He made these comments when he met with the Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Mahinda Amaraweera at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan.

 
Twelve percent of the fish exports from Sri Lanka is purchased by Japan. Specially, the traditional sushi and sashimi made from tuna is exported to Japan at a price of Rs 30,000 a kilo.

 
Minister Amaraweera requested the support from Japan to further strengthen the production of sushi and sashimi in Sri Lanka and assured that Sri Lanka can increase the fish exports to Japan.

 
Minister Sato assured that Japan will support Sri Lanka to develop the fisheries sector. He further said that Sri Lankan Tuna is popular in Japan and that steps would be taken to strengthen the purchasing of Sushi and Shashimi from Sri Lanka.

 
At Present Japan purchases 700 metric tons of Tuna fish per year.