Cover Story

Cover Story March 2015

Green fingers grow trade and tourism

Japan digs English gardens as UK science, skills and gear cultivate exports and bilateral ties.

Cover Story December 2014

BCCJ 2014 British Business Awards

The 7th annual BBA celebrated the excellence of UK-Japan business relations, broke records and set a number of firsts.

Cover Story November 2014

Pet heaven

British firms and groups provide support to not-for-profit organisation Animal Refuge Kansai for the construction of a new pet sanctuary in Hyogo Prefecture.

Cover Story September 2014

Inspired minds

UK-Japan youth programme uses science and engineering as a cultural bridge for international understanding.

Cover Story August 2014

ACUMEN at fifty

The BCCJ magazine celebrates its history of providing insight into UK-Japan business, culture and lifestyle with this landmark issue.

Cover Story April 2014

As safe as houses?

The property market is entering a positive new cycle: banks are lending again, and sellers are making optimistic moves.

Cover Story March 2014

New Tohoku

As we mark the third anniversary of the disaster, it is clear that Britons have had a huge impact on recovery and reconstruction in the Tohoku region.

Cover Story January 2014

Japan: Business as Usual

Michael Woodford MBE, formerly of Olympus Corporation, gives an exclusive interview on life after whistleblowing.

Cover Story December 2013

defend, detect, destroy

Visits by the Duke of York and Sir John Scarlett of MI6 highlight enhanced UK-Japan cooperation in the defence industry.

Cover Story November 2013

BCCJ 2013 British Business Awards

The record 62 nominees for this year's awards is a testament to the strength of British businesses in Japan.

Cover Story October 2013

Strength to Strength

Sixty-five years of diversity, charity and business make the BCCJ better than ever.

Cover Story September 2013

Motors Without Borders

Caterham Cars was set to unveil a new addition to its line-up at the Frankfurt Motor Show on 10 September.

Cover Story August 2013

Healthcare: Prevent and Detect

The first health policy white paper to be jointly compiled by the European Business Council in Japan (EBC) and the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) has made numerous recommendations—156 across 36 topic sections—on improvements in healthcare here.

Cover Story July 2013

Driving the New Dragon Economy

Japanese corporations hold Welsh engineering and technological prowess in high esteem, while consumers in Japan are keen on the high-end, niche products that are increasingly emerging from Welsh firms.

Cover Story June 2013

Women in Business Summit

The Seneca Falls Convention, held in New York in 1848, was the first conference in the Western world to be organised by women. It sparked the women’s movement in the US and could even have inspired the founding of the U.S.–Japan Council (USJC) in 2009.

Cover Story May 2013

Making Waves in Tidal Energy

In a series of sea lochs and inlets on the western coast of Orkney, northern Scotland, there is movement in the water.

Cover Story April 2013

Four Centuries of Friendship

Four centuries after the first diplomatic mission from the UK set foot in Japan, the two nations are marking 400 years of trading, diplomatic, scientific and cultural relations with a series of events that celebrate the mutual regard and friendship between the two societies.

Cover Story March 2013

Tokyo’s Shrine to Sport

British architect Zaha Hadid CBE has won the New National Stadium International Design Competition for the construction of the New National Stadium Japan, with the selection panel praising the project for its dynamism.

Cover Story February 2013

Meet the New Ambassador

The UK and Japan share a curiosity and appetite for each other’s products, services and culture, says London’s recently appointed chief diplomat to its “closest partner in Asia”. He is busy promoting modern Britain’s creativity, diversity and ability to deliver.

Cover Story January 2013

Art in the Dark

Illuminated against the autumn sky, artists in suits jogged, sprinted and cavorted through Yokohama’s streets and parks on 3 and 4 November, as part of the contribution by British artists to the Smart Illumination Yokohama Festival 2012.

Cover Story December 2012

Pass the Salmon, Please!

Among the things that struck Richard Lochhead—a member of the Scottish Parliament and cabinet secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment—on his first visit to Japan, were the quality and presentation of food, as well as the passion that Japanese people have for what they eat.

Cover Story November 2012

BCCJ 2012 British Business Awards

The annual British Business Awards continue to go from strength to strength, with a record number of nominees vying for this year’s titles.

Cover Story October 2012

The Madness of a Ban

Coming from herds of Aberdeen Angus, Belted Galloways, South Devons and Welsh Blacks, British beef is recognised as among the finest in the world.

Cover Story September 2012

Flying the Flag for Fashion

The unmistakable red, white and blue of the UK’s Union Jack flag has become de rigueur in Japanese fashion circles, usurping the Stars and Stripes of the US as the design in which to be seen.

Cover Story August 2012

British Music—Then, Now and Beyond

In an ideal setting, high up among gentle streams and in a wooded valley, about 140,000 music lovers at the Fuji Rock Festival 2012 on 27–29 July enjoyed dozens of acts, among them 1970s and 1980s classics sung by Elvis Costello, Ray Davies and The Specials.

Cover Story July 2012

Let the Games Begin

For the third time, London is counting down the days until it stages the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games and hosts the biggest event on the global sporting calendar. And while all eyes are likely to be on the competitors going for gold, the impact of the XXX Olympiad on business will go far beyond what happens on the field of play.

Cover Story June 2012

Maya Nakanishi

Maya Nakanishi has never let anything get in her way. One of the top-ranked soft tennis players when she was a student in Oita Prefecture, she lost her right leg in an industrial accident at the age of 21—and her first emotion after the operation was “annoyance” at not being able to get out of bed immediately.

Cover Story May 2012

Return Trip to Tower Bridge

As she carefully lays out all the food, clothing and paraphernalia required to take on the next leg of this two-and-a-half-year odyssey—the 4,500 nautical-mile crossing of the North Pacific in a 7-metre boat called Gulliver—she makes her confession.

Cover Story April 2012

Oldest Rocker in Town

As they stomp noisily into their fifth decade of making punk rock music, the U.K. Subs are also doing their part to assist the people of north-east Japan affected by last year’s disasters with the first date of their nationwide tour being staged in Sendai.

Cover Story March 2012

Lord of the Rings

Lord Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games organising committee, offered Tokyo some advice on how to bid successfully for the 2020 event: focus on the why, not the how. Coe’s moving 2005 speech, about how the Olympics inspired his own sporting career, is often credited for tipping the balance in favour of the UK capital’s bid to host the games.