June 2011
Book Reviews
The €100bn Deal
After years of tough negotiations, the European Union and Japan at last agreed in Brussels on 28 May to discuss a free-trade deal that would link the world’s largest market with the third-biggest economy.
One Life
One Life is a nature documentary, produced by BBC Earth Films, that shows how creatures in all parts of the world manage to survive and pass on life to the next generation. Featuring insects, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians, mammals, and plants, the film captures the extraordinary range of intelligence needed to survive amid the many challenges of their lives.New Events Strategy
The BCCJ Events Committee is very pleased to announce an exciting new strategy for 2011–2012 that includes the introduction of five event categories. The change is designed to increase the value members derive from the BCCJ, while clarifying the nature and objectives of all events throughout the year.
The “Nuclear Sideshow”
Sir John Beddington was in Japan in late May for discussions with his Japanese counterparts about the ongoing situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. He also gave a full and frank briefing on the status of the facility at a BCCJ luncheon attended by more than 110 members and guests.
Social Entrepreneurship
In the Setagaya suburbs, a small team of social entrepreneurs at the Board Director Training Institute of Japan (BDTI) is tirelessly working to improve corporate governance at Japanese firms. BCCJ ACUMEN interviewed Nicholas E. Benes, BDTI’s founder and representative director.
For a Green and Pleasant Land
Experts agree that reducing carbon emitted by road vehicles is critical for the UK government’s target of cutting emissions by 80% (compared with 1990 levels) by 2050. To illustrate how this might be achieved, those behind some of the UK’s latest automotive R&D recently showcased their solutions in Japan.
Post-Disaster Preferences
Drastically changing consumer preferences and perceptions in Japan since the earthquake and tsunami of 11 March have emerged as the economy took a debilitating hit and then showed signs of recovery, according to surveys by I&S BBDO Japan.
What Leaders Need
Unfortunately, for many management consultants and change specialists, the word “crisis”, in either Chinese or Japanese, does not translate into “danger and opportunity”. But perhaps a better translation from the English—and a more accurate definition—is a dangerous moment when one’s full attention is needed.
“Not Grim up North”
When Nick Bonner arrived in Beijing in 1993 to study and teach landscape architecture, he had no idea that before the year was out he would have laid the foundations for what are today the most successful travel and cultural exchange organisations operating in the world’s most isolated nation.
Against the Odds
The Chinese came over the hillsides “like ants”, said Ben Whitchurch, who also recalled wishing, as a private in the spring of 1951, that he had been armed with something that had a faster rate of fire than an Enfield rifle.
Having Designs on Tradition
The studio is an oasis of understated calm, a breath or two away from a major Tokyo intersection. The artist working from it is a strikingly beautiful young woman dressed in an exquisite kimono; a base of white silk with a delicate floral motif in purple, the colour echoed slightly deeper in the obi sash that also bears at the rear a single white hydrangea.
Bookworms, Ltd.
The list of authors The English Agency Japan has represented is long and impressive. They range from JG Ballard, Kazuo Ishiguro and Ian McEwan to Nick Hornby, John Updike, Ian Rankin and Ed McBain. Chuck in David Peace, Noam Chomsky, Bill Bryson and Bill Clinton and it’s clear that an outfit born in a poky, one-room office in Nishi-azabu back in August 1979 has come a long way.News in Brief
Your monthly digest of UK / Japan news
Bristol Exhibit Saves Iwate Art
Twenty-four oils of landscapes and flowers by award-winning artist Ryoko Oikawa were saved from destruction in the March earthquake because they had just been shipped to her first UK exhibition, the Bristol Evening Post reported on 10 May.
Guidebook: “Pricey, Poor Quality UK Still Fascinating”
Britain is full of overpriced restaurants, poor-quality tourist attractions and expensive hotels, according to the latest Lonely Planet country guide to the nation, published in May.
Tokyo Agrees to Join Hague Pact
After years of increasing foreign pressure, Japan has finally agreed to sign a treaty to help settle cross-border child custody disputes, the Sankei Shimbun reported on 19 May.『BCCJ ACUMEN』Volume 2 / Issue 6のまとめ
Best of Both Worlds
If anyone doubts Britain’s commitment to Europe, they probably haven’t read BCCJ ACUMEN recently. The Brussels-based EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation—a joint venture between the EC and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry that strongly influences trade talks such as those featured in our cover story this issue—never fails to ask me each month if it can reproduce in their magazine any EU-related stories we feature.
