Author Archives: Justin Elavathil

Once in 10 years…

I’m happy to say that the Canada-Japan Trade Policy Course has come to a  conclusion.  I would like to thank all the MAAPPS students who fought to make this course happen.  Our efforts are a direct result of the quality of the program and the substantial knowledge we have obtained.  Thank you so much, Andrew, Astha, Benjamin, Itay, Jean-Francois, Julia, Nik, Tye, and Yongmin.

Although the praise for the success of this cross cultural academic experience goes to all members, we would be remiss to not single out Benjamin for his drive to make this program financially viable and especially Itay, who managed this ship from every detail from Vancouver to Japan. Everything we accomplished was due to the heart and soul that these individuals put into this.

I would also like to thank our partner institution, Hitotsubashi University, whose students and faculty reciprocated our dedication and desire to make this a successful achievement. Lastly, to the staff, faculty members, and director of IAR who supported us and guided us, Thank you so much.

The title of this post although simple is poignant. It comes from the person who we owe the most to, who put up with our pestering for months and never wavered in his support, Dr. Julian Dierkes.  This title has multiple meanings to our group of individuals but for me it defines the single-most rewarding academic experience of my life.

Let me know when it is time to negotiate with the Russians, I think we are ready….

Please look forward to future blog posts and comments from participants as we look forward to filling in the gaps of our posts and highlighting the areas of the EPA we made.

And So it Begins….

Last night students from University of British Columbia and Hitotsubashi University attended a negotiation simulation orientation to prepare them for the actual simulation starting this Sunday, August 21st.  Spirits are lively, as students finally found out which team they would represent and started to delve into preliminary talks with their team memebers to address areas of interest within the prospective EPA.  I wish all participants the best of luck, especially the two team leaders, Kentaro Morita (Team Japan) and Yongmin Lee (Team Canada).

A Brief Schedule of Planned Activities

As the group begins to gather, here is a brief schedule of some of the planned activities for the course.  Special thanks for the teams at both UBC and Hitotsubashi who put this all together.

August 16th(Tues)

  • Meeting with DPJ House of Representatives member, Mr. Yamazaki
  • Diet Tour

August 17th(Wed)

  • Meeting with Mr. Ogawa of the Japan Foundation
  • Meeting with former Ambassador to Canada, Mr. Numata
  • MOFA visit

August 19th(Fri)

  • Meeting with Mr. Kokubu of Asahi Shimbun
  • Negotiation Simulation Orientation

August 21st (Sun) – August 24th(Wed)

  • Negotiation Simulation at Akakura Onsen
  • Nagano Prefectural Office Visit (Aug 22nd)
  • MAAPPS Info Session at Canadian Embassy with Dr. Julian Dierkes (Aug 24th)

August 25th (Thurs)

  • Meeting at Keidanren
  • Meeting at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan with Mr. Anderson and Mr. Lawlor
  • MCRI project discussion with Dr. Wada and Dr. Shimizu of Waseda University.

August 26th (Fri)

  • Presentation at the Canadian Embassy
  • Reception