Along with our annual Japan Day Seminar held in the UK, our Study Tour to Japan held in association with Japanese cities each year is a core activity of JLGC in London alongside our work in research, study visits and the JET Programme. Beginning in 1994, the tour has seen over 200 alumni visit and learn from Japanese local government, which was reflected on by JLGC Director Kazuya Shima opening our recent event in London to mark its 20th anniversary, moderated by 2005 tour participant Michael Burton, Editorial Director of the MJ.
2014’s study tour was held in collaboration with Kumamoto City in Kyushu, southern Japan. With the theme of ‘Compact and Connected Cities’ participants from UK local government were able to look at local policies and plans to enable the city’s ‘smart growth’ through targeting emerging markets in East Asia and downtown revitalisation. As well as joining Japan’s shinkansen (bullet train) high speed rail network in 2011, Kumamoto was granted additional decentralised powers by the government when it became Japan’s 20th Designated City a year later.
Participants from the 2014 tour, led by Charlotte Johns (Head of Policy, City of Wolverhampton) gave their reflections on the tour and learnings provided for their own roles back in UK local government, in particular the use of local mascots in city branding and marketing strategies for growth in tourism.
As the event was also held to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Japan Study Tour, participants from previous tours also provided their own perspectives on the operation and benefit of the tour for enriching professional engagement and policy learning in UK local government using Japanese municipal models and experiences.
Susan Handley, who attended 2005’s ICT-themed tour to Okayama from the Local Government Association, reflected on the personal benefit and continued interest in Japan derived from participating on the tour and how Anglo-Japanese strengths can both complement each other and be used to tackle challenges/weaknesses, as well as the strength of the CLAIR approach of applied urban research contrasted with a scaling back among UK local authorities.
Stephen Weigel, former chief executive of Tandridge council (Okayama, 2005), also commented on how his experiences and learning from the tour had encouraged his local authority to engage more with emerging technology to open up the council. Graeme Gordon, director of corporate strategy at Southwark council in London (Kyoto, 2010), argued that the tour enables senior officials from both countries to discuss both mutual and separate challenges, but also acquire the learning and ‘science’ to do so. David Cook, chief executive of Kettering council (Miyagi, 2013), suggested that the tour has embedded advocates and champions for Japan across the length and breadth of UK local government on account of the admirable and palpable civic pride felt in Japanese local government and that participation makes for better managers.
The morning’s final session saw a presentation by Steve Crane, CEO of Business Link Japan, on the scale and sort of opportunities available for UK local authorities and companies in Japan. He suggested that UK local authorities could maximise opportunities for investment and bilateral partnerships by refining their pitch to Japanese companies and using existing and free resources in their locality such as existing Japanese residents able to credibly champion the region in a language and tone better understood in Japan.
An audience of former tour participants from a wide range of local authority professions and council types from across the UK continued discussions over a Japanese lunch overlooking Regent’s Park, the venue kindly provided by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation for the day.
