The Daily Star (TDS): Please tell us a little bit about the city you were born in, your education and family. 

H.E. Mr. Shiro Sadoshima (HE SS): I was born in 1953 in a town called Fukuoka which is on the northern tip of the southernmost island of Japan. I studied Law in the Tokyo University. Later on, I obtained an MA in Chinese Politics from Stanford University, US. My wife stays back in Japan with my kids, a boy and a girl.

While in college, I wanted to become an actor.  I organised a theatrical troupe. It was 1972. We were trying to put a drama on stage and a group of radical students did not like it. They tried to stop us from putting it on stage. At one point they resorted to violence. The police arrived. I was innocent but they took me to the police station and interrogated me for long hours.  After that I suspended all my activities.  

Soon after, a senior friend organised another troupe and coincidentally, he was trying to put on the same drama.  I could not help joining them. One day while I was acting there, I found a small article in the back page of a TV magazine. A famous TV company was going to throw an audition for some new faces for season two of a very popular series.   I went to Osaka for the interview. I thought it went well. Just when I was about to stand up, an old gentleman who was taking a nap during the interview woke up and said, "Have you ever seen the drama?" I decided not to lie.  So I said, "No, Sir, I haven't." He was upset. Then I remembered I once caught a glimpse of the series while flipping channels.  When I mentioned this, he said, "Get out of here." The old gentleman was the chairman of the TV Company and that was the end of my dream to become an actor. 

TDS: How did you get interested in the diplomatic service? 

HE SS:  Then I heard about the diplomatic exam. The eligibility for the exam was that you just had to pass college. For qualifying in other branches of the public service, you had to graduate. There was a good chance that I was not going to graduate.  I had skipped a lot of classes. I thought if I cleared the qualifying exam I would at least have a job.  I tried it the first time in 1976. I hadn't studied much. I failed. The next year I made it. That was the start of my diplomatic career. 

I tried to be an actor. And sometimes diplomats act. I got the right job in the end, after all (laughter). I have enjoyed my career all the way—particularly this assignment here in Bangladesh, the most exciting and impressive tour I ever had. I have served, in order of appointment, in China, the US, Vietnam, Australia, and Hong Kong. 

TDS: How did you prepare for the ambassadorship to Bangladesh? 

HE SS: The second half of my career has been development assistance oriented. Immediately before coming here, I was the DG of International Corporation Bureau which is in charge of Japanese government's Official Development Assistance operations. During this time, I visited Bangladesh several times, the first time being in 1998.  

I thought I had some idea about what Bangladesh is like. But visiting and living are totally two different things. I was overwhelmed by the vibrant colours all around and the arts. People are happy.  They care.  I have never seen a country like this. 

TDS: Have you found any similarities between the two people? 

HE SS:  Like Bangladesh, Japan is also prone to various kinds of natural disasters, typhoons, floods and earthquakes.  We have to stay alert against these forces. And here, people unite to fight against rivers and cyclones. When I go to the countryside I am reminded of my own country.   Japanese people like it here, they keep coming back.  The Japanese TV series Oshin was very popular here. Our two people share common sentiments and values. 

TDS: You are also an artist. Please tell us how you took up painting.  

HE SS:  I am a weekend painter.  While a sophomore, I used to go into the mountains with watercolours in my backpack. Once I had a near-death experience in the autumn fog.  I never thought I would paint again. But within one year of my arrival in this country, I found myself painting again. I was amazed by the people and colours.  This country has given me some inspiration for which I am very grateful. 

TDS: What's your impression about the Bangladeshi art scene? 

HE SS:  I am impressed with the fact that there are so many established painters here who studied in Japan—Jamal Ahmed, Sheikh Afzal, Dr Kibria and so on. I knew that Tagore visited Japan more than once and made friends with a then-famous curator, or at critic, Mr. Tenshin Okakura who sent some teachers to Shantiniketan to teach Japanese painting, and they later became top artists in Japan. 

TDS: You wear traditional Bangladeshi clothes like the Punjabi. Are you breaking away from any diplomatic norms? 

HE SS:  They are very comfortable. The fun part is the sandals. You don't have to wear socks and shoes. When our Prime Minister came to Dhaka in 2014, I went into the special plane to receive our PM, I opened the door and the PM was surprised to see me in this attire. Friends in the entourage were looking for me saying, "Where is our Ambassador? They thought I was not there. But I was there, wearing a Punjabi. 

It has become sort of a brand of myself. If I go to a social occasion not wearing it, people ask me, what happened to your Punjabi? But when friends in Japan saw pictures of me wearing one, they said I looked like a Kung Fu teacher.  

TDS: Please give us an idea about the future of Bangladesh-Japan bilateral relationship. 

HE SS:  The relationship came to a new height through the exchanges between the Prime Ministers of our two countries. Bangladesh is turning to a very important strategic corner for its future development. Our bilateral relation is also coming closer to a very strategic moment.  Despite the political turmoil and the difficulties, your economy is growing. And if you look at the demography there are so many young people. That's a big plus.  

But to continue your nation building you will need energy. The natural gas will come to an end someday. You have a huge reserve of coal but you need time and technology to turn it into energy. So you will have to import it. How are you going to pay for them? Now you are classified as an LDC so you have a good handicap. But when you graduate from the LDC status, you are going to have to compete on a level ground. You have developed some very good light industries, particularly RMG and pharmaceuticals. You are going to have to diversify and add value to your industries in order to finance those imports. We believe you can do it. Japan is ready to help.  

TDS: What are your recommendations?  

HE SS:  This country occupies a lynchpin position between Southeast Asia and India to both of which we have large investment stakes. We want Bangladesh to become a hub of production and supplier of quality parts to our production lines in Southeast Asia, for example, Malaysia, Thailand, or towards west, India. The line workers of this country are hardworking and efficient.   And you also have some efficient engineers. You have to take advantage of these merits.  Your RMG has been very successful in penetrating markets in North America and Europe but in the Japanese market not so much. You could do better. 

Production costs in Japan are high. The costs in China are also becoming higher. Many Japanese companies are going to Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. Myanmar has got only 20 million people. I am always encouraging my staff to beat our embassy in Yangon. I tell Japanese visitors, "BTM"—better than Myanmar. 

TDS: What do our businessmen need to do to make our products more attractive to the Japanese market? 

HE SS: We are now proposing the establishment of an industrial belt called the Bay of Bengal Industry Growth Belt. Our Prime Minister has said that if you comply with a set of policies towards that orientation, we are ready to offer all sorts of help including financial. The two governments have embarked upon this exercise.  We hope this will take our relations to another height. We are ready.

You should find markets in the vicinity first. We advised your government, particularly the Foreign Office to establish links with RCEP-Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership promoted by ASEAN countries. 

TDS: What thoughts are going to take with you when you leave? 

HE SS:  Bangladeshis are a happy people.  They are also very caring. Your approach to life—that's something I would like to share with my friends back home. That's why I am taking my paintings with me to Bangkok, Thailand, my next assignment.