Governor Makes His Pitch in Japan

As an actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger was pregnant in the movie “Junior.” He played the villainous Mr. Freeze in “Batman & Robin” and had cryogenic liquid pulsing in his veins.

Yet when Schwarzenegger wanted to truly startle a viewing audience, he would come to Japan. This week, he’s back for a four-day trade mission -- in a far less provocative role.

In a series of TV ads in the 1990s that Schwarzenegger made in Japan, he shed any hint of inhibition while pitching the most pedestrian products, including noodles and beer. In one ad for an energy drink, Schwarzenegger juggled two men in the air, then screamed into the camera. Normally immaculate in his public appearances, he is seen in another ad shoveling clumps of noodles into his mouth.

Schwarzenegger was expected to arrive by midafternoon today. He aims to use his popularity with the Japanese public to sell California as a tourist destination, as an exporter of rice, raisins and other agricultural products, and as an improving place to do business.

In tow is a 57-member delegation of business leaders helping the governor make the case, including California Chamber of Commerce President Allan Zaremberg.

“The governor said all along that he wants to make California a place to do business,” said Margita Thompson, a spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger. “He’s had a domestic campaign to do that, and now we’re going international.”

The campaign is already in place. An enormous video billboard of California’s governor looms over the Roppongi Hills section of Tokyo, near the hotel where much of the California delegation is staying.

Schwarzenegger’s itinerary includes an appearance on the Tokyo Broadcast System’s nightly news show today. On Thursday, he will hold a reception, billed as a “Taste of California,” at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo hotel. Three U.S. chefs will make dishes using California ingredients. One aim of the trip is to encourage Japanese consumers to buy more California-grown rice.

Also on Thursday, Schwarzenegger is to meet with executives from the Sony and Toyota corporations.

He will meet Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and attend a reception for business leaders. He will leave Saturday after an outdoor tourist promotion event.

“One of the most important things is to go out and to sell California, because we have just so much to offer, and to let Japan know and to let the rest of the world know that we are open for business, that this is a new California now,” Schwarzenegger said at a recent news conference.

The Japan trip is Schwarzenegger’s third visit overseas since taking office a year ago. He is planning at least two more next year -- to China and then to Europe.

Last week in Sacramento, the governor met with Japanese Consul General Makoto Yamanaka in preparation for the trip. Yamanaka wants “the governor to introduce a new California to Japan, and at the same time, he wants the governor to have an opportunity to see and look at a new Japan -- a Japan that has been able to pull itself out of its economic slump and is regaining strength,” said Akiko Sugita, a spokeswoman for the Japanese consul general’s office.

Anticipating huge Japanese interest, the governor is using a Tokyo public relations firm to accommodate the local news media. Schwarzenegger’s office said it would release the cost of the trip after the governor returns. The money is coming from a mix of taxpayer and private funds channeled through several sources, including the California Protocol Foundation and the state Department of Food and Agriculture.

The California Protocol Foundation, a nonprofit group associated with the state Chamber of Commerce, is paying for the governor’s travel and lodging, as it is for some of the 17 Cabinet members and senior staff accompanying Schwarzenegger.

As a trade partner, Japan is crucial. The country accounted for $11.8 billion of California’s $94 billion in exports last year, ranking second to Mexico. Japan had been No. 1 until 1999, when it was eclipsed by Mexico, but is narrowing the gap, according to Howard Shatz, research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California.

In the first half of 2004, California’s exports to Japan totaled $6.8 billion -- a growth of 22% from the previous year. Mexico’s share of California’s export market grew 13% over that time period. The major goods sold to Japan are computer and electronic products, factory machinery, aircraft and food.

There appears to be little consensus on whether a quick visit by Schwarzenegger will make a difference. But the governor is hoping to tie his celebrity to California’s economic future. Before Schwarzenegger took office last year, the state closed a dozen overseas trade offices, including ones in Mexico City and Tokyo.

“He’s certainly well-known in Japan and has a huge advantage over your average governor in terms of public relations,” said Steven Vogel, a political science professor at UC Berkeley and a specialist in Japanese political economy. “Whether that would translate into sales, it’s hard to say. I don’t think your average Japanese consumer knows which products are from California as opposed to elsewhere in the U.S.”

Shatz said: “A lot of trade goes through large multinational firms, and my guess is that for the most part, they don’t really need something like this [Schwarzenegger’s visit] to take place.”

Still, he added, “Advertising never hurts. The governor can through this trip put California in front of the eyes of Japanese investors. If they’re uncomfortable or uncertain about the business climate in California, he can give them enough information so they might take a second look.”

Among rice growers in particular, there is excitement about the visit. One member of the mission is Michael Rue, director of the California Rice Commission. Rice farmers say they’ve struggled with perceptions among Japanese consumers that California rice simply doesn’t taste as good as the home-grown kind.

In the governor, rice farmers see a persuasive new salesman. Sample bags of rice will be given away at one reception this week; California rolls -- made with crab meat, avocado and cucumber -- will be served at another.

“We feel that when the Japanese consumer knows how good our rice tastes, we’ll establish inroads,” said Charlie Hoppin, chairman of the California Rice Industry Assn. “That’s where Schwarzenegger comes into play. His persona brings people to listen to him. I can’t think of anyone else you could send over there that will attract the audience. And part of that has to do with his stardom and worldwide recognition.”

The governor is aggressively deploying that stardom in his newest pitch to the Japanese. The Roppongi Hills billboard shows him in front of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and says: “Visit California and you’ll be back.”