In a bid to create technologies that support sustain­able coastal communities, science agencies from Japan, the UK and the Philippines have begun crafting a frame­­work for a multi-funder cooperation.

Driven by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Japan Science and Technology Agency, UK Research and Innova­tion and the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology gathered researchers from South-East Asian countries to discuss recent studies on coastal communities and to consider research collaboration.

English UK, a membership organisation for accredited British English language training centres, recently held workshops in Tokyo and Taipei. With more than 50 agents from the Asia–Pacific region joining, the format was designed to allow attendance by as many centres and educators from English UK’s membership as possible.

On 6 January, The Pie News reported English UK Market Development Manager Roz Gill as saying: “This region has always been important for our members. With the education strategy of the Japanese government and the Olympics in 2020, it felt like the right time to reinforce members’ partnerships in this key market”.

New youth work visa
Through a new UK–Japan Youth Mobility Scheme, 1,000 Japanese nationals will be able to live and work in the UK for up to two years. (British Embassy Tokyo, 10 January)

Rok shoppers back UK
A slump in South Korean visitors to Japan has resulted in a boost for the UK, which saw a 12% and 9% rise in tax-free spending during the second and third quarters of 2019. South Korean spending in Japan dropped by 40%. (Drapers, 19 December)

U-19 cricket team in 2020 World Cup
A Japanese Under-19 (U-19) cricket team has qualified for the 2020 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. Founded in 2017 by the Japan Cricket Association (JCA), which is led by Englishman Alan Curr, the team booked their place in the U-19 World Cup after a 170-run win against Samoa. (The New York Times, 16 January)

Photo: ICC

Reds sign J.League star
Takumi Minamino has signed with Liverpool for £7.25 million. The deal makes him just the ninth player from Japan to play in the Premier League. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said: “Super. Outstanding. Exactly the player we wanted. Exactly the player we wished for”. (BBC, 10 January)

With the UK set to leave the European Union on 31 January, the governments of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson hope to begin talks on a bilateral economic partner­ship agreement (EPA) as soon as February. As NHK World reported on 6 January, the lifting of tariffs on autos is a top priority for Japan.

The terms of the EU–Japan EPA will continue to apply to trade with the UK until the end of December, but a new bilateral agreement will be required after this transition period. In addition to a one-on-one EPA, Japan has stated its support for UK membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Photo: British Embassy Tokyo

Japan’s largest shopping mall developer and supermarket operator, Aeon Co. Ltd., has partnered with the UK-based online supermarket and technology firm Ocado Group Plc. A 29 November story in the Financial Times said the move was made to compete with rivals Amazon Fresh and the online grocery delivery service collaboration between Rakuten, Inc. and Seiyu GK, the Japanese subsi­diary of US retailer Walmart Inc.

Ocado will build warehouses in the Kanto region and Aeon will utilise the firm’s automation and distribution technology. Aeon launched an online grocery service in 2008, but sales account for just 1% of its £78bn annual revenue. Japan’s online grocery market is worth £26.7bn, and that is expected to rise as society ages. The partners aim to develop capacity for ¥200bn (£1.35bn) in deliveries by 2023 and ¥1tn (£6.75bn) by 2035. The announcement boosted Ocado’s stock by 15%.

The UK will pass Japan to become the world’s third-largest advertising market by 2025. This was according to a 4 December report by the online news source MediaPost, which said UK advertising was up 7.8% in 2019. It was the sixth straight year of mid-to-high single-digit growth for the industry in Britain.

“Since 2013, the United Kingdom’s advertising sector has expanded by more than half, up 55% over that year’s levels,” said Brian Wieser, global president of business intelligence at GroupM, the world’s largest advertising media firm. “With that growth, the United Kingdom is unam­biguously the fourth-largest market on Earth”. If this trend continues, the UK will unseat Japan within five years.

Jenny Ball, from Blackpool, England, has won the 2019 Karaoke World Championship. Some 43 finalists from around the globe competed on a stage at Kanda Myojin Shrine in Tokyo on 27–29 November. According to The Japan Times, Ball outsang more than 30,000 contestants to reach the finals and wowed judges with her renditions of Queen’s “The Show Must Go On” and Jennifer Hudson’s “And I Am Telling You” to take home the gold.

Photo: Oy KWC Organization LTD.

The British Darts Organisation (BDO) held the 2020 World Darts Championship on 11 January at the O2 Arena in London and Mikuru Suzuki captured the title for Japan, The Telegraph reported. With her 3–0 win over top-seed Lisa Ashton of England, a four-time BDO world champion, Suzuki secured back-to-back titles. Ashton won consecutive titles in 2017–18.

Photo: Tip Top Pics

Shoryu Ramen is expanding its UK operations beyond the current 12 locations in London, Oxford and Manchester. Matteo Frigeri, director of franchising firm Seeds Consulting, with which Shoryu is partnering, said he believes the chain “can quickly become the number one ramen concept in Europe”.
(Big Hospitality, 29 November)

Greater Manchester candy maker Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls is expanding overseas, having closed its first major order in Japan. Confectionery Production reported on 20 November that the Tokyo-based importer and distri­bu­tor Beau & Bon Ltd. purchased 6,000 tins and bags of Uncle Joe’s signature sweets. The deal was reached after managing director Mitsuhiro Maeda visited the Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls factory in Wigan. “We are hoping to develop a long-term relation­ship,” Maeda said. Uncle Joe’s Joint Managing Director John Winnard said that British brands with history are in demand in Japan. “[Uncle Joe’s] fits that demand perfectly and we are looking forward to a long and successful partnership with Beau & Bon”.

At the behest of the British Government, and on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, Prince Charles attended the enthronement ceremony of Naruhito, Japan’s 126th monarch. As reported by the website Royal.uk, the Prince of Wales spent 22–23 October touring the Nezu Museum, the training grounds for the Wales national rugby team at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, the HMS Enterprise docked at Harumi Wharf in Tokyo Bay, Zojoji Temple and the Mitsukoshi Department Store for the Britain is GREAT campaign. He also visited the Ambassador’s Residence at the British Embassy Tokyo for a UK in JAPAN 2019–20 reception, and later joined Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s banquet at the Hotel New Otani.

The Japanese founder of #kutoo, a hashtag movement supporting women forced to wear heels at work, is among the BBC’s list of the 100 most influential women of 2019. Yumi Ishikawa started the movement after complaining about her firm’s dress code on Twitter. Her story resonated with women throughout Japan and was shared more than 30,000 times.

The name is a reference to the #metoo movement and is a play on the Japanese words kutsu (shoes) and kutsuu (pain). In June, she submitted a petition with more than 20,000 signatures to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

Also on the list is Hiyori Kon, a 21-year-old sumo wrestler who was the subject of the 2018 award-winning documentary Little Miss Sumo. Japan still bars women from competing professionally in this national sport, and the BBC is honouring Kon for her efforts to change the rules and give women a voice in sumo.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra (TMSO) is set to perform at the 2020 Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland, according to an 8 October article on the festival’s website. The announcement was made in Tokyo during the visit of Fiona Hyslop, Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs.

Running 7–31 August, the festival is was established in 1947 as a world class cultural event to bring together audiences and artists from around the world. It is also an international showcase for Scottish culture.

The appearance is motivated in part by the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games and the UK in JAPAN 2019–20 campaign. TMSO Music Director Kazushi Ono will conduct the programme, which will include Cello Concerto No.1 by Saint-Saëns and Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. The occasion will coincide with the festival’s 55th anniversary.

Tan France, the English fashion designer and star of the Netflix series Queer Eye, went to Japan for the show’s latest season. According to a 22 October story by the UK newspaper and website Metro, France and co-stars Bobby Berk, Jonathan Van Ness, Karamo Brown and Antoni Porowski thought the season to be a success, but admitted there were initial concerns about cultural differences. Berk said he feared their affectionate personalities wouldn’t connect well with a typically conservative society such as Japan, since “there’s a huge language barrier, also a huge cultural barrier”. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. “Very quickly, we realised that teaching people self-love, self-care and acceptance is universal”.

British tourists are flocking to Japan despite the weakened sterling. According to a 24 October article on financial website This is Money, factors include the Rugby World Cup 2019 and recommendations in the Long Haul Holiday Report 2019, from the UK-based retail mail firm Post Office Ltd.
The report cited Japan as the cheapest long-haul destination of the year. In September, there was a 233% rise in yen sales attributed to tourists visiting to watch the matches. The lead-up to England’s 26 October game with New Zealand at Yokohama Stadium also triggered a 492% increase in ticket sales from the UK to Tokyo, according to flight-booking website Skyscanner.

Hyslop pitches glasgow

Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop, met with executives from the Tokyo-based refrigeration firm Mayekawa Mfg. Co., Ltd. during her October visit to Japan to discuss the firm’s first office in Glasgow, Scotland. She said that Glasgow would be the “perfect environment for continuous research and ground-breaking technology”. Mayekawa expects the location to create 20 jobs over five years. (Cooling Post, 8 October)

Green is the new black

Transport for London will add the new electric taxi from Dynamo Motor Company to its fleet as part of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The fully electric taxi is based on the Nissan e-NV200. The Japanese automaker has been nudging businesses to adopt the e-NV200 as a commercial vehicle and taxi alternative globally. (The Daily Mail, 23 October)

Rugby School to expand

Japan’s first independent school from the UK will open in 2022. Peter Green, the current head­­master of the Rugby School, founded in its namesake town in Warwickshire, has announced a new sister location in Tokyo. Green said that, although the new school would adhere to the principles of Rugby School England, it would also be mindful of Japanese culture. (Tes, 24 October)

The UK’s House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee has published a report calling on the govern­ment to begin promoting automation in British industries—and used Japan as an example.

According to a 20 September article published by The Japan Times, the committee was motivated by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push for the “continued growth and development of automation to enable the country to drastically improve productivity”.

The report ranks the UK 22nd globally in terms of the number of industrial robots per 10,000 workers. Shown below is the assembly line for the Land Rover Discovery Sport in Halewood, England.

Plans to produce the next line of the Qashqai compact crossover SUV in Sunderland will be reassessed by Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. if Britain goes through with a no-deal Brexit, according to a 1 October story on UK-based financial website This Is Money.

The plan to use the Sunderland factory was a joint effort by former Nissan Chairman and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn and former UK Prime Minister Theresa May to generate about 7,000 new jobs—all of which are now at risk.

This comes after Nissan’s decision to cancel production of the X-Trail SUV in Sunderland, which will be produced in Japan instead. Nissan is expected to cut 12,500 jobs worldwide by 2020.

However, Nissan confirmed it would not change its plans to manufacture the next-generation Juke vehicle at the Sunderland factory.

As reported by Japan Today on 14 October, Nissan has invested £100mn in the Juke with 70% of production in European Union markets.

The firm’s Europe Chairman Gianluca de Ficchy said the Sunderland factory was built to serve European markets and that the Juke is designed, engineered and manufactured in the UK for European customers.

Nissan will discontinue the night shift at the plant, lowering total staff to fewer than 6,000, and is expected to cut 12,500 jobs worldwide by 2020.

The founder and chief executive of Fast Retailing, owner of brands Uniqlo and GU, has said that Brexit would turn the UK into the “sick man of Europe”. In an article published by CNN on 19 September, Tadashi Yanai (left), the richest man in Japan, voiced concerns that Brexit is practically impossible even if the UK wants to do it. “If Brexit does happen, the UK could revert to the former situation before the Margaret Thatcher era, when the UK was referred to as the sick man of Europe,” he said. However, Yanai said that Uniqlo would remain in the UK regardless of possible forthcoming economic and political challenges.

Flags of the United Kingdom and the European Union.Brexit concept.

The celebrated journalism and literature of London-born writer Alan Booth compiled for a book edited by Timothy Harris, was reviewed by the Literary Review in its October issue.

Booth, who died in 1993, moved to Japan to study and become a writer. There, he came to be known for his sarcastic wit and dark humour. Entitled This Great Stage of Fools: An Anthology of Uncollected Writings, the book features a selection that covers Japanese film, festivals and folk songs.

Forestry England is taking Japanese maple trees to the UK to save them from extinction. As reported by The Telegraph on 2 October, in a joint effort between the University of Oxford and various gov­ernment departments related to botanic gardens and forestry, researchers have travelled to Japan to acquire the maple tree’s seeds, as well as those of other species. They will then plant these in the forests of the UK. Experts hope that this will not only save many species but that the trees will also become resilient to climate change. The maples will be planted at Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire and Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest in Kent.

Britain’s first Kit Kat shop

Nestlé is opening Japan-originated Kit Kat chocolate shops in Britain for a limited time. Although Kit Kat was created in England in 1935, the chocolate-coated wafers have become somewhat of a cultural icon in Japan with their many region-specific flavours. The stores will pop up at some 30 department stores until 24 December.
(The Jiji Press, 1 Oct)

Olympians get £50mn

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has approved £50mn for British athletes going to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The funding is intended to support Team GB in their final year of preparation. Johnson said the funding shows that the country is backing its athletes “every step of the way”. (Gov.UK, 26 Sept)

Yokohama Claims rugby first

Historian and Briton Mike Galbraith has received recognition in Japan for discovering that rugby was introduced to the country much earlier than is generally accepted. After 10 years of research, a plaque acknowledging Galbraith’s findings was unveiled by the Japan Rugby Football Union in Yokohama in the lead-up to the Rugby World Cup 2019. The plaque reads: “The Birthplace of Football (Rugby) in Japan. The Yokohama Football Club was founded close to this spot on 26 January, 1866”.

Gen Z Loves UK Capital

A September 2019 study by international online property platform Nestpick ranks London the best out of 110 cities for Generation Z (those born between the mid-1990s and the early-2000s). Tokyo is 48th. London’s compatibility with Gen Z principles, ability to meet educational needs and strong business opportunities were key. The study was conducted to determine which cities best meet the needs of Gen Z, “the creators, advocates and pioneers of tomorrow”.

World’s safest cities

The Safe Cities Index 2019, published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), lists Tokyo as the world’s safest city. The scale—which ranks cities based on personal, infrastructure, health and digital security—places London 14th. According to Irene Mia, the EIU’s global editorial director, European cities generally perform well in health security but “tend to struggle in the category of digital security”. London is the only European city in the top 10 in this area.

Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd. has become the first Japanese partner of the Paris arm of the London Stock Exchange Group’s London Clearing House (LCH), according to a 2 September story in The Trade News. “As a member of LCH SA, Mizuho will benefit from the largest pool of euro debt clearing in Europe. Clearing through the LCH SA enables us to maintain access to this important liquidity pool while managing our counterparty risk effectively,” said Amandine Triadu, head of credit and emerging markets repo in London, at Mizuho Securities.

As reported by The Guardian on 30 August, the UK has fallen to the bottom of the G7 growth league table. Japan, meanwhile, saw a boost of 0.4%, behind only Canada and the United States. Experts believe the drop was caused by stockpiling in the lead-up to the original Brexit dead­line of 29 March, as well as weak car production. Firms are now probably stockpiling again on account of the government’s no-deal preparations, which could boost growth. But economic prospects once the UK leaves the European Union remain unclear.

Uhuru, the Japanese startup backed by SoftBank Group Corp., is expected to raise ¥5bn in the lead-up to its listing on London’s junior alternative investment market (AIM) on 23 October. This will give the only Japanese firm on the AIM board an assessment of more than ¥30bn, according to a 30 August story on Deal Street Asia. The startup is appointing Andrew Rose, who recently retired from asset manager Schroders plc, as an out­side director at the end of September. Arden Partners plc and SMBC Nikko are advising Uhuru.

Bristol bakery Pinkmans will take part in Hankyu Department Store’s annual “Best of British” fairs in Tokyo and Osaka from 5 to 20 October. As British Baker reported on 19 August, Pinkmans is planning to send their food and beverage manager and head baker to supervise. “It’s a real honour to be invited,” said co-owner Steven Whibley. “This is such a fantastic opportunity for our bakers and to put Bristol on the international culinary map”.

Prints inspire poets

In collaboration with the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, hundreds of UK-based poets wrote haiku inspired by the Japanese prints on display as part of the Masters of Japanese Prints: Nature and Seasons exhibition. To kick off the show on 5 September, Bristol poet and emcee Bertel Martin and senior curator Kate Newnham hosted workshops and presented haiku from contributors. (Literary website Call of the Page)

Climber Coxsey grabs bronze

Britain’s Shauna Coxsey took home the bronze medal at the Climbing World Championships in Hachioji on 20 August. Despite placing third, the climber was in high spirits. “It is still not over”. The same week saw Coxsey secure a spot at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Climbing is one of five sports that will make their Olympic debut. The others are karate, skateboarding, surfing and baseball, which returns after being dropped following the 2008 Beijing Games. (BBC Radio 2, 19 August)

Sanrio Co., Ltd., the owners of the famous British talking cat and other beloved Japanese children’s characters, has been hit with a fine of €6.2mn (¥762mn) by the European Union (EU). 

As reported in a 7 July article in The Asahi Shimbun, the penalty is for restricting cross-border online sales of toys and merchandise. The EU Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, said Sanrio’s practices could lead to “less choice and higher prices for consumers, and is against EU antitrust rules”. The investigation began in 2017 as part of the EU’s hope for a “digital single market”.

Thomas Lockley, a Japan-based British professor at Nihon University College of Law in Tokyo, is close to finishing years of comprehensive research on the largely forgotten tale of the first Japanese people to visit England. In a 4 June story in The Mainichi, Lockley expressed how important the Japanese were to the English in 1589. These visitors made Japan “real” and not just the talk of dreamers. Lockley said his work has attracted interest from potential publishers.