News

25/08/2011

Visits to Garden Cities

This week JLGC staff attended with and supported visits by Okinawa Prefectural Government to Bedford Park in London, New Hall in Harlow, Letchworth Garden City and Poundbury in Dorset. Okinawa is particularly interested in learning from the example of the Garden Cities Movement in England in support of its future housing policies, particularly with regard […]

23/08/2011

From Marunouchi to Mayfair

London and Tokyo, like other world cities, have a longstanding partnership agreement. However, in recent years the links have taken on a new form and are concentrating primarily on London’s West End shopping district. First the City of Westminster and the New West End Company brought a touch of Shibuya to Oxford Circus with the […]

23/08/2011

Then and Now: Japanese Investment in the UK

Recently Dr Sierk Horn, Senior Lecturer in Japanese Studies at the University of Leeds, gave a presentation on the spatial distribution of Japanese investment in the UK at our annual Japan Day Seminar (report here) held in Gateshead. For the London-based, Dr Horn will also be presenting his findings at an event organised by the […]

18/08/2011

JLGC is now on Facebook!

Search for Japan Local Government Centre on Facebook and click “like” to get updates from the office on our events and activities, with all our tweets and blogs broadcast to our Facebook page, as well as seeing the offices and organisations we work with and like too!

17/08/2011

JLGC at the Japan Matsuri 2011, 18 September

The first large-scale urban matsuri took place in London’s historic Spitalfields Market in September 2009. Previously Matsuri had taken place in Hyde Park (1991 and 2001) but this was the first time a Japanese community celebration was held in the middle of a thriving modern mixed commercial and residential area. 2009 Japan Matsuri was a vibrant […]

12/08/2011

‘Heartfelt thanks from the people of Japan’

The Japanese community of Colchester is holding a very special event to express their gratitude to the town for its generosity and support following the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Soon after the quake and tsunami struck Japan’s Tohoku region on 11 March 2011, a group of local artists conducted a […]

08/08/2011

The Shinkansen’s Local Impact

Amid the debate around the pros and cons of the proposed UK’s High Speed 2 rail project, Dr Christopher Hood of Cardiff University has an article in the Social Science Japan Journal on ‘The Shinkansen’s Local Impact’, which assesses the effect high speed rail has had on local areas in Japan. The article “look[s] at […]

08/08/2011

Lessons from Japan: investing in local identities

The Guardian‘s Local Government Network website carries a feature today on place branding practice by local authorities in Japan, including several quotes by JLGC’s Keith Kelly and a precis of our office’s activities in the UK. The article also mentions the JLGC case studies ‘Using regional products and PR to revitalise local areas’ (PDF) and […]

05/08/2011

JET Programme UK intake Summer 2011

This year 195 participants have been selected to go to Japan from the UK as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) based in schools or as Coordinators for International Relations (CIRs) based in local government offices working to promote international links at the grassroots level. On 4 and 5 July 2011, the successful applicants attended their pre-departure orientation at […]

05/08/2011

External promotion of the Channel Islands

JLGC staff Andrew Stevens and Marie Yoshikawa visited the Channel Islands for the first time, in what is hoped to begin a new relationship and understanding of the Crown Dependencies, the self-governing islands associated with the United Kingdom.  The visit to Guernsey and Jersey follows a visit in May to the Isle of Man, the third […]