Welcome back to the Sunstone Way – and Sayonara!
This Sunday, I’ll be winging my way to Tokyo with 50 or so of my closest friends (old and new). We are part of the California+Japan TradeMisson 2025.
Statewide Partnerships
This is a pretty amazing public-private partnership put together by the CalAsian Foundation, a powerful nonprofit organization. Other organizers are the New California Coalition, the Los Angeles County Business Federation and World Trade Center Los Angeles.
Sunstone Cities is a sponsor, along with the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, PG&E, United Airlines, Delta Airlines, US Bank, MUFG, and Joby. There will be plenty of state and municipal leaders represented. State Treasurer Fiona Ma is on the manifest, as well as a number of state Assembly members. Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, Vice Mayor Cindy Allen in her role as chair of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) and representatives from LA and San Francisco will be on the plane too.
We’re going to have plenty of time to work with each other and our counterparts in Japan. The trip is from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4.
Fun fact. Tokyo is 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles, so when we leave here on the afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 28, it will already be Monday, Sept. 29, in Tokyo. And we’ll go back in time when we come home!
Partnership of Peers
California and Japan both punch far above their weight when it comes to the global economy. In the last year, California passed Japan in terms of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to become the fourth largest economy in the world with $4.1 trillion, according to the BBC and other press reports in April. At fifth, Japan is still a dominant economy, with a $4.02 trillion GDP.
Japan relies more on manufacturing and exports in its economy, and imports a lot of its food. California is still a world leader in agriculture, and the entertainment industry is a big contributor.
But both California and Japan rely on tech and innovation, with an emphasis on clean energy development. We’ll have plenty of common ground to start our conversations.
Differences Matter
While the Japanese and Californian economies are roughly equal in size, there are significant differences. To start, there are three times as many people living in Japan than California, despite the land size being roughly equal. That means the per capita GDP in California is much higher than Japan.
Moreover, Japan’s population is aging rapidly, while California has gotten older much more slowly. In 2025, the median age in Japan is 49.8 years – one of the oldest in the world. California’s average age is 38.7 years.
But there are synergies.
California is the Pacific gateway to Japan and Asia, and the state’s population reflects that. About 18% of California’s population is Asian. And nearly 30% of the Japanese-American population in the United States calls California home.
Creating Community
I am a strong believer in the power of in-person communication. While much of the world has embraced the online and virtual communications left over from our GREAT use of technology to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, it takes looking your partners in the eye to create real community.
Creating community is a core value for Sunstone, and doing so across many diverse groups of people, organizations, and sectors is part of our secret sauce. That’s why being part of activities like the California+Japan Trade Mission 2025 is so important.
These activities allow us to create communities, to develop partnerships, at home and abroad. So you can bet I am practicing saying Konnichiwa in preparation for this trip.
Because that’s The Sunstone Way.
And remember, always be a Sunstone.
John Keisler
CEO & Managing Partner
Sunstone Management, Inc.
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©Sunstone Management, Inc. 2025