Australia remains a strategic energy and raw materials supplier to Japan. That is the core of the bilateral trade and investment relationship with Japan. It is also the base on which a strong and reliable political relationship has been built and from which both countries have worked to promote regional cooperation and human security. But Japan’s role in the regional and world economy has changed vastly, especially over the last two decades. A third of Japan’s manufacturing production is done offshore, importantly in Asia. In Asia outside Japan, Japanese firms procure imported materials, components and services almost equivalent to the value of all imports into Japan proper. Japanese investments in Australia now straddle a range of activities well beyond the food sector which have the potential to lift Australian exports not only into Japan but into Asia. Commercial and official strategies to capture the potential can be encouraged in a new bi-national endeavour. A new Australian partnership with Japan in Asia focused on Japan’s corporate and official reach in the region will strengthen practical engagement with Japan in Asia and naturally deepen the bilateral relationship, extending the range of useful working relationships, in the economic and political fields, that both countries have in Asia.