As we enter our fifth successful year of publishing BCCJ ACUMEN, here is a list, from A-Z, with some of my favourite firsts the magazine featured in 2013.
Anniversary of the first trading, diplomatic and cultural ties between the UK and Japan is celebrated after four centuries in a series of events held throughout the year (April–November).
British Business Awards (BBA): External judges choose recipients of five of six awards (October, page 20); members vote on other award; record 62 nominees (November, page 16).
Custom Media K.K., publisher of BCCJ ACUMEN, voted BBA 2013 Company of the Year (November, page 22).
Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd., Japan’s oldest carmaker, co-sponsors a football club for the first time in its 106-year history, signing a deal with England’s Manchester City for 2014 (July, page 9).
Elections contested and campaigning held for members to appoint BCCJ Executive Committee (May, pages 11, 15).
Farmer in Dorset is first in Europe to successfully grow commercial quantities of quality wasabi, selling the fickle plant to posh restaurants and celebrity chefs (January, page 36).
GREAT campaign for UK food launched at the British Embassy Tokyo to enlighten critics and forge business partnerships between the two countries (October, page 26).
Howzat! Cricket fans mark 150 years since the first match was played in Japan, between the Royal Navy and a team of Yokohama civilians in 1863 (May, page 40).
Immigration piece draws record 271 comments on news website that picked up our report (July, page 25).
JS Teruzuki, the newest destroyer of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, escorted and berthed next to HMS Daring, a £1bn Royal Navy Type-45 destroyer, at Harumi Pier in central Tokyo (this issue, page 21).
Kagome Co., Ltd. co-sponsors Manchester United and treats hundreds of children from quake-hit regions to a football match, to promote health, exercise and community renewal (August, page 28).
LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) event held as part of BCCJ series on diversity and inclusion (this issue, page 42).
Middle-aged men in lycra commit to cycling from Tokyo to Fukushima Prefecture for charity, thanks to a discussion during Brits at Lunch (March, page 26).
New National Stadium becomes the first such venue in Tokyo that will be designed by a London firm, which edged 45 bidders to win the contract (March, page 16).
Orbi, the first joint project by BBC World and Sega Corporation, opens in Yokohama as a “supercharged nature experience” (July, page 42).
Prime ministers: Four past and present UK leaders featured in BCCJ ACUMEN (John Major and Tony Blair, October cover; Margaret Thatcher, May, page 49; David Cameron, July, page 48).
Queen Elizabeth II honours both a BCCJ president (Philip T Gibb) and executive director (Lori Henderson) with an OBE and MBE, respectively (January, page 13; July, page 11).
Rugby world salutes Japan for defeating Wales in test match, 23–8 at Tokyo’s Chichibunomiya Stadium on 15 June (July, page 49).
Sixty-five years of diversity, charity and business—the BCCJ is better than ever as it marks its 65th year in operation (October, page 22).
“Twaiku” tweeted weekly in English and Japanese by British Ambassador to Japan Tim Hitchens, CMG, LVO (February, page 14).
UK Trade & Investment, the trade arm of the British Embassy Tokyo, launches Export to Japan website (this issue, page 28).
VIP visits included David Cameron, Hugo Swire, William Hague, Lord David Russell Howell, Simon Burns, Mumford & Sons, Prince Andrew, Sir John Scarlett, Sir Malcolm Grant, Jeremy Hunt and Sir Craig Reedle.
Women take five of 15 BCCJ Executive Committee seats and the top three chamber posts of president, vice-president and executive director (May, page 11).
X-rated word used in headline (September, page 47).
Yokohama F. Marinos, of the J-League, beat English Premier League champions Manchester United 3–2 in front of 65,372 fans at the Nissan Stadium on 23 July (August, pages 28, 54).
Zero kills target set by Kent mum in Sea Shepherd quest to stop bloody whale hunt in Pacific (February, page 26).