Aberdeen City Council staff warmly hosted a visit by four JLGC staff seconded from Japan’s local authorities in March this year. Such visits offer an invaluable opportunity for JLGC staff to see the role that local government plays in the UK, including local democracy in action, public services provided by councils, as well as the chance to see the distinctive issues and policies put in place to grapple with local issues which vary greatly throughout the UK as they do in Japan.
After arrival at the town hall and a welcome from the Lord Provost of Aberdeen, the group had a whirlwind tour of the council looking at economic development, democratic arrangements, corporate governance, education and children’s services as well as communities, housing and infrastructure policies. Site visits included a tour of the Civic Rooms and Archives, watching a citizenship ceremony, and a visit to the Maritime Museum to see the archived material about the Jo Sho Maru, a steam ironclad warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed by Thomas Blake Glover and built in Scotland for the private navy of the fief of Kumamoto. The ship was delivered to the new Imperial Japanese Navy on 8 May 1870, and sailed from Nagasaki to Yokohama with a British captain. Until the commissioning of the ironclad Fusō in 1878, she was the flagship (and the most powerful ship) of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Aberdeen City Council has recently adopted an official Japan Strategy with the aims of identifying new business and trade opportunities for local companies, new sources of inward investment aligned to the priorities of the ‘Shaping Aberdeen’ strategy and the Strategic Infrastructure Plan. Support for academic links, as part of the strategy, also aims to enhance the profile of the city as a global centre of excellence in energy and a key UK hub for business innovation and internationalisation.
Implementation of the Strategy will contribute to the successful achievement of some of the economic and business development policies of Aberdeen, focusing on Scotland being the most attractive place for doing business in Europe, realising full economic potential with more and better employment opportunities for local people, anchoring the Oil and Gas Industry as well as Diversification of the Economy. Recent dealings with Japan have also focused on developing the hydrogen energy industry in Aberdeen. Aberdeen also wants to build on the strong connection with Nagasaki in relation to the legacy of Sir William Blake Glover, the Scottish merchant who lived in the Bakumatsu and Meiji periods in Japan (1853 – 1912), who was instrumental in Japan developing its modern shipbuilding industry as well as the founding of what became Mitsubishi Corporation.
JLGC would like to thank Alasdair Ross, Civic Affairs Manager in the Office of Chief Executive at Aberdeen City Council, as well as all the other staff who gave up their time to welcome and present, for a very valuable and enjoyable experience in the Granite City.
