Community

BCCJ Executive Director Lori Henderson MBE announced the results for the election members of the Executive Committee.

BCCJ members were treated to a buffet and drinks at the AGM after the formalities were over.

BCCJ members took the opportunity to network over refreshments.

Dr David W Hughes received the coveted Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays, from Ambassador of Japan to the UK Koji Tsuruoka, at the Embassy of Japan in London on 22 February. Hughes has been promoting the understanding of traditional Japanese music in the UK.

Ambassador Tsuruoka bestows another Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, on Dr Peter Francis Kornicki, emeritus professor of Japanese studies at the University of Cambridge on 6 March. He was honoured for his contribution to the promotion of Japanese studies in the UK.

From left: Iris Wang, founder of Brentano, a luxury fabric brand, with Custom Media’s senior graphic designer Michael Pfeffer, Innovasia, K.K.’s marketing manager Aoi Nishino and Custom Media’s senior project coordinator, Yoshiki Tatezaki, at an event in Daikanyama, Tokyo on 10 April.

Jane Best OBE, CEO of Refugees International Japan (left), and volunteer Stacy Ryan staged a charity fund-raising racing simulation event at the House of Aston Martin in Aoyama, Tokyo.

Knights in White Lycra held its first Futsal Cup, raising ¥100,000 for NPO Esperanza, which provides football coaching for children and adults with cerebral palsy, while also teaching English language. Tournament winners were the British Embassy FC Bulldogs.

Will Jasprizza, managing director, Japan of Intralink KK, and Renata Naurzalieva, project manager, attended Successful Joint Ventures.

Sam Madicott, membership and marketing at the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan (BCCJ); Lori Henderson MBE, executive director of the BCCJ; and her daughter Hope at the charity cycling team Knights in White Lycra’s Imperial Palace Walk in Tokyo.

From left: Trevor Webster, managing partner at Taylor Brunswick Japan K.K.; Jason Pearce, head of technical sales at Old Mutual Wealth Limited; Riya Sri-Raviculan, wealth manager at Taylor Brunswick; Greg Smith, managing partner at Taylor Brunswick Hong Kong; and Matthew Lamb, chief executive officer of Pacific Asset Management, LLC, at the Shangri-la Hotel, Tokyo.

Japanese Ambassador to the UK Koji Tsuruoka presented the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun to Lord Hague of Richmond PC in recognition of his contribution to strengthening and developing relations between Japan and the United Kingdom.

Cast and crew of Samurai and Idiots – The Olympus Affair, a documentary on the financial scandal exposed by Michael Woodford MBE, appear for the Japan premiere at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.

Ambassador Tsuruoka presented the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette to Robert Ketchell, chairman of the Japanese Garden Society, for his contribution to introducing, preserving and restoring Japanese gardens.

New participants from 12 countries of the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme were welcomed at a reception at Hotel Le Port Kojimachi, Tokyo.

Steve Crane, chief executive officer of Business Link Japan Ltd, and Robert Heldt, president of Custom Media K.K., recorded a podcast for Export to Japan about social media marketing in Japan at the British Embassy Tokyo. Hear it at bit.ly/2Hu3ypF

From left: Jacky Scanlan-Dyas, partner at Hogan Lovells; Dan Hamilton, general director at Diageo Japan K.K.; and Akihiro Itoh, assistant general counsel for Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., at Successful Joint Ventures at the ANA InterContinental Tokyo.

Japanese Ambassador to the UK Koji Tsuruoka presented Shinichi Ohnuma, professor at University College London’s Institute of Ophthalmology, with the Foreign Minister’s Commendation for his contribution to UK–Japan academic and educational cooperation.

Hiroyuki Takai, president of Sumitomo Corporation Global Research Co., Ltd.; Rachel King, minister counsellor for economic affairs at the British Embassy Tokyo; William Sposato, partner at Kreab; and Lori Henderson MBE, executive director of the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan (BCCJ), at the 2018 Global Forecast at the Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo.

Rupert Younger, co-founder and global managing partner at Finsbury; Leo Lewis, Tokyo correspondent for the Financial Times; and Michiyo Nakamoto, a freelance journalist, at Reputation Capital at The Peninsula Tokyo.

Alison Beale, director of the University of Oxford’s Japan office and vice president of the BCCJ Executive Committee (Excom), and Tove Kinooka, co-founder and consultant at Global Perspectives K.K., at Reputation Capital.

Ambassador Madden; Richard Thornley CBE, managing director of Bell Helicopter K.K. and BCCJ Excom member; Brian Gregory, founder of SCT Inc.; Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, Tokyo correspondent for the BBC; and Rob Williams, senior investment advisor at AP Advisers Ltd., at Brits at Lunch at Fratelli Paradiso in Omotesando, Tokyo.

Some members of the Custom Media K.K. team enjoyed an end-of-year lunch at Tokyo American Club.

Year 5 students at the British School in Tokyo took part in the annual trip to Mount Norikura on 23–26 January and 30 January–2 February.

Japanese Ambassador to the UK Koji Tsuruoka presented Timothy Clark, head of the Japanese Collection at the British Museum, with the Foreign Minister’s Commendation for promoting research on Japan.

PHOTO: EMBASSY OF JAPAN IN THE UK

Koji Tsuruoka presented Yoko Morishima the Ambassador’s Commendation for her contribution to the Japanese community in the UK.

PHOTO: EMBASSY OF JAPAN IN THE UK

Staff from several foreign chambers of commerce in Japan, including the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan, raised their glasses at the Joint Chamber Bonenkai at the Embassy of Canada to Japan.

PHOTO: SATOSHI AOKI/LIFE.14

Riders from the cycling charity Knights in White Lycra participated in the Santa Soul Train project in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, for the non-profit organisation O.G.A for Aid.

Mireille Watanabe Handover, former co-chair of the Japan Market Entry Competition Alumni Association (JMECAA); Venese Lau, manager at Flip K.K.; Gordon Gaul, former co-chair of JMECAA; and Megumi Okazaki, head of project management at Custom Media K.K., at the JMECAA End of Year Bash at Public Six in Roppongi, Tokyo.

Jun Hirst, marketing consultant, and Matt Brodrick, partner, Japan banking and capital markets at EY Japan, at the Brits at Lunch Xmas Special at the The Strings by InterContinental Tokyo.