Tokyo Looks to Ottawa to Secure Critical Energy Supply Chains
Japan is keen to buy more energy from Canada and particularly welcomes the fact that there is no possible bottleneck such as the Strait of Hormuz that could thwart Canadian petroleum from reaching Asian shores, its new envoy said.
“Between Japan and Canada, there is no choke point,” Masashi Nakagome said in an interview, citing narrow passages including Asia’s Strait of Malacca, the main shipping route between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific.
The ambassador signalled, like his predecessor, that Japanese businesses are watching Canada-U.S. trade negotiations in hopes that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement is renewed because investments including in this country’s auto sector are premised on preferential access to the U.S. market.
“For any companies, not just Japanese companies, predictability is very important, and so we are hoping that we could see more predictability in the future,” he said of Canadian trade relations with the United States.
He said Japan is keen on buying more energy from Canada as part of its efforts to boost its economic security. Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. is a 15-per-cent joint-venture partner in the LNG Canada project that began shipping liquefied natural gas to Asia in June, 2025. It’s expected Japan will play a role in the potential Phase 2 expansion of LNG Canada.
Japan also buys coal and oil from Canada as well as uranium.
In addition, Japan is a major export market for Canadian propane via shipments from Calgary-based AltaGas Ltd. In 2024, AltaGas’s shipments made up 24 per cent of the Japanese propane market – all of which is imported. Its market share there dropped to 11 per cent in 2025 after a China-U.S. trade war sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump boosted Chinese demand for non-U.S. propane and AltaGas product was diverted there instead.
Canada in the summer signed on as an observer to the Global Combat Air Programme, a joint initiative by Britain, Japan and Italy to develop a next-generation fighter aircraft.
Mr. Nakagome said “concrete co-operation” between Canada and GCAP members is now under discussion.
Joining the program, even as an observer, is part of Canada’s efforts to diversify its defence ties and economic relations beyond the U.S. It could also be a prelude to one day purchasing the sixth-generation aircraft produced by Britain, Japan and Italy or participating more fully in the program.
A shift away from American aircraft for sixth-generation fighters would further reduce Canada’s reliance on its southern neighbour for defence at a time when the United States is seen as a less dependable partner. Experts have raised concerns that a hostile White House could withhold crucial spare parts or software updates for U.S.-made fighters.
Asked what advice Japan would have for Canada as it expands relations with China under Prime Minister Mark Carney, the Japanese envoy declined comment, saying it’s not his place. However, Mr. Nakagome said, “We have to be aware some countries use economic coercion to force [on] other countries their political opinions and so forth.”
Relations between Japan and China have plummeted to their worst point in decades, by some measures, and has led to Beijing hitting Japan with trade sanctions and product bans including rare-earth compounds. This follows Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s late 2025 comments that under certain conditions, a Chinese attack on the self-governed territory of Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.
The Japanese envoy arrived in Canada recently after serving as Tokyo’s ambassador to Ukraine for several years, where he was regularly forced to take shelter from Russian missile and drone attacks. During his tenure in Kyiv, he used to warn that “Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow,” repeating a phrase by former Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida about how a country in Asia could repeat what Russia has done.
He said Tokyo is grateful for Canada’s help with monitoring and surveillance of illicit maritime activities, including ship-to-ship transfers with North Korean-flagged vessels prohibited by United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Three Japanese financial institutions were invited to Mr. Carney’s Toronto investment summit earlier this month where Ottawa sought to attract capital to Canada: Mizuho Financial Group, Nippon Life Insurance Company and the Government Pension Investment Fund.
Mr. Nakagome said it was unfortunate that the list of invitees did not include Japanese trading companies. When it comes to energy projects or other big undertakings, “trading companies” in Japan “are the ones who make major investment in various parts of the world.”
This article was first reported by The Globe and Mail
