It is no coincidence that the “brave blossoms” have chosen Ernest Wallon as their base camp for the World Cup
in 2023. This Sunday, November 20 in Toulouse, the XV of France faces the rugby players of the land of the Rising Sun. And starting next week, between November 25 and December 2, the Region organizes the first edition of the Japan Week in Occitania
: dozens of activities scheduled in all our departments under the sign of Franco-Japanese friendship, discovery and economic development. Several Japanese delegations are expected here. The opportunity for the Region to launch small seeds in the direction of the Japanese authorities for the years to come. The president of the Yujo association (friendship in Japanese), Bruno James was the guest of the morning of France Bleu and France 3 Occitanie.
Eighth export partner of Occitania
The Occitanie region would like the Japanese to be able to identify it in the same way as Paris, Bordeaux or Provence. Japan is Occitanie’s eighth export trading partner. The Region wants to bet on agri-food by exporting very identifiable products such as wines or foie gras. Three large missions have also been carried out over the past six years for delegations to travel to each other, in particular with the regions of Kyoto and Nagoya.
Economic exchanges between Occitania and Japan have tripled over the past five years – Bruno James, president of the Yujo association at the helm of this Japan Week
Because the other big issue is to promote the aeronautical industry. Nagoya in particular is an important aeronautical basin in Japan with factories that produce composite parts such as the wings of the Boeing 787. For the moment, the main Japanese airlines have chosen Boeing for their fleet. But nothing is ever set in stone when it comes to business. “Japan Air Lines bought several A350s a few years ago, Airbus is starting to weave its web in Japan”, abounds Bruno James. A delegation of around twenty representatives from the Nagoya region is also expected in Toulouse at the Aéromart aeronautical business convention which begins in two weeks.
There are approximately 400 Japanese nationals living in Toulouse, 2,000 in Occitania. Thirty Japanese companies are based in Toulouse and Montpellier, they employ 4,000 people in aeronautics, food and medicine.