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The British Chamber of Commerce in Japan (BCCJ) and PechaKucha teamed up on 20 February at the Core Kitchen/Space in Shinbashi, Minato Ward, to mark International PechaKucha Day with the interactive event Techs in the City. PechaKucha is a 400-second visual format in which 20 slides are presented for 20 seconds each.
BCCJ Associate Director Sarah Backley welcomes members and guests to the Techs in the City event on 20 February. Presenters used the PechaKucha 20x20 method to present their efforts in tackling some of the 21st century’s greatest challenges.
Sean Ellison, senior economist for Asia-Pacific at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), spoke at the BCCJ event Global Commercial Property Monitor with RICS: Where Should You Be Doing Your Next Deal? on 27 February at Roppongi Hills Club.
From left: GlobalTreehouse Inc. Representative Director & Deputy President COO Tom Pedersen and a member of his team, deVere Acuma K.K. Business Development Manager Yukari Yabugaki and Area Manager Adrian Rowles, and Custom Media President Robert Heldt with ACUMEN Publisher Simon Farrell at the Team GB Tokyo 2020 Pre-Olympic Build-up event 4 March at AoyamaTreehouse, which will serve as the Team GB House during the Games.
On 14 February, British School in Tokyo (BST) Year 3 School Council members delivered ¥232,000 that BST raised at the Funky Sock Day on 31 January to the office of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Japan for the Australia Bushfire emergency campaign.
Over half term holidays, on 17 February, BST secondary students had a Geography trip to the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel—also known as Tokyo’s Flood Tunnels—the world’s largest such infrastructure. Located in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, this facility helps protect the Kanto Plain.
The BST parent–teacher association had a successful Valentine’s Bake Sale on 11 February.
From left: British Chamber of Commerce in Japan (BCCJ) President David Bickle, Executive Committee member Heather McLeish, Economist Corporate Network Associate Director Dimitry Rakin and BCCJ Executive Director Lori Henderson MBE. Rakin spoke at the BCCJ 2020 Global Forecast event on 30 January.
The St. David’s Society Japan Committee attended Kumamoto Night on 13 February at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. Kumamoto Mayor Kazufumi Onishi (third right) introduced the city’s attractions and ongoing reconstruction efforts, and guests tried local cuisine, sake and shochu.
Swedish illustrator and author of young adult novels Peter Bergting visited The British School in Tokyo (BST) on 29 January for a day of wonderful talks and workshops with hundreds of students in Years 6–9.
BST celebrated Funky Sock Day—thought up by their Shibuya Student Council—on 31 January as a fundraiser to support wildlife charities helping animals affected by the recent Australian bushfires. The event raised ¥220,803 for the World Wildlife Fund.
The BST Under-11 and Under-13 football teams were in Bangkok on 16–19 January to take part in the Harrow 7’s International Football Tournament with many other top international schools. The U11s finished fifth and the U13s came second.
The ACUMEN creative team from Custom Media took part in a team-building exercise in Shinjuku on 10 February.
Japanese educational technology was on display at the British Educational Training and Technology Show in London. Ten Japanese firms exhibited at the event on 22–25 January as part of Tokyo’s efforts to raise awareness of the country’s innovations.
From left: British Chamber of Commerce in Japan (BCCJ) Executive Director Lori Henderson MBE, Global Perspectives co-founder and BCCJ Executive Committee member Tove Kinooka, and Lowell Sheppard, Asia-Pacific director of HOPE International Development Agency. Kinooka and Sheppard spoke at The Climate Crisis and Business: 24 Hours of Action event at the BCCJ Hub on 21 November.
BBC Tokyo correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes delivered the speech at the Japan-British Society (JBS) annual dinner, at which the 2019 JBS awards were announced, on 28 November at The Okura Tokyo.
The BCCJ and the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce co-hosted The Future of Education, an event moderated by Kirsten O’Connor, founder and chief executive of BCCJ member firm Quest Tokyo, at the BCCJ Hub on 10 December.
This month the BCCJ welcomes Sarah Backley as associate director. She will be taking on key management responsibilities while Executive Director Lori Henderson MBE is on maternity leave starting in February.
The Knights in White Lycra (KIWL), a fundraising group that helps volunteers get fit while giving back to disadvantaged children in care in Japan, held its Go-Go 23km run along the Arakawa River in November to support a local kids home in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture.
A charity ball was held on 22 November to mark the 30th anniversary of The British School in Tokyo (BST) and raise funds for United World Schools, a UK-based charity that builds schools and trains teachers in remote areas of South-East Asia. All funds raised at the event will support the building of a primary school in Nepal.
Three members of the Brave Blossoms, Japan’s national rugby team, visited BST for an interesting and insightful Q&A session with students on 7 November.
BST students ran a beautiful course near Mount Fuji during the school’s Primary and Secondary Fuji Relay on 8–10 November.
From left: British Chamber of Commerce in Japan (BCCJ) President David Bickle, Financial Times Tokyo Bureau Chief Robin Harding, Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Public Affairs and Director of Global Communications in the Japanese Prime Minister’s Office Tomoaki Ishigaki and BCCJ Executive Director Lori Henderson MBE hosted Tokyo Calling: How Japan Communicates with the World at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo on 18 October.
From left: Custom Media Publisher Simon Farrell, St David’s Society Japan President Ursula Bartlett-Imadegawa, Lord Gregory Mostyn and Yoko Kobori, senior Wales affairs officer at the Welsh Government office in Japan. Lord Mostyn spoke at the monthly meeting of the College Women’s Association of Japan at Tokyo American Club on 6 November.
Leo Lewis, Tokyo correspondent for the Financial Times, spoke at the paper’s So You Want to be a NED? workshop at the Clifford Chance office in Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo on 31 October.
Members of the Custom Media team with David Head, director of TALiNT International (top, second left), at the Recruitment International Awards at Hotel Gajoen Tokyo on 25 October. PHOTO: LIFE.14
Zensho Agency, Inc. President and Chief Culture Officer Robin Doenicke (left) receives the RI Award for Business Leader of the Year from Custom Media co-founder Simon Farrell. Photo: LIFE.14
A slightly wet start to the British School in Tokyo (BST) Secondary Inter-House Sports Day on 17 October didn’t dampen spirits nor stop anyone from joining in the fun and cheering friends on.
An outstanding show of musicianship was on display at BST’s Advanced Musicians’ Recital at L’Atelier in Shibuya on 30 October.
Cartan McLaughlin (left), chief executive of Nihon Tech Solutions Co., Ltd. Japan and its sister company, Nihon Cyber Defence Co., Ltd. with Stephen Platt, chairman and chief executive of KYC Global Technologies. Platt spoke at an event marking the launch of their products into the Japanese market at Akasaka Intercity AIR on 16 October.