest of Asia where economic success tends to go hand-
in-hand with cultural Westernization, at least for the elite
No so in Japan As Japan has moved into the position of the second most powerful economy in the world, so the elite has become more "Japanese". In dealing with leading politicians I was struck by the fact that it was essential to rely on the
excellent translation services provided by members of Chancery THIS IS A COPY
THE ORIGINAL HAS BEEN A
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CONFIDENTIAL
78
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