Japan Looks to Canada for More Energy, Envoy Says
Japan wants to buy more Canadian energy as part of its plan for economic security, Ambassador Masashi Nakagome says.
Nakagome spoke in an interview with The Globe and Mail published Sept. 24 The Globe and Mail. He started as Japan's ambassador to Canada in September, according to the embassy Embassy of Japan in Canada. Energy was his main message.
Propane shows how the trade works. Calgary-based AltaGas Ltd. supplied 24 per cent of Japan's propane market in 2024. Japan imports all the propane it uses. In 2025, AltaGas's share fell to 11 per cent after product was sent to China instead. That shift followed stronger Chinese demand for propane not from the United States during the China-U.S. trade war.
Japan also buys coal, oil and uranium from Canada. The LNG Canada project, in which Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. holds a 15-per-cent joint-venture stake, started shipping liquefied natural gas to Asia in June 2025. Liquefied natural gas is natural gas cooled to liquid so it can travel by ship.
He also spoke about geography. "Between Japan and Canada, there is no choke point" for energy shipments, Nakagome said. A choke point is a narrow waterway where traffic can be blocked. He noted the absence of passages such as the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Malacca. The Pacific crossing is direct.
On trade in North America, he spoke about predictability. Predictability is very important for companies regarding Canada's trade relations with the United States, Nakagome said. Japanese businesses are watching Canada-U.S. trade negotiations. He said they hope the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the three-country free trade deal, is renewed. Investments in Canada, including in the auto sector, are premised on preferential access to the U.S. market, he said.
On defence, Canada has signed on as an observer to the Global Combat Air Programme, a next-generation fighter aircraft initiative by Britain, Japan and Italy. An observer can follow the work without being a full partner. Nakagome said "concrete co-operation" between Canada and programme members is now under discussion.
The broader context here is familiar to anyone who follows Ottawa. Japan is advancing energy security and defence-industrial cooperation on separate tracks, but both depend on steady, long-term policy in Canada. One track requires export infrastructure that can deliver volumes reliably. The other requires clarity on how far observer status might lead toward industrial participation.
Looking at what this means for federal decision-makers, the envoy's comments link files that are often managed apart. Propane and LNG sales speak to West Coast capacity and regulatory timelines. Uranium, oil and coal speak to existing supply chains. The auto-sector comments speak to the coming USMCA review and the investment assumptions built around it. None of those decisions sits entirely in Ottawa. All of them will be read in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka as signals of whether Canada can anchor long-term commitments.
