The Taoiseach’s visit to Japan last week, where he opened Ireland House Tokyo and visited the Irish pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, reflects that country’s growing importance as a trade partner and a source of inward investment. But Micheál Martin’s meeting with Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday highlighted the growing prominence of geopolitical and security issues in the bilateral relationship.
At a cost of more than € 21 million, Ireland House Tokyo is the most expensive capital project the State has ever undertaken outside the country. But bilateral trade between Ireland and Japan is worth more than € 21 billion a year and its volume has doubled over the past decade.
The protectionist mood generated by Donald Trump will make it politically difficult for American companies to announce major new investments overseas, including in Ireland. This makes Japan’s investment in technology, life sciences, financial services, engineering and other industries in Ireland all the more important.
Enterprise Ireland represents more than 300 Irish companies in Japan and the country is the biggest market in Asia after China for Irish food and drink. The Taoiseach’s visit followed trips to Japan in recent weeks by Enterprise Minister Peter Burke and Agriculture Minister Martin Haydon, reflecting its important as a market for Irish exporters.
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As Japanese investment in Ireland has increased, its government has taken a closer look at the security of the infrastructure on which it depends. Ishiba questioned the Taoiseach closely on what steps the Government was taking to protect the subsea cables off the Irish coast which are used to transmit data.
The Japanese prime minister was concerned about the activities of Russian trawlers close to the cables and to the interconnector between Britain and Ireland. The Taoiseach cited Ireland’s arrangements with organisations like Nato and Pesco as evidence that the Government was taking action to protect essential offshore infrastructure but Japan’s concerns will be shared by other trading partners.
Japan’s population is shrinking by 800,000 every year and Ireland’s growing population is a major attraction for Japanese investors. Japanese regulations mean Ireland’s tax regime is less important for their companies than access to talent from across Europe and around the world.
The Taoiseach acknowledged that anti-immigration rhetoric was in danger of drowning out the truth that Ireland’s growing population and diverse, international labour force are economic strengths. It is essential that the Government continues to make that case to the public at home as persuasively as the IDA makes it to Japanese investors.
