16th July 2019 Tokyo, Japan
As an Ambassador, I enjoy occasionally getting the chance to visit different regions of the UK, and find out more about their links with Japan. This week I was in East Anglia. I began in Cambridge, calling on Professor Mickey Adolphson, the Head of the Japanese Department in the University’s Faculty of Asian and Middle […]
21st May 2018 Tokyo, Japan
Japan is a country of matsuri or festivals, usually based around the changing seasons. The “Golden Week” holiday in May, when three public holidays mean that most Japanese take the whole week off, found us in the village of Otari in the Japanese Alps, for the Shionomichi (salt road) matsuri. Dressed as peasants, though I […]
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26th March 2018 Tokyo, Japan
You may have seen the 1996 Japanese movie Shall We Dance, about a “sarariman”, or office worker, who found meaning in his humdrum life by taking up ballroom dancing classes. It was one of the most popular Japanese films ever to reach an international audience. I was delighted that its star, Tamiyo Kusakari, and its director, […]
1st December 2017 Tokyo, Japan
This month Japan will take on the chair of the UN Security Council, at the end of a distinguished two year term on the Council, where we have worked very closely together. This will be an opportunity for Japan and partners in the UN system to continue to maintain the pressure on the DPRK to […]
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2nd November 2017 Tokyo, Japan
Science is a global enterprise. The best researchers in the UK want to work with the best researchers across the globe. Japan is a very strong research nation – it is a country of world leading researchers and technologies that invests over 3.5% of GDP in R&D and has had more Nobel Prize winners since […]
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3rd October 2017 Tokyo, Japan
Hosting the Tokyo launch of Peppa Pig last week made a nice change from giving speeches about Brexit and worrying about North Korean missile tests. The hugely popular British cartoon character which has been a favourite with children around the world, since its inception in 2004 has finally come to Japan. The Japanese with their […]
23rd June 2017 Osaka, Japan
Situated in the South West of Japan, Fukuoka is Japan’s fifth largest city and the fastest growing – from 2010 to 2015 it grew 5%, significantly faster than any other major city in Japan. With a population of 5.1m (larger than Ireland), it also has the highest ratio of young residents (c.20% aged 15-29). Geographically […]
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19th June 2017 Tokyo
Last week, I had the privilege to attend the annual Japan Academy Prize. The Prize recognize outstanding achievements in Japanese research excellence and previous winners include Nobel Laureates such as Professor Isamu Akasaki who led development of blue LEDs. This year’s winners included a pioneer of pediatric cardiac surgery, researchers who identified the genetic pathways behind […]
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3rd May 2017 Tokyo, Japan
Everyone knows that Japan is famous for its cherry blossoms or “Sakura”. The subtle delicacy of the individual blooms, which collectively add up to a soft mass of pink that daubs the country at this time of year, are very special. But non-Japanese may not be quite as familiar with the very important role that […]
29th March 2017 Tokyo
A visit to one of London’s museums, with free entrance to the public, is one of the highlights of a trip to the capital for many tourists. For the Natural History Museum, a world-famous attraction, foreign visitors now make up around 60% of the five million people enjoying its galleries, exhibitions, events and education programmes […]
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