A woman has won a two-year battle to have her crocodile-skin handbag returned after it was seized by UK customs officials upon arrival from Japan, the Daily Mail reported on 27 April.

Made from the Nile crocodile—a protected species—the skin was farmed and legally imported from Zambia. However, maker Hikiji, which was exporting to the UK for the first time, failed to supply the necessary export documentation.

Judge Anne Redston said Sabine Smouha has acted in good faith and the skin had not been smuggled.

A farmer from Fukuoka Prefecture has broken the record for the world’s heaviest strawberry, which was previously held by a British grower, The Telegraph reported on 18 May.

Weighing 250g, 8cm high, 12cm long and 25–30cm in circumference, the fruit is the natural result of multiple Amaou strawberries having grown together.

Grower Koji Nakao’s daughter was the first to try the strawberry and said it was delicious.

The previous holder of the Guinness World Record is recorded as G Anderson, who took his place in 1983.

Many Westerners in Japan have looked on in envy at the comparatively slim physiques that characterise the majority of the country’s population. Yet, according to Shukan Diamond (30 May), for some people, the outcome is a result of blood, sweat, tears—and large monetary outlays.

In an exhaustive 44-page report, the publication estimates that diet food, medical outlays not covered by national health insurance, the so-called “health maintenance market”, and membership at gyms are worth a total of more than ¥2trn annually.

Medical outlays account for an estimated ¥1trn, the largest segment of the spending. Included are physical examinations, such elective surgery as liposuction, “genetic diets”, as well as treatments at aesthetic salons and “fat farms”. (more…)

At the start of the new fiscal year, Teikoku Databank Ltd. announced the results of a survey, conducted nationwide over the first three months of 2015, which found that over half of the firms across a number of sectors reported shortfalls of either regular or non-regular workers.

The results were based on 10,794 valid replies.

In descending order, with percentages of businesses so responding in brackets, firms with shortages of sei-shain (permanent staff) were data services (59.3%); construction firms (54.6%); retailers of pharmaceuticals and daily sundries (53.6%); broadcasters (53.3%); as well as hotels and ryokan (52.8%).  (more…)

Use of the word puremiumu (premium) is not new in Japanese as a marketing term.

Firms such as Meiji Co., Ltd., Prima Meat Packers, Ltd., Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd., Calbee, Inc. and Yamazaki Baking Co., Ltd. have adopted the word for marketing everything from ice cream and sausages to crisps and chilled desserts.

But the term has undergone some evolution of late, with its use to identify products offering superior features or added value growing in popularity.

When the Nikkei Marketing Journal (15 May) surveyed over 100 consumers on an assortment of terms that they felt were most appealing when attached to a product, “premium” took first place with 16.7% of the responses. (more…)

A fish and chip shop in Shetland, Scotland, is to set up a pop-up shop at Hankyu Department Stores’ British Fair, according to a press release dated 13 April.

Frankie’s, which won the 2015 National Fish & Chip Awards, will transport the ingredients in a freezer container to Hakata and Osaka this autumn and serve the dish in specially made boxes featuring Japanese information.

Keiji Hayashi, a representative of Hankyu, said the firm always likes to have the best of British at the fair, adding that “Japanese people are enthusiastic about this kind of food and in past years have bought a lot of fish and chips”.

Manufacturers in Northamptonshire are exporting £20mn worth of footwear to Japan every year, Northampton Herald & Post reported on 8 April.

According to the British Footwear Association, more than 300,000 pairs of footwear are sent annually. Their value has risen 45% over five years, thanks to the high demand for luxury and the strong pound.

Once the shoemaking capital of the world, the area is home to brands such as Church, Cheaney and Grenson, which have a reputation for making quality, handmade shoes, thereby helping to maintain the area’s excellent reputation for shoemaking.

The POW (Prisoner of War) Research Network Japan is working to trace former servicemen from Britain who were held at a camp in Nagasaki Prefecture during World War II, The Telegraph reported on 14 April.

Officials hope the survivors and their relatives will be able to attend an unveiling ceremony, organised by the Memorial Building Committee, at the site of the former No. 2 PoW camp.

A member of the research network, Yoshiko Tamura received an MBE for her efforts to document the camps and help former prisoners come to terms with their experiences. For more information, visit www.powresearch.jp/en/

A work of art by Sir Antony Gormley OBE—the British sculptor who created the “Angel of the North” in Tyne and Wear—on one of Japan’s ancient pilgrimage routes has divided a community, The Telegraph reported on 30 March.

Titled “Another Time XX”, the cast iron statue of a naked man was placed in Kunisaki, Oita Prefecture, ahead of the city’s art festival in 2014.

While residents and priests have complained it is too modern in comparison to ancient stone statutes in the area, and immoral, the head priest of Sentoji Temple, Goko Imakuma, is a big fan of the piece.

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is to turn its Swindon factory in western England into a global production hub for its five-door Civic compact, Japan Today reported on 1 April.

The car manufacturer will spend £200mn to improve the plant’s efficiency and increase the number of cars that it can produce annually from its current figure of 250,000.

Although 340 jobs were lost at the factory last year due to weak European demand, a spokesperson said Honda is looking forward to making the most of the opportunity to export the model to key global markets.

Graphene Platform Corporation has struck a deal with a British graphene producer, enabling it to make commercial quantities of the material, the Financial Times reported on 13 April.

Discovered by scientists at The University of Manchester, graphene is strong, flexible and conducts electricity, but, until now, its application as a commercial material has been hindered by the cost and difficulty of large-scale production.

The memorandum of understanding between Perpetuus Advanced Materials and the Japanese firm will pave the way for the first export sale of Perpetuus’ DBD Plasma Reactor.

Dyson has opened its first directly run shop in the world in Omotesando, Minato Ward, Nikkei Asian Review reported on 17 April.

Part of a campaign to boost the UK firm’s presence in the Japan market—its second-largest in the world with 20% of overall sales—the 100m2 showroom will display some 20 products. It will offer customers a chance to try its vacuum cleaners on four different flooring samples, including tatami matting.

Nobuhiro Asano, chief of Dyson’s Japanese arm, said: “We want our customers to experience directly how our high prices are justified by the performance”.

An academic from Komazawa University in Tokyo has been studying the UK’s cooperative sector in the hope it will lead to the development of workers cooperatives in Japan, Co-operative News reported on 14 April.

Part of the project has involved translating the Worker Co-operative Code of Governance—updated in 2012 by Co-operatives UK Limited—which outlines the tools and techniques utilised in some of the UK’s most successful co-ops.

According to the researcher, Noriko Matsumoto, “It is important for [those] Japanese entrepreneurs who now choose to form workers’ cooperatives to know that there is the same movement in the UK”.

Experts say there is a risk that food produced in areas around the Fukushima nuclear disaster site may be on sale in British shops, The Independent reported on 14 April.

The warning came after the discovery in Taiwan of over 100 radioactive food products produced in Fukushima but falsely packaged to give their origin as Tokyo.

While products made around the Fukushima nuclear disaster site are checked for radiation before leaving Japan, and again on entering the UK, the system relies on honest certification of package labels.

The only primary school in the UK shortlisted for the Japan Foundation Awards has been awarded third prize, the Wiltshire Times reported on 2 April.

Children at Holbrook Primary School in southwest England accepted the award in recognition of their project on Japan, which includes learning the language, before giving a drama presentation to guests from the British Council, the Association of Language Learning and the Japan Foundation.

Head teacher Roger Whitewick said the children are planning to make 1,000 paper cranes to give to Hitachi, Ltd., which has an office in the town.

Nikkei Business (13 April) ran the results of its annual consumer survey, rating corporate brands engaged in both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) activities.

The surveys were conducted at the end of 2014 under the auspices of Nikkei BP Consulting, Inc. The results of the B2C survey are based on 32,000 responses from people over 18 years of age, while the B2B survey, with total choices limited to 500 corporate brands, is based on responses from 22,001 employed people over 18 years of age.

In 2014, the top-rated brand was 7-Eleven, which rose 10 places from the previous year, when it was rated 11th. Other brands among the top 10—in descending order with the previous year’s rating shown in parentheses—are YouTube (seventh); Nissin Foods (17th); Studio Ghibli (third); Amazon (fourth); Häagen-Dazs (15th); Google (20th); Disney (first); Apple (sixth); and Kewpie (29th).

(more…)

“London boasts a history dating back to the Roman Empire. But, with its having hosted the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, this city has displayed its continuing hunger to pursue change.

“New trends are being spawned on a daily basis and, with restaurants that capture the public’s interest springing up here and there, they belie the old stereotype that ‘London’s grub is tasteless’. Armed with overwhelming pride in its traditions and the passions of the people who flock there from around the world, London continues to grow”.

So reads the introduction to the special March 2015 issue of the Japanese-language magazine BRUTUS, which is devoted to London. The English title on its cover, with the  Japanese translation barely in sight, is “101 Things to Do in London”. And, at ¥680, it is an indisputable bargain.

(more…)

As of October 2013, according to data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 218,747 Japanese citizens held the status of permanent resident in other countries. This is an increase of some 130,000 over the previous decade.

On examining some of the latest trends in emigration from Japan, the weekly Toyo Keizai (21 February) found that one of the motives for leavers is an interest in pursuing international education for their offspring.

The Singapore branch of Dulwich College, founded in London in 1619, opened in August 2014. Its current enrollment of 960 pupils—including 60 Japanese—represents more than 50 nationalities and covers pre-nursery to Year 8. (more…)

Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. has started construction of a new development designed by London-based firm Hopkins Architects Partnership LLP, japanpropertycentral.com reported on 24 March.

Located across from Hibiya Park in Chiyoda Ward, the Shin-Hibiya Project will host offices, shops and the largest cinema complex in central Tokyo.

The 192m tall, 35-storey tower is expected to help enhance the area’s image as a centre for international business and the arts. It will be completed in 2018.

The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) has reported growth in the numbers of British visitors in 2014, Travel Trade Gazette reported on 12 March.

Last year, 220,110 Britons formed part of the overall total of 13.4mn visitors, making the UK the largest European tourism market for Japan.

January 2015 figures show that there were 15,000 visitors from the UK. The year-on-year increase was particularly evident in the number of those headed for the country’s ski slopes. JNTO is confident that 2015 will attract even more Britons.

High-street discount supermarket Aldi will extend the number of its products that use wagyu, beef derived from Japanese breeds of cattle, The Telegraph reported on 3 March.

Praised by beef connoisseurs for being tender, rich tasting and juicy, the Japanese delicacy is often priced at more than £40 for a small steak.

The discount chain, however, is selling a pack of two burgers for £2.99.

Aldi’s wagyu comes from cows on New Zealand farms, set up in the last decade to take advantage of the growing popularity of beef from Japanese breeds of cattle.

Yamada-Denki Co., Ltd., a major mass merchandiser chain, has announced that it will open the first duty-free specialty store in Tokyo’s Shimbashi area, J-Cast News (26 March) reported.

The LABI Amenity & Tax Free Shimbashi Ginza-guchi store, which is expected to open for business in mid-April, will boast approximately 4,100m2 of sales floor, making it one of Japan’s largest duty-free retailers. Located close to JR Shimbashi Station, it will occupy eight floors.

In addition to electric appliances, designer brand goods, cosmetics and other items, the new LABI shop will feature Japanese souvenirs and merchandise typically found in a chemist. (more…)

In 2013, consumer outlays for bread eclipsed those for rice, as consumption of baked goods has come to command an increasingly large portion of the household budget.

These are the findings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which reported that in 2014 the average annual household outlays for rice (¥25,108) represented a year-on-year decline of 10%, whereas spending on bread and other baked goods grew 4% to ¥29,210 per year.

With demand driven mainly by adult women purchasers, the Nikkei Marketing Journal (4 March) noted that competition has been heating up, with retailers devoting additional sales space to baked goods. (more…)

TELL, formerly called Tokyo English Lifeline, has opened a telephone counselling facility in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, according to a press release dated 30 March.

The new service, manned by volunteer telephone counsellors who live in the Kansai region, is part of the non-profit organisation’s vision to provide year-round, English-language lifeline support nationwide.

Craig Saphin, chairman of the board, said the expansion is one of a number of planned initiatives that will boost TELL’s presence in the area.

British government advisor Dr Miwa Hirono will take up a new position in Kyoto after her application to remain in the UK was refused last year, The Telegraph reported on 20 March.

To work on foreign policy, the academic spent 472 days abroad in 2009 and 2010, thereby breeching UK immigration law that states people on a migrant visa who are working should not be out of the country more than 180 days a year.

Philip Cowley, professor of parliamentary government at The University of Nottingham, said it was pure madness for the government to be driving out an expert.

The Japanese government is researching the creation of an overseas intelligence agency, possibly modelled on Britain’s Military Intelligence, Section 6 (MI6), The Daily Mail reported on 6 March.

The Liberal Democratic Party plans to draft proposals in the autumn, after members visit London on a fact-finding mission.

Japan’s intelligence community comprises some 4,400 staff, who work under different ministries.

Experts note a reluctance to share secrets across bureaucratic lines, and say that the new agency would be an integral part of a security framework Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is building.

A new partnership between Japan International Broadcasting and Simplestream, a live streaming and catchup TV solutions provider, will make NHK World TV available in the UK, www.advanced-television.com reported on 22 February.

Japan’s only public, independent broadcaster will offer the news, as well as lifestyle, entertainment and global financial affairs programmes of its English-language television network via streaming platform TVPlayer.

Dan Finch, TVPlayer’s commercial director, said, “We can now bring a diverse range of quality Japanese programming to the masses here in the UK”.

An Osaka-based brewery founded more than 600 years ago has established a firm in England, www.harpers.co.uk reported on 6 February.

Dojima Sake Brewery UK will start producing Japanese rice wine this year at Fordham Abbey Estate in Cambridgeshire. It plans to sell 10,000 bottles in its first year, and begin exporting to the Continent in the next two to five years.

According to UK Trade & Investment, which has been advising the firm, Dojima is investing £8.9mn to open the brewery and visitor centre, which will provide jobs for 100 people.

Nagoya’s Brother Industries has agreed to buy a Cambridge-based printing firm in a £1bn deal, the Financial Times reported on 11 March.

Domino Printing Sciences plc became one of the world’s biggest makers of bar-code printers by capitalising on the UK government regulation requiring the introduction of “best before” dates and medicine tracking numbers.

However, the firm has recently faced challenges expanding in the fast-growing digital market.

While Brother has only a small share of the sector—digitally printing images on garments—it expects it to grow rapidly across the globe. Under the deal, Domino will operate as a standalone division in the combined business.

Hitachi Ltd.’s first new Class 800 intercity train has arrived at the Port of Southampton, England, Global Rail News reported on 12 March.

The train is the first of 12 pre-series models made in Japan; the rest will be built in the UK.

The £5.7bn InterCity Express Programme, an initiative to procure new trains, will begin service on the Great Western Main Line in 2017, and on the East Coast Mainline in 2018.

Rail Minister Claire Perry MP, who attended a special ceremony at the port, said the programme is creating hundreds of jobs and apprenticeships at Hitachi’s new factory in County Durham, as well as thousands more jobs across the UK supply chain (see page 46).