The Japan Society Year in Review 2017
Heidi Potter
The vision that drives the Society’s annual activity is the enhancementof understanding of Japanese life and culture and of links between
the UK and Japan. This informs all areas of the programme, whether
direct school-focused education initiatives, lectures and seminars forthe general public and business leaders, events introducing aspects ofthe culture of both countries, opportunities for people to meet in more
informal settings, the provision of research facilities through our library,or the programme of small grants made in support of Japan-related
projects that are organized by others.
The board regularly reviews the Society’s activity to ensure thatits key objectives are being met as well as to confirm their continuing
relevance. In the aftermath of the UK’s decision to leave the EU, andwith increasing global tendencies for nations to look inward, theSociety’s role in creating bridges and fostering professional and personal
networks retains its importance. The Trustees always bear in mind theCharity Commission guidance on public benefit and consider this whenplanning and evaluating our activities and in ensuring that a significant
proportion is accessible to the wider community beyond the Society’s
membership. Many events are open to non-members, while the schools
education programme and the small grants scheme extend throughout
the UK, beyond the Society’s base in London.
The Society encourages any who have an interest in Japan and thebroad UK-Japan relationship to become members and participate inactivities. Reduced membership fees for students and those under 25
years of age are set in order to make membership accessible to the next
generation, who will take the relationship forward in the coming years.
In recent years we have noticed a tendency for people to sign up toreceive newsletters, or to follow the Society on social media, without
becoming members.
The business network
A busy programme of business events again included a number of
events with a focus on the implications of the UK leaving the European
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The Japan Society Year in Review 2017

Union, while also covering other topical issues relating to the JapanUK relationship in a global context. The Chairman held a series of small
lunches and breakfasts in which key figures were invited to meet senior
members of the Society. Three of these focused on Brexit (Alok Sharma
MP, FCO Minister for Asia & the Pacific; Charles Grant, Director, Centre
for European Reform; Philip Stephens, Financial Times), while in the
fourth, Glen S. Fukushima, Senior Fellow at the Centre for American
Progress, gave an assessment of the state of Japan-US relations and theirimplications for Japan and its continental neighbours.
Other larger-scale business lectures and seminars were generously
hosted by corporate members of the Society, or organized in partnershipwith others. One such was a seminar by Gerard Lyons, Chief Economic
Strategist at Netwealth Investments, who presented economic
arguments for the UK leaving the EU. A briefing by Ishizaki Yoshiyuki,
Special Adviser to the Fukushima Revitalization Headquarters, TEPCO,
updated attendees on the progress of the clean-up at the Fukushima
nuclear reactor since the 2011 disaster. On stepping down as British
Ambassador to Japan, Tim Hitchens looked back at his four years inpost and briefed members on the relationship between the British andJapanese governments, and likely developments over the coming year.
We are grateful to Nomura International for once again hosting thispopular and extremely important event. (The transcript of this lecture
was printed in Proceedings 153)
The Society continued to arrange joint lunches in conjunction
with the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the UK. Guest
speakers for these events were Sir David King, the government’s Special
Representative for Climate Change and Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat
Brexit spokesperson and former Deputy Prime Minister. A special lunch
was organized with members of the UK-Japan 21st Century Group on theoccasion of its 34th Annual Meeting, in order to consider topics to be
discussed by the Group at its conference.
A series of seminars on FinTech aimed to shed light on an aspectof the modern world which affects everyone but is understood by few.
Breaking the topic down into sessions such as financial inclusion, AI,
security and virtual currencies, this series enabled attendees to gain adeeper knowledge of the subject and to hear from experts in the field.
Japan Society Proceedings9London’s tech centre attracts entrepreneurs and investors from all over
the world, and we were delighted to be able to showcase some of theJapanese individuals and companies who have based themselves in the
UK. The series was particularly popular with younger corporate members
and student members, who enjoyed the opportunity to share informationand continue their discussions after the formal presentations, thanks to
Mitsubishi Corporation who kindly hosted these seminars.
The Japan Society values its partnerships with other organizations
with similar aims and interests in developing a programme which isof interest and benefit to the membership. In the current economic
climate, the sharing of up-to-date information and best practice isparticularly important. Once again a seminar was held in association
with JETRO, in which Koyama Ken, Chief Economist of the Institute ofEnergy Economics, gave a Japanese perspective on World Energy. The
Society also partnered with the Bank of Japan on a briefing by Deputy
Governor Nakaso Hiroshi.
The general events programme
As always, the Society’s general programme in 2017 included events
designed to reflect the diverse interests and enthusiasms of its members.
The conversation group under the leadership of its active subcommittee continues to play an important role in the Society, providing
a valuable opportunity for participants to maintain and develop theirlanguage skills. It allows Japanese and non-Japanese, members andnon-members, to talk in a friendly and informal setting. In addition to theregular monthly meetings, the conversation group organizes occasional
special events, such as the annual hanami picnic, as well as participating
jointly in other Society events. Another long-running monthly fixture is
the book club, which meets on the second Monday of the month todiscuss a wide range of books including literary classics, anthologies
and contemporary fiction. In February, we were delighted to welcome
Alex Kerr, whose Lost Japan had been that month’s book, to join us inconversation over dinner in a special event
Other events included gallery talks and museum visits, cultural
workshops, music and theatre, food and drink tastings, golf tournaments,and social events. A series of film screenings organized in partnership
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The Japan Society Year in Review 2017

Special dinner with Alex Kerr (February 2017)with the Royal Anthropological Institute was particularly popular, andincluded documentaries on very varied subjects. The series started
with Gaea Girls (Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams, 2000) about female
professional wrestling and ended with The Ainu Bear Ceremony (Neil
Gordon Munro, 1931), and Ainu: Pathways to Memory (Marcos Centeno
Martin, 2014). In May, we arranged a special screening of Dogs without
Names (Yamada Akane, 2015), a drama documentary about those who
rescue lost and abandoned animals in Japan.
Members enjoyed the opportunity to visit the British Museum’s
major exhibition, Hokusai: beyond the Great Wave in the companyof its curator, Tim Clark. Curator tours to Flora Japonica at the Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew, and to Sheer Pleasure; Frank Brangwyn and the
Art of Japan at the William Morris Gallery, also proved popular. A groupof members made a trip to Norwich, where they visited the Mastersof Japanese Photography exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre for VisualArts, joined the Sainsbury Institute of the Study of Japanese Arts andCultures for its Third Thursday Lecture as well as visiting the Institute’s
library where they were shown treasures from its splendid collection
Japan Society Proceedings11

of art related books and archives by librarian, Hirano Akira. Lecture
demonstrations on pottery (with Ishida Kazuya) and chōchin lanterns(with Fushitani Kenichi) were also well attended and much enjoyed.
An ambitious extended project with Hashiguchi Architects andWaso Japan brought a focus on design and tradition, with engagementby Chelsea College, UAL, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in
exploring the tea room in Japanese culture through lectures, workshops
and installations. Japan Society members joined Hashiguchi and his
team in constructing his delicate Open-Weave tea room, made fromsilk thread. At the same time, students from Chelsea College designed
and built three full-size tea rooms variously using straw, wood and brick.
Hashiguchi’s Open Weave tea room was later installed at Kew, to coincidewith the tanabata festival celebration, held in the bamboo garden overtwo days in August and organized by the Society in partnership with the
Embassy of Japan. This was followed in September by the ninth annual
Japan Matsuri, again held in Trafalgar Square. This continues to be a true
community event, organized in partnership with the Japan Association
and Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with support fromthe Embassy of Japan, and involving retailers, restaurants and performers
from the local area.
As always, food and drink events were much enjoyed. During
2017 members had the chance to try making wasanbon Japanesesugar sweets, and gain inspiration from Jay Morjaria who showed theversatility of miso with a delicious menu at a supper club, hosted with
Clearspring. The Society teamed up with the British Sake Association foran evening of conversation – and tasting – with Philip Harper, Japan’s
first and only British tōji (sake brew-master), and joined the team from
Kanpai London Craft Sake to learn about the challenges of sake brewing
in south London with a tasting at Okan Ramen.
The annual golf fixtures saw the Japan Society team again defeat
the Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry to retain the Collar Cup,
while Suzuki Koichi won the Japan Society golf tournament. We are
grateful to BDO LLP for its continued support of these two events.
London Lectures
The lectures programme as usual covered a wide range of subject
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The Japan Society Year in Review 2017

matter. The monthly academic lecture series formed the core of this
aspect of our public programming. These are held at Swedenborg Hall,a convenient, central London venue, easily accessible to students, anaudience we are particularly keen to encourage. In addition to thosefeatured in this volume, lectures in 2017 included the Art of Nishiki
Weaving by Tatsumura Amane; Japanese Castles and the Making ofRegional, National and World Heritage by Oleg Benesch, Senior Lecturer
in History at the University of York; Japan’s foreign and security policy by
Christopher W Hughes, Professor of International Politics and JapaneseStudies, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Warwick; and the story ofThomas Walton, a British glassmaker in early Meiji Japan, by Sally Haden.
The eighth annual lecture in memory of Dr Carmen Blacker, organizedjointly with the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts andCultures, was given by Sasō Mamoru and is reprinted here.
Beyond the monthly lecture series, Kagami Ryūji spoke about theHistory of Horoscope Astrology in Japan to an enthusiastic audience. Ata special event at The Frameworks, Kuwahara Wataru, Hayashi Keiji andJohn Shepherd explained the appeal and enduring success of the longrunning Hankyū British Fair, from the perspectives of organizers andexhibitors.
Japan Society Small Grants
An annual sum of up to £30,000 is set aside for grants in support ofsmall-scale projects and events related to Japan. These grants provide
opportunities for people throughout the UK to participate in educationand exchange relating to Japan and thus contribute to raising awarenessand understanding of the country and its culture in places where theJapan Society has no regular contact. Priority is given to applications
for grassroots projects and for activities involving schools and othereducational establishments.
In 2017, 31 grants were made averaging £677 with funding
totalling £21,000 being awarded in support of grassroots projects in the
UK. In line with the objectives of the grants scheme, most of the activities
supported had an educational element, fostered exchange between the
UK and Japan, or provided opportunities to bring Japanese culture to awide group of people.
Japan Society Proceedings13

Sixteen of the grants awarded were for projects taking place inschools or for activity involving young people. Several schools organizedcross-curricular events such as a whole school tanabata festival or
Japanese culture week for a particular year group. King Edward VI
Community College in Totnes organized an ambitious exhibition muchenjoyed by the local community and accompanied by a range of art andcraft, music, dance and food workshops for students. At other schools, it
was the library which provided the Japan focus with literature workshops
or manga clubs for language learners. The British Cartographic Society
continued its Restless Earth workshop series using the Great East Japan
Earthquake and tsunami as a case study to learn about disaster response
activities: with a small grant enabling additional schools to be visited.
Once again the Society also supported projects involving young
people outside the school system. A ten-day residential workshop in
Winchester provided opportunities for children and young people withlearning difficulties to participate in an arts programme focused onJapan. Another project involved high-achieving young people and theirfamilies to learn new skills and explore Japanese culture in a supportive
environment. The Society supported the Kotatsu Japanese Animation
Festival, which expanded its activity in 2017 and involves local schools,
universities and arts institutions.
Small grants also supported community-based Japan festivals in
Basildon, Bath, Cambridge, Derry-Londonderry and Kent.
Schools Education
The schools education programme has been developed out of a belief
in the value to young people in the UK of growing up with an awarenessand understanding of Japan and its culture. In addition to historical andbusiness reasons for learning about a key international partner, there are
more general benefits of broadening horizons and raising aspirations.
Through its activities for schools, the Society supports teachers who
may have limited experience of Japan themselves in providing theseopportunities for their students.
Throughout the year, the Society’s education team provides advice
and resources to schools engaged in teaching and learning activities
relating to Japan. In 2017, the Japan Activity Chest was renewed, with
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The Japan Society Year in Review 2017

new items and updated accompanying teaching resources. The chest
now arrives in schools in the form of a suitcase, filled with toys, clothing,books and artefacts from daily life, and labelled with luggage tags as
though it has just come from Japan.
A special project in 2017 involved students from several schools
working on designs for tea rooms inspired by the work of architect
Shinichiro Hashiguchi (see general events). Students, who ranged froma Year 3 class of eight-year olds to a GCSE design and technology class,studied the history and conventions of the tea room in Japan, and thenmade their own models. Visits to the schools by Hashiguchi Shinichirō,
who gave feedback on students’ designs, were valued by all participantsin the project.
During the year over 60 visits were made by volunteers in Greater
London, Brighton, Derby, Manchester and South Wales. For most
students a Japan in Your Classroom visit is their first opportunity tomeet a Japanese person and to hear about Japan first-hand; the visits
have a lasting impact. A series of training sessions was held to support
the volunteers, covering both general matters such as classroom

Tea houses by students of Year 3 class

Japan Society Proceedings

15management and techniques for engaging pupils actively, and subjectspecific content.
Support for school links has continued to be an important elementof the Society’s work. During 2017, new partnerships were establishedand existing links strengthened through exchange trips. The partnershipdeveloped by Takamatsu Daiichi Senior High School with County
Upper School, Bury St Edmunds, and Newstead Wood School, London,
continued with another science-based exchange in March. Annual
exchange visits took place from Komaki Elementary School, Nagano, toschools in Nottingham and between staff at Reepham Primary School,
Norfolk and Sakado Azuma Kindergarten in Saitama. In December,
Wavell School and Farnborough College of Technology hosted a taiko
group from Mizuma High School, Fukuoka. The taiko group performed
at both schools, as well as running a number of workshops.
Work continued on a redesign of the Japan UK LIVE! website to
make it more intuitive and simple to use. The new site will be rolled out
in 2018.
Sixth form study days were held in Manchester (March 2017, with
Manchester University) and London (November 2017, in partnershipwith Ritsumeikan University and SOAS). The London event was fully
subscribed, with some 120 students and staff participating in a day oflectures and workshops on Japanese themes. Representatives fromuniversities throughout the UK attended to provide information on
opportunities for further study. The Manchester day, postponed from2016, was opened up to GCSE students, and was found useful by the 30
students who attended.
Japan Society Publications
In 2017, work was carried out on Heaven’s Wind, an anthology of shortstories by five contemporary women writers, with translation in parallel text
format and an extended essay by translator, Angus Turvill;. the book was
released in January 2018.
Work began on two further publications: British Foreign Secretaries
and Japan 1850-1990 (for 2018) and British Royal and Japanese Imperial
Relations (for 2019).

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The Japan Society Year in Review 2017