THE JAPAN SOCIETY
2021
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
TRUSTEE ELECTIONS

Notice of the 2021 Annual General Meeting
To be held via Zoom on Wednesday 29 September at 4pm

THE JAPAN SOCIETY (THE “COMPANY”)

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGNOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of the Company will be held on 29 September
at 4.00pm (BST) as a virtual meeting via Zoom. The business of the meeting shall be to record thanks toSponsors and Benefactors and to consider, and if thought fit, pass the following resolutions:
1. To receive and adopt the audited annual accounts of the Company for the financial year ended 31
December 2020 and the Trustees’ Report.
2. To reappoint Richard Place Dobson as auditors and to authorise the Board to approve theirremuneration as thought fit.
3. To re-elect Bill Emmott as Chairman of the Japan Society.
4. To elect or re-elect Ordinary Trustees of the Japan Society to fill certain vacancies arising.

BY ORDER OF THE BOARD___________________________H C POTTER
Chief Executive
Dated: 14 September 2021
Registered office: 13/14 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 4QP
NOTES
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The full accounts may be seen on the Company’s website (www.japansociety.org.uk) or may be requested in hard
copy from the registered office.
A list of candidates for election or re-election to the vacancies as Ordinary Trustees, together with biographicaldetails of the candidates, are also enclosed.
All voting on resolutions at the AGM will be conducted by way of a poll which means that members should
submit their proxy (by post or email) as soon as possible, but not less than 12 hours before the time for holding
the meeting.
A form of proxy is enclosed with this notice. The proxy must be a member of the Company or, in the case of acorporate member, its authorised representative.
Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, the meeting will be held on the Zoom conferencing platform. To
particpate in the meeting, members are required to register in advance at https://tinyurl.com/JSAGM2021.
You will be registered by Japan Society staff and later issued with a link for Zoom through which you can join
the meeting. Should you have questions, or wish to test the connection in advance please notify the office on
events@japansociety.org.uk

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Appendix
Election of Trustees
The Board values the opportunity to engage with members at the AGM, which is a key event for the Society
and its Members, who, under normal circumstances, are very welcome to attend the AGM in person.
However, members should note that arrangements for this year’s AGM again differ from the usual in-personformat. While many restrictions on personal movement and gathering as a result of Covid-19 have been
lifted, in the interests of the safety of members and staff and to facilitate attendance by members from a wide
geographical area, the board has therefore resolved to hold the meeting on a virtual platform.
Accordingly, this year’s AGM will be a virtual meeting only. Under the exceptional circumstances in which
this year’s meeting is held, the Chairman intends to conduct all voting on resolutions at the AGM by wayof a poll which means that Members should submit their proxy (by post or email) as soon as possible. A
proxy form is enclosed in this booklet for this purpose. Questions to be raised may be submitted to events@
japansociety.org.uk in advance; although there will be an opportunity to raise questions during the meeting.
The Board of the Company currently consists of a Chairman, a Vice-Chairmen, two appointed Officers(Solicitor and Treasurer), two ex officio Trustees (one additional Vice-Chairman, the deputy head of mission at
the Japanese Embassy, and one Ordinary Trustee, a member of the Japanese Embassy) and twelve Ordinary
Trustees. As set out in the Articles of Association, the total number of Trustees on the Board should be no
more than twenty, and there should be no fewer than four Ordinary Trustees.
One-third of the Ordinary Trustees is required to retire by rotation each year. Those who have retired byrotation may stand for re-election but no one may serve for longer than six consecutive years as an elected
member of the Board.
The Board has appointed a nominations committee currently comprising Bill Emmott (Chairman), Tim
Harding, Martin Hatfull, Sue Hudson, and Heidi Potter (Chief Executive). This committee reviews the skills
that are required on the Board from time to time and the succession policy; and it makes recommendations
to the Board on possible future appointments.
This year it is expected that, as a result of the requirement to retire by rotation and some resignations, there
will be seven vacancies for Ordinary Trustees which may be filled at the annual general meeting (the “AGM”).
Three Ordinary Trustees, Tim Harding, Martin Hatfull and Julie Rogers, will retire by rotation and haveindicated that they are willing to stand for re-election. The Board warmly recommends their re-appointment.
The Board also proposes to re-elect Bill Emmott as Chairman of the Japan Society.
There are four other people standing for election to the Board as Ordinary Trustees, Stephen Barber,
Yoko Dochi, Emma Hickinbotham and Helen Macnaughtan; they all share a varied experience and active
involvement in developing links between Japanese and British communities which will be of great benefit
to the Japan Society. The Board proposes their election. Biographical details of Bill Emmott and all seven
Ordinary Trustee candidates are set out in this Appendix.
Overall, there are eight candidates for election to fill a possible eight vacancies on the Board. Members are
therefore asked at the AGM to cast their votes “For” or “Against” each candidate. Members may also selectthe “vote withheld” option if they do not wish to vote for or against any particular candidate, although a votewithheld in this way is not a “vote” by law and will not be counted in the calculation of the proportion of
votes “For” and “Against” a candidate.
We are always looking for new people to be involved with the Japan Society in different capacities, including
as committee members and as Trustees and are delighted that so many people are willing to volunteer theirskills to the Society. We encourage members to let us know at any time during the year if they would like to
be more involved. Suggestions of names of people to be considered for committees or for the Board should
be made to any member of the nominations committee or indeed any member of the Board.

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Biographical Details of the Candidates for Chairman and Ordinary Trustees 2021
BILL EMMOTTSTEPHEN BARBER

Bill Emmott is an independent writer, lecturer
and consultant on international affairs. He is a
Fellow of Tokyo College, University of Tokyo’s
new interdisciplinary research institute, and was a
Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford in 201718. He also chairs the boards of Trinity College
Dublin’s Long Room Hub Research Institute for theArts & Humanities, and of the International Institutefor Strategic Studies in London.

Stephen Barber became fascinated with Japaneseculture, society and business after his first visit in 1980
as a young investment manager. Visits to temples
and museums were as frequent as those to steel
furnaces, car plants and Ginza bars. The following
year he won the Japan Foreign Ministry Essay Prizeon Japan-EU relations and never looked back.

He was previously the Editor-in-Chief of The
Economist (1993-2006) and has written eight books
on Japan, the first of which was The Sun Also Sets:
Why Japan Will Not Be Number One (1989). His
latest was Japan’s Far More Female Future, which
was published in Japanese by Nikkei in 2019 andin English by Oxford University Press in 2020. He
has also published books about Italy, the future of
the West, and the lessons of the 20th Century, hasnarrated and co-written a documentary film about
Italy, Girlfriend in a Coma (2013) and was executive
producer of a film about Europe, The Great European
Disaster Movie (2015).
In 2016 the Japanese government awarded him
the “Order of the Rising Sun: Gold Rays with Neck
Ribbon” for services to UK-Japan relations.
Bill Emmott was chairman of the trustees of the
London Library from 2009-15; was group economic
adviser for Stonehage Fleming in 2011-15; andserved on All Nippon Airways’ UK Advisory Panel
until 2016 and Swiss Re’s panel of advisers from2006-19. He is a member of the Global Advisory
Board of the University of Tokyo; and a memberof the senior advisory panel of Critical Resource, aconsultancy.
Born in 1956, Bill is married to Carol. They live in
Oxford and Dublin with their three dogs. Bill has
been a member of the Japan Society since 2005
and an individual benefactor since 2013, as wellas having frequently addressed society events as aspeaker since the early 1990s.

In 1987 at the height of the bubble he was posted toTokyo as head of the tiny subsidiary of a foreign asset
manager with a mandate to gain an investment trust
licence from the Ministry of Finance. He then began
to learn to read and write Japanese in earnest.
Five years later, mission accomplished, Stephen
returned to London to take up a senior role at Pictet &Cie, the Geneva private bank. Part of his mission was
to turn around the company’s struggling Japanesebusiness. Eventually, Pictet became one of the top
three foreign asset managers in Japan.
He founded and built the Prix Pictet, now theworld’s leading photographic prize (whose subject issustainability), of which he is executive chairman. He
is currently planning an exhibition at the prestigious
TOP Museum in Tokyo for November 2021.
Stephen remains a consultant to the Pictet Group,
where he was an equity partner and head of group
communications. In this role he honed his skills as anexperienced editor and writer in finance, culture andfiction, as an accomplished public speaker and chairof boards and advisory committees.
He is a managing trustee of the Daiwa AngloJapanese Foundation and a member of the advisoryboard of the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust.
He is married to Kimiko, author of nine English
language books on Japanese cuisine. With three
adult sons, they divide time between London andOxfordshire, where she keeps bees and cultivates
vegetables, while he restores an ancient meadow.
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YOKO DOCHITIM HARDING

Yoko Dochi led Investor Relations for Japan’s top
multinationals Toyota Motor Corporations and
SoftBank Group for over 20 years.

Tim Harding is Associate Director for International
Affairs at FleishmanHillard, supporting corporate
and government clients with Trade and Investment
projects and providing strategic advisory services on
Trade policy issues.

She joined SoftBank as Global Head of Investor
Relations in 2018, after serving as EMEA Head ofInvestor Relations and Principal Investor Relations
Officer for Toyota in London and Toyota-city.
Yoko has earned a high reputation for managing
complex stakeholder engagement as spokesperson
at times of corporate crisis, business transformation,technologicaldisruption,
activism
approachand ESG integration. Institutional Investor’s AllJapan Executive Survey has ranked her as Best IR
Professional in Autos (2013-2019) and Technology &Telecommunication (2020).
Formerly an investment banker at the World Bank inWashington DC and the Bank of Tokyo (now MUFJ
Financial Group) in Tokyo for 13 years, Yoko has a
deep understanding of finance and capital markets.
Since 1987 when she started as a first-generation
female career banker in Japan, she has championed
gender diversity through her various leadership roles.
Yoko is a graduate of the University of Tokyo with BA
in International Relations and German Studies. She
holds MPhil In Management Studies from Magdalen
College, University of Oxford. She aspires to teachnext generation Japanese executives and is currently
at Bayze (formerly CASS) Business School, City,
University of London to complete her Executive PhD.
She serves as a trustee at Daiwa Anglo-JapaneseFoundation, and as non-executive director at publiccompany boards in Japan and the UK.
*********************.

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His previous roles include Japan and Korea Market
Specialist at the Department for International Trade,
Economic Section Coordinator at the Embassy ofJapan in the UK and private sector roles in Tradeoperations. Through these roles Tim provided
support to Japanese Investors throughout the UK,
maintained government relationships with Japanesebusiness and cultural organisations and supported
bilateral government engagement across a diverse
range of policy areas including Trade, Commerce,
Agriculture and Climate Change issues.
Tim graduated from the University of West Englandin 2008 with a degree in History, and from 20082010 he lived in Ehime-ken in Japan working as an
Assistant Language Teacher on the JET Programme.
During this period, he provided English tuition in 5
primary schools and 3 Junior High Schools, as wellas establishing and running a private adult English
language class.
Tim has been an ardent supporter of the AngloJapanese community in the UK, volunteering at theJapan Matsuri and fundraising for the charity Aid forJapan, as well as attending and supporting a range ofJapanese networking events.
*********************

MARTIN HATFULL

EMMA HICKINBOTHAM

Martin Hatfull is a public affairs professional within-depth experience of Asia from both the public
and private sectors. He spent most of his earlier
career as a UK diplomat, serving twice in Japan, firstin the 1980s and latterly as Minister (Deputy Headof Mission) from 2003-2008. He was subsequently
Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste and thefirst UK Ambassador accredited to ASEAN (2008-11).

Emma Hickinbotham first visited Japan in 1997 asa Monbusho scholar, spending a year at Kanazawa
University as part of her degree in Japanese at
Liverpool John Moores University. After graduating,
she worked as a Co-ordinator of International
Relations (CIR) on the JET Programme on a small
fishing island in Oita prefecture promoting the UK in
the local community and developing a repertoire of
karaoke numbers.

In 2013 Martin joined Diageo plc, the FTSE top-ten
global drinks company. As International Public Affairs
Director, he was responsible for public policy issues
globally and for advice to the Chairman and CEO on
political risk, including in respect of the company’s
major businesses across Asia. Since 2017 Martin
has been a Senior Adviser to Kreab Worldwide, theinternational communications and public affairs
company, which has a significant business in Japan.
He also has his own advisory practice.
Martin is Chair of the Anglo-Indonesian Society,a Trustee of the City and Guilds of London Art
School and a member of the UK-Japan 21st Century
Group. He is married with two grown-up sons andenjoys walking, the visual arts and playing with his
granddaughter.
*********************On returning to London Emma started her careerin finance at Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, then RBS,
working in front and middle office roles. After having
children, Emma moved from the City into eventsand marketing, working with private and corporateclients, and in 2014 Emma and her family moved toTokyo where they spent six years. She initially worked
as a marketing consultant for overseas brands, thentook over running the British Chamber of Commercein Japan before moving to the British Embassy
where she was Head of Media, Communications andMarketing for three years. Since returning to the UK,
Emma has been working as Senior Communications
Director for Big Society Capital, the UK’s leadingsocial impact investment company.
Emma is a keen cyclist and has spent many happy
weekends in the Surrey Hills or the mountains westof Tokyo and has twice competed in the Mount Fuji
Hill Climb race. She enjoys all sport, particularly rugby
and cricket, and has held volunteer roles with youth
rugby and cricket clubs. She is also a trustee for acharity, Alopecia UK. Emma lives in London with her
husband and three children.
*********************

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HELEN MACNAUGHTANJULIE ROGERS

Helen Macnaughtan was born and raised in New
Zealand. She first went to Japan on a highschool
trip in 1982 and thereafter decided to pursue a BA in
Japanese at the University of Waikato, NZ.

Julie Rogers was born in Tokyo to Japanese andEnglish parents and moved to the UK aged seven.
She later graduated from Sheffield University inJapanese Studies and Politics.

She was subsequently awarded a Japanese Ministryof Education Scholarship to study in Osaka 198890 and after completing her studies and a year ofteaching English in Japan she arrived in London in1991. She spent several years working for Kubota intheir London office and thereafter pursued her MA in
Japanese Studies at SOAS and her PhD in Economic
History at the London School of Economics. She
spent another year in Osaka in 1998/9 for her PhD
fieldwork conducting research on the role of female
employment in the Japanese textile industry 19551975.

Julie has spent most of her working career at
Mitsubishi Corporation, where she is currently on
the board of directors of the London operation
and General Manager of the Communications andSustainability Department. She is also Chair of thecompany’s UK-based corporate foundation, theMitsubishi Corporation Fund for Europe and Africa
and Deputy Chair of the Central District Alliance, theBusiness Improvement District (BID) for the Holborn,
Bloomsbury, St Giles, Farringdon & Clerkenwell areas.

She joined SOAS as a postdoctoral candidate in2002 and is now Senior Lecturer in International
Business & Management (Japan) at SOAS. During
her time at SOAS she has taught undergraduate andpostgraduate modules on Japanese business andemployment as well as modules on International
Human Resource Management and Organisational
Behaviour.
Her research and publications have focused on a
range of topics relating to gender, employment
and sport in Japan - including research on womenand employment in Japan, the history of the ricecooker appliance in Japan, the history of the ‘Oriental
Witches’ volleyball team at the Tokyo 1964 Olympics
and more recently the history of corporate rugby
teams in Japan.
She has been a member of the British Association forJapanese Studies (BAJS) for over two decades andhas served on the BAJS Council in a variety of roles.
She co-edited the BAJS academic journal ‘Japan
Forum’ from 2014-2021. She recently completed six
years tenure (2015-2021) as Chair of the SOAS Japan
Research Centre (JRC) and continues as Convenor of
the SOAS Japan Sports Symposia Series which she
established in 2017.
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In her current role she is in charge of communications,which covers both internal, staff focusedcommunications for Mitsubishi Corporation in theEuropean region as well as external stakeholder
relationships including with cultural and academic
institutions. She is also responsible for social andenvironmental considerations for business, reporting
and advising on key sustainability priorities and bestpractises. She worked in Mitsubishi Corporation’sTokyo head office in the mid-2000s.
Having lived with two cultures all her life, she has
a strong interest in the importance of language,
culture and context when building relationships andmutual understanding.
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THE JAPAN SOCIETY

PROXY FORM for the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2021
I/We, being a member of The Japan Society, hereby appoint the Chairman of the meeting (see note 2) as
my/our proxy to vote for me/us at the Annual General Meeting of The Japan Society to be held at 4.00pm
on Wednesday 29 September 2021 and at every adjournment thereof.
Name (please print).......................................................................................................................

Category of membership

Individual

FamilyCorporate

Name of corporate
member (if applicable).......................................................................................................................
Signature.......................................................................................................................

Dated....................................................................................................................... 2021
Instructions to Proxy

Please indicate with an “X” in the boxes below and overleaf how you wish the proxy to vote. The Proxy will
vote or withhold their vote, at his or her discretion, on (a) any resolution listed below if no instruction is
given regarding that resolution and (b) on any other business transacted at the meeting.
For

1

Receiving the Accounts and the Trustees’ Report2

Re-appointment of the Auditors

3

Re-appointment of Bill Emmott as Chairman

4Election of Stephen Barber as Ordinary Trustee

5Election of Yoko Dochi as Ordinary Trustee

6

Re-appointment of Tim Harding as Ordinary Trustee

7

Re-appointment of Martin Hatfull as Ordinary Trustee

8Election of Emma Hickinbotham as Ordinary Trustee

9Election of Helen Macnaughtan as Ordinary Trustee

10

Re-appointment of Julie Rogers as Ordinary Trustee

AgainstVote
withheld1 A Member of The Japan Society is entitled to appoint a proxy to exercise all or any of his or her rights toattend, speak and vote at a general meeting of The Japan Society.
2 As the AGM in 2021 will be held electronically and to ensure the vote can be conducted properly any
Members who wish to vote should appoint the Chairman as their proxy. All voting will be conducted ona poll which means that Members should submit their proxy (by post or email) as soon as possible.
3 The completed and signed proxy form (and, if relevant, the power of attorney or other authority underwhich it is signed, or a certified copy of that power or authority) must be received at 13/14 Cornwall
Terrace, London NW1 4QP or by email to heidi.potter@japansociety.org.uk not less than 24 hours before
the meeting.
4 To direct the Chairman how to vote on the resolutions as your proxy, mark the appropriate box withan ‘X’. If no voting indication is given, your proxy will vote or withhold his vote at his discretion. Yourproxy will vote (or withhold a vote) as he thinks fit in relation to any other matter which is put before themeeting.
5 The vote withheld option is provided to enable you to instruct the proxy not to vote on any particularresolution. However, it should be noted that a vote withheld in this way is not a “vote” by law and will not
be counted in the calculation of the proportion of votes “For” and “Against” a resolution.
6. Any power of attorney or any other authority under which this proxy form is signed (or a duly certified
copy of such power of authority) must be included with the proxy form.
7. If you submit more than one valid proxy appointment, the appointment received last before the latest
time for the receipt of proxies will take precedence.

Please return this form to the following address:
The Japan Society, 13/14 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 4QP
or by email to: heidi.potter@japansociety.org.uk

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Notes