Sir, – For many years I have received a Christmas box from a Japanese friend in Fukuoka, containing mostly noodles, a ceramic plate, and a small bottle of sake. My friend has told me that this year’s parcel has just arrived back on his doorstep with the message: “Refused. Goods not fulfilling the conditions laid down in Articles 28 and 29 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union.”
Can anyone tell me what on earth is the meaning of this rift in Irish-Japanese relations? – Yours, etc,
JOHN HOWARD,
Blackrock,
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Co Dublin.