JLGC departures and new staff arrival
15 Whitehall office
It’s the time of year when we say goodbye to staff, returning to their local authorities in Japan after a two year secondment in the UK, and see the arrival of new staff to work on JLGC projects and on behalf of their municipalities in a variety of roles. Ms Kayoko Tamura of Hagi City in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Ms Kayo Yamada from Gifu Prefecture, Mr Satoshi Emoto from Tokushima Prefecture and Mr Shinichiro Minato from Ishikawa Prefecture return to their local authorities in Japan and we would like to thank all the UK and European partners who have supported them in research, twinning links, public relations and training during their stay.
Mr Teruhiko Asano from Okayama Prefecture, Ms Itsumi Takakuwa from Gifu Prefecture and Mr Daiki Yoshijima from Wakayama Prefecture have arrived to work on various JLGC projects such as promoting their regions in Europe, supporting JET alumni activities and carrying out research on behalf of local authorities in Japan’s cities and regions. JLGC looks forward to working with UK and European partners and the opportunity for our new colleagues to meet with our friends and colleagues throughout the UK.
Japan Tag Düsseldorf
JLGC staff again attended Japan Tag this May in Düsseldorf which has been taking place regularly in May/June in the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia since 2002. Over the years, it has become a major highlight in the Düsseldorf event calendar. At the biggest German-Japanese festival of its kind, the Japanese community living in the city display the culture of their home country to visitors in diverse ways, and are heavily involved in shaping the festival. There are around 8,200 Japanese citizens living in Düsseldorf and the surrounding area. JLGC attends the event to promote Japan as a tourist destination, liaising with the Japan Exchange and Trade Organisation (JETRO) Düsseldorf office which supports companies that invest in Japan cooperate with Japanese companies as well as export their products to Japan.
JLGC promotes Japan’s regions and cities every year at this increasingly popular and growing event. JLGC works with Japanese local authorities, collating PR material with our offices in Tokyo and throughout Japan’s 47 prefectures. We then provide information to the public attending Japan Tag handing out local area maps and guides, as well as free gifts, while doing market research into perceptions about Japan as a tourist destination and the kind of things tourists look at considering holiday destinations
Cllr Hilary Frank Mayor Making Ceremony
Former JLGC staff member and current Liberal Democrat councillor for Saltash and Cornwall Council was made the Mayor of Saltash for 2016/17 at a recent ceremony attended by JLGC director Kazuya Shima and guests from Japan. Mayor Frank as well as working for some time at JLGC also worked on the FIFA World Cup in Japan and the Nagano Winter Olympics. Mayor Frank’s ‘Ceremony of Mayor Choosing’ was attended by JLGC staff and staff from Rugby World Cup Japan 2019. Mayor Frank also arranged for visits as governor to local primary schools for the Japanese guests .
The Mayor of Saltash’s role dates back to 1225 when Reginald de Valletort, lord of Trematon Castle and Trematon Manor, granted a charter to the burgesses of Essa, as Saltash borough was then called. He confirmed all the privileges which they had received from his ancestors. The charter contained a clause stating that the burgesses would be able to elect a reeve themselves. A reeve was a borough administrator. Two centuries later the term “Mayor of Saltash” began to appear in some documents; gradually it became the standard title. It was made official in the charter granted to Saltash borough by Queen Elizabeth I in 1585.
Governor of Hiroshima talks at Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
The Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture, Hidehiko Yuzaki, was accompanied by JLGC staff at an Oxford University event in May. Governor Yuzaki joined a discussion which asked the question of how governments can better engage with different sectors and stakeholders, how they can unleash new forces for good, by working closely with private and not-for-profit partners, achieve better outcomes for society and if public and private capital can address social and economic challenges globally. This event was part of the ‘Challenges of Government Conference’, held 19-20 May 2016 at the Blavatnik School of Government.
Governor Yuzaki previously served in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as the Deputy Director, Americas Division, Trade Policy Bureau. He was also the Deputy Director, Nuclear Industry Division, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy and employed at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University and graduated from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Law.
A video of the panel discussion which Governor Yuzaki took part in can be seen here.
Informal Governance Systems field research: a UCL discussion at JLGC
A lecture was organised for JLGC staff on the forthcoming field research in Japan by Rocio Carrero, Research Associate at the City Leadership Initiative (CLI) within UCL STEaPP. Dr Carrero’s research project focuses on the Informal Governance Systems (IGS) which are constituted by individuals and groups connected to each other by non-institutional channels, such as family, neighbours, churches, schools, etc. and how IGS plays a fundamental, yet not-well understood, role in disaster risk reduction. The project aims to promote a better understanding of IGS in disaster scenarios to enable authorities and communities to better prepare for, cope with and recover from such disasters.
CLI is producing evidence on the role of IGS in disaster response and recovery, analysing the specific cases of Sendai (Japan) and Kathmandu (Nepal), hit by the Tōhoku and the Gorkha earthquakes in 2011 and 2015 respectively. It will examine the IGS activated during and after the two crises by conducting two field work campaigns, as well as engaging multilateral and bilateral agencies, local officers, humanitarian experts and local civilian groups directly involved in the disasters.
The project is being developed in collaboration with the Red Cross International and the Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction of the World Bank, as well as Durham University and the KFW Development Bank, with support offered by JLGC in London. In a wide-ranging discussion, Dr Carrero addressed the scope of institutional actors at local level in Japan, the capacity of authorities to accept external aid and support during the disaster response phase, the role of social media and digital networks in community response/official information and how education authorities and institutions in Japan play a part during and after disasters.
