A Japanese official is in Colorado this week to visit universities, meet with Gov. Bill Owens and maybe even eat some U.S. beef.
Hiroshi Saito, governor of the Yamagata prefecture, is in Colorado to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the sister- state relationship.
Saito met with Owens on Monday to discuss foreign affairs and a commitment of friendship between the two states.
“I think we have a lot of things in common,” Saito said.
The “second stage” of that friendship involves building an industrial relationship between the two states.
Doing so will be “a lot tougher” than improving cultural understanding, said World Trade Center president Jim Reis. Bolstering the state’s beef industry would be a good place to start.
Until it banned U.S. beef in 2003, Japan was the United States’ largest customer. It resumed imports this year.
Said Reis, “Everybody I know in the beef industry here said, ‘Gee, it’s great that it’s open. But now we’ve got to work our way back into the market and get the confidence of consumers.
“One step (would be) to get the politicians’ picture being taken in Colorado eating beef. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
There’s no guarantee that will happen during Saito’s whirlwind tour.
On Monday, Saito visited the University of Denver, which hosts students from Yamagata University. Today he will visit the University of Colorado at Boulder’s aerospace department and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. He leaves Wednesday.
Staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi can be reached at 303-820-1488 or kyamanouchi@denverpost.com.
