Seafood is something very special that uniquely ties Norway and Japan close together. Bordering the sea, Norwegians and Japanese have great tradition in not only in catching fish, but also in eating fish. And we do eat a lot of seafood in Norway. So much, in fact, that I am totally impressed by the Japanese consumer eating on average three times as much fish as we do.
Japan is, indeed, one of the world’s largest seafood markets. Norway one of the world’s largest seafood exporters. Our exports of high quality seafood to Japan are important to our economy and bilateral relations. For the Embassy, June has truly been a “Seafood Month”.
Not many people know that 18 June is International Sushi Day. We do and we celebrated the day (and some other things along with it) at a special Embassy dinner for prominent Japanese guests and Ambassadors of other countries. Sushi is dear and important to Japan and to the pleasure also of the rest of the world. Sushi is not just putting a piece of fish, preferably Norwegian fish, on top of some compact rice, preferably Japanese rice. It is living culture in the best sense. Refined through millennia to the taste of each generation, Sushi has conquered the world. And consumers around the world are begging for more.
Mention the word “sushi” and people think of Japan. Mention the word “salmon” and people think of Norway. Salmon is now the most-eaten fish in Japan. It was therefore my honour and pleasure to inaugurate Marine Harvest’s new processing factory for fresh salmon in Narita on 4 June. Marine Harvest is the largest salmon farmer in the world. The factory is a strategic step to further develop the market for Norwegian salmon here in quality conscious Japan. The salmon is harvested in Norway on Monday, arrives at Narita by direct charter flight Wednesday and you can buy it fresh in your local shop on Thursday.
The Annual Norway-Japan Seafood Seminar is an important event in the relations between our two countries. The 8th Annual Seminar took place on 31 May and gathered some 200 Japanese experts. This year’s topic was seafood consumption trends. That seafood not only is tasty, but also good for your health is something we all know. But the consumption trend now is that people under 50 years of age prefer meat to fish, and only those over 50 prefer fish to meat. More has to be done to encourage young people to eat more fish. Ms Erica Angyal, the world famous nutritionist, author and nutrition adviser to Miss Universe Japan addressed the seminar on the health and beauty advantages of eating seafood, especially salmon.
Last year the 7th Annual Seminar focused on seafood safety. Seafood safety and consumption are, of course, interlinked. The annual seafood Norway-Japan Seafood Seminars are organized in close co-operation by the Embassy, the Norwegian Seafood Export Council and the Japan Fisheries Association.
Norwegian seafood was also the “star” on BS Fuji-TV’s programme “Table of Embassy” dedicated to Norway and shown several times in June. The programme gave a close-up view of Norway’s seafood culture, welfare society, scenic beauty and environmental awareness. It featured the Head of the Norwegian Seafood Export Council, and Embassy Counsellor Hans-Peter Næs picking a choice Norwegian salmon at Tsukiji and showed how we celebrated our National Day with seafood on the table here in Tokyo. The programme also showed how salmon and other Norwegian delicacies are prepared in the Embassy kitchen and how they were enjoyed at a special Embassy dinner by Japan’s Miss Universe for 2009 and 2010. They had just returned from a visit to Norway and spoke enthusiastically about salmon for health and beauty, about Norway’s fjords and scenic beauty and not least gender equality. Another guest at the table was the talented Rio Yamase, who added musical spice to the evening by playing Norwegian folk tones on her “Hardanger Fiddle”.
Yes, seafood is something very special that uniquely ties Norway and Japan close together. Seafood is our pride and delight. We are rightly proud of our nations’ maritime past, we happily enjoy the present and we are seriously concerned about the future, recognizing not least the importance of sustainable management of fish and other living marine resources.
Arne Walther