Luncheon Meeting with the Ambassador of Sweden

TOKYO, JAPAN - Mr. Lars Vargö, the Ambassador of Sweden in Tokyo, gave a speech entitled "Swedish and Japanese, its Similarity and Difference".  Mr. Lars Vargö has held important positions in many other countries, including the United States. Around 30 members of WTC Tokyo joined the luncheon. 

At the beginning of his speech, he said, “In Europe, people sometimes say that the Swedish are the Japanese of Europe.” He then compared both countries on various aspects.

In terms of similarities, he mentioned that the decision-making process in organizations is slow, that people rely heavily on government officials, and that people keep a positive view of other countries. He also pointed out the fact that similar stories are found in many parts of Norse and Japanese myths.

Concerning differences, the Ambassador picked out the following: Swedish people are very keen to do their duty as a nation, while Japanese people are sometimes more loyal to institutions such as companies rather than their own country. With regard to education, students are trained to find solutions themselves in Sweden, while they need to absorb a lot of knowledge in Japan.

After his speech, WTC Tokyo members raised several questions concerning businesses, history and culture. We enjoyed a discussion on variety of matters, comparing Sweden and Japan.  Mr. Lars Vargö ended the evening by saying, "I really feel that, although the two countries are located very far from each other, they are very close in many aspects".

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