THE JAPAN SOCIETY
2023
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
TRUSTEE ELECTIONS

Notice of the 2023 Annual General Meetingat the Embassy of Japan, London on Friday 8 September

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 8 September
2023 at 6.00pm at the Embassy of Japan, 101-104 Piccadilly, London W1J 7JT. The business of the meetingshall be to record thanks to Sponsors 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 2022 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 elect or re-elect Ordinary Trustees of the Japan Society to fill certain vacancies arising.

BY ORDER OF THE BOARD___________________________M J RIVERA KING
Chief Executive
Dated: 24 August 2023
Registered office: 13/14 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 4QPNOTES12345

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.
A member of the Company is entitled to appoint a proxy to exercise all or any of his or her rights to attend,
speak and vote at the meeting. A form of proxy is enclosed with this notice. The proxy must be a member of theCompany or, in the case of a corporate member, its authorised representative.
To be effective, the instrument appointing a proxy and any authority under which it is executed (or a certified
copy of such authority) must be deposited (by post or email) not less than 24 hours before the time for holding
the meeting. Completion and return of the form of proxy will not preclude members from attending and voting inperson at the meeting. If you have appointed a proxy and attend the meeting in person, your proxy appointment
will automatically be terminated.
To comply with security policy at the Embassy of Japan, members are asked to notify the Society in advance of
their intention to attend the AGM. Please bring a copy of your booking confirmation, together with some form ofphotographic ID with you to the meeting. Without such ID admission may be refused.

3Appendix
Election of Trustees
The Board of the Company currently consists of a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman, two appointed Officers (Solicitorand Treasurer), two ex officio Trustees (one additional Vice-Chairman, the deputy head of mission at theJapanese Embassy, and one Ordinary Trustee, a member of the Japanese Embassy) and thirteen additional
Ordinary Trustees.
As set out in the Articles of Association, the total number of Trustees on the Board should be no more thantwenty, 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 a memberof the Board.
The Board has appointed a nominations committee currently comprising Bill Emmott (Chairman), Tim Harding,Martin Hatfull, Sue Hudson, and Michael Rivera King (Chief Executive). This committee reviews the skills thatare required on the Board from time to time and the succession policy; and it makes recommendations tothe Board on possible future appointments.
This year it is expected that, as a result of the requirement to retire by rotation, there will be five vacancies for
Ordinary Trustees which may be filled at the annual general meeting (the “AGM”).
Two Ordinary Trustees, Clare Weaver and Rie Yoshitake, will retire by rotation and have indicated that they
are willing to stand for re-election. The Board warmly recommends their re-appointment. The Board also
wishes to thank Sue Hudson and Yuuichiro Nakajima for their six-years of service as trustees.
There is one other person standing for election to the Board as an Ordinary Trustee, Nick Woodford; who hassignificant 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
all three Ordinary Trustee candidates are set out in this Appendix.
Overall, there are three candidates for election to fill a possible five Ordinary Trustee vacancies on the Board.
Members are therefore asked at the AGM to cast their votes “For” or “Against” each candidate. Members
may also select the “vote withheld” option if they do not wish to vote for or against any particular candidate,although 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 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.
Members may vote, as normal, in person at the AGM on 8 September 2023 or by proxy. A proxy form isenclosed in this booklet for this purpose.

4

Biographical Details of the Candidates for Chairman and Ordinary Trustees 2023
CLARE WEAVERRIE YOSHITAKE

Clare Weaver is a qualified English solicitor who has
spent almost all her adult life dedicated to Japan,
most recently providing legal consulting services
to Japanese megabanks MUFG, SMBC and Nomura
Securities. Clare is also advising start up companies
on Cryptoassets and Blockchain developments,
having set up Nomura’s digital set company, Laser
Digital.

Rie Yoshitake is a London-based business consultant
with experience over several decades working withUK and Japanese businesses and markets. As founderof Yoshitake & Associates, she works with a team ofspecialists to support existing Anglo-Japanese links
and promote new ones. She has been promoting
sake and Japanese food for many years, and has
been recognised by the Japanese Government with
the Foreign Minister’s Commendation (2019) and theMinister’s Award for Overseas Promotion of JapaneseFood (2014, MAFF).

After reading Oriental Studies (Japanese) at Oxford,
which included a research year at Hiroshima
University on the Japanese Government scholarship
scheme, Clare started her legal career in Linklaters’Tokyo office prior to joining the Legal Division ofMitsui & Co, serving almost 13 years in both London
and Tokyo as Deputy General Manager. of the EMEA
Legal Department.
As part of a decision to shift her career focus toconsulting, Clare undertook her Executive MBA atHenley Business School specialising on strategic
innovation, in particular legal innovation, andundertook research in Japan on the adoption of legal
technology by Japanese law departments. Clare
currently advises a legal tech start up on Japaneseclient development and also supports the activitiesof the Legal Hackers (Tokyo), albeit remotely.
Away from work, Clare is a keen sportswoman,
undertaking endurance cycling sportives and (fulland half) marathons and plays tennis when timepermits. She has also undertaken a professionalsake sommelier’s course and is a very enthusiastic
ambassador for Japanese Nihonshu in London! Sheis also a passionate supporter of social mobility andhas mentored sixth formers who are interested towork in the law and provides skills training to school
children looking for legal internships.

After studying international marketing and public
relations in London, Rie became sole UK representative
for a Japanese trading company, spending ten years
overseeing their London operations, working acrossa range of markets focusing particularly on luxury
goods and fine wine. In 2001 Rie became a founding
partner of Claret Co. Ltd., which imports fine and rarewines to Japan. Bringing together her love of wineand her wish to support business and cultural links
between Japan and Britain, Rie became involved inpromoting Japan’s sake industry overseas. In 2007
the Japan Sake Brewers Association Junior Council,
also known as Sake Samurai, invited her to become
their UK Representative. Since 2015, she has also
been the UK Representative of the Japan Sake andShochu Makers Association.
Rie grew up in Munakata, a coastal city in Fukuoka
said to be the starting point of overseas Japanesetrade, and ascribes her love of travel and desire tocreate strong international connections in part tothis background.
*********************

Clare splits her time between London and Cornwall,
where she and her partner are the proud “parents”
of a cockapoo puppy.

*********************5

NICK WOODFORD
Nick Woodford is a former PwC partner. He retired in2022 after a 35 career at PwC, including 18 years asa partner. He was the lead client service partner for
Honda, Hitachi, Suntory and Panasonic in the UK andEurope.
Nick had a wide range of roles, leading different
business and client service teams in London, Leeds
and internationally focussing on the delivery ofprofessional services; strategy development; andsuccessful strategy implementation. Nick has worked
with many corporate clients across a range ofindustries including technology & communications,entertainment & media, retail, automotive, industrial
manufacturing and financial services. Nick’s clients
have included UK quoted and unquoted companies
as well as major US and Japanese groups.
For over a decade, Nick led PwC’s Japanese BusinessNetwork in the UK, and latterly Europe, withresponsibility for providing advice and practicalsupport to Japanese businesses, as well as to UK
businesses looking to invest in Japan. An experienced
coach and mentor, Nick is a business coach working
with executives and leaders to help them develop
their personal and business skills.
He is passionate about all things Japanese and has
visited Japan many times, including a RWC trip in2019.
Nick Joined PwC straight from Exeter Universityafter studying Geography. He is an ICAEW qualified
chartered accountant.
Nick is married with three adult children.
*********************6

please detach here and return to the Japan Society

THE JAPAN SOCIETY

PROXY FORM for the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2023
I/We, being a member of The Japan Society, hereby appoint the Chairman of the meeting (see note 3) / ....
.................................................................................................... as my/our proxy to vote for me/us at the Annual General
Meeting of The Japan Society to be held on Friday 8 September 2023 and at every adjournment thereof.
Name (please print).......................................................................................................................

Category of membership

Individual

FamilyCorporate

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

Dated....................................................................................................................... 2023Instructions 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 isgiven regarding that resolution and (b) on any other business transacted at the meeting.
For1

Receiving the Accounts and the Trustees’ Report2Re-appointment of the Auditors

3

Re-appointment of Clare Weaver as Ordinary Trustee

4

Re-appointment of Rie Yoshitake as Ordinary Trustee

5

Appointment of Nick Woodford as Ordinary Trustee

AgainstVotewithheldNotes
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 Appointment of a proxy does not preclude you from attending the meeting and voting in person. If you
have appointed a proxy and attend the meeting in person, your proxy appointment will automatically beterminated.
3 If you wish, you may delete the words “the Chairman of the meeting” and insert the name of a proxy of yourchoice. The proxy must be a member of the Japan Society or, in the case of a member which is a corporation,
its authorised representative. Please initial any alteration. A proxy must attend the meeting to represent you.
4 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 michael@japansociety.org.uk not less than 24 hours before the meeting or
the adjourned meeting.
5 To direct your proxy how to vote on the resolutions mark the appropriate box with an ‘X’. If no voting
indication is given, your proxy will vote or withhold their vote at his or her discretion. Your proxy will vote (orPlease return this form to the following address:
The Japan Society, 13/14 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 4QP
or by email to: michael@japansociety.org.ukplease detach here and return to the Japan Societywithhold a vote) as he or she thinks fit in relation to any other matter which is put before the meeting.
6. 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.
7. Any power of attorney or any other authority under which this proxy form is signed (or a duly certifiedcopy of such power of authority) must be included with the proxy form.
8. 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.