JLGC London Hellos and Goodbyes 2021
JLGC said goodbye to four staff in March this year, Deputy Director Mr Narutoshi Kimata returns to Aichi Prefecture HQ in Nagoya to be replaced by Mr Hiroshi Sakai in the position, also from Aichi Prefecture. Assistant Directors Mr Atsushi Nosaka returns to Wakayama Prefecture, Mr Yusuke Takahashi to Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Mr Shoya Abe to Sendai City.
Arriving in April are Mr Fumitoshi Nishikawa from Ishikawa Prefecture and Ms Moeko Nakamura from Tokyo Metropolitan Government. From April 2021 JLGC also has seconded staff from the Japanese local authorities of Okayama City as well as Gifu, Fukushima and Tokushima Prefectures. JLGC staff are very grateful to our partners in the UK and elsewhere who continue to support our activities and look forward to working with colleagues this coming financial year.
JET Programme Alumni Association UK – Special Interest Group (SIG) Seminar
JLGC supported a seminar organised by the JETAA Academic SIG exploring how JET has been beneficial in changing attitudes towards Japan through grassroots diplomacy. This was done through examining the deepened connections and experiences past participants developed over their time on the programme and beyond.
JET participant Sharleen Hughson PhD (University of Sheffield, School of East Asian Studies 2017 and Executive Secretary of the Japan Foundation Endowment Committee) presented her research on how the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET) and former BET and MEF schemes from the 1980s to 2010s contributed to positive engagement with Japan from bottom-up, exploring how memory and nostalgia are powerful tools for diplomacy.
Sharleen found that the participants went through stages of imagining the unfamiliar through transmitted ideas, experiencing the realities of everyday life in the host communities that then led to a transformation of memory affixed to place that became beneficial for self-worth and long-term engagement with Japan after the programme. Sharleen’s past research concentrated on soft power from the bottom, however, found that a transmigratory form of nostalgia was key to maintaining the connections over time.
The video of the seminar will shortly be availed on the JETAA UK Website, please check Twitter and LinkedIn for details of when they are available.
JLGC Online Seminar on Multiculturalism
As part of a series of online seminars for member authorities and audiences in Japan, JLGC held a seminar with Ms Ayako Oyama presenting research on multicultural policy in the London Borough of Newham and projects there for community integration (multicultural coexistence) and comparative analysis with Shinjuku ward in Tokyo, one of Japan’s most multicultural local authorities.
Ms Oyama is a PhD candidate who teaches at Anglia Ruskin University School of Humanities and has been Director of Multicultural Society Study Group, after 17 years living in the UK London researching themes of multicultural coexistence in the UK. Her research was based on interviewing and surveys with stakeholders in the Newham area over several years looking at community engagement and involvement in festivals and the use of community facilities. The video is available in Japanese only on our website here
JLGC Online Seminar on UK saké market
Another online seminar was organised by JLGC on the UK saké market with a focus on the overseas expansion of the drink with a focus on the UK. The UK is the prominent international wine market and the saké section of the international wine competition “IWC” established a saké contest in 2007 as part of the annual Wine Challenge, and since then it has been the most attended event for the drink outside Japan growing into a major annual exhibition. In the UK, where there are now many Japanese restaurants, producers in Japan want to know how UK consumers learn about saké, which is an indispensable accompaniment to Japanese food.
Taking part in the event were Sake Samurai UK Representative and manager of the Japan Saké Brewing Central Association UK Desk Ms Rie Yoshitake, presenting on “Issues and Prospects in the British Saké Market Learned from the Pandemic“. Mr. Shunpei Iida, General Manager, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Food Department, London Office, Japan External Trade Organization presented on “The UK Alcoholic Beverage Market and Saké Market”. Mr Shuhei Kataoka, First Secretary, Embassy of Japan in the United Kingdom also presented on “The relationship between Japan and the UK; what local governments need to know; the appeal of the UK market from the perspective of saké and wine – Three points to think about British consumers.” The report from the event can be seen here (Japanese only).
JLGC new Instagram account
JLGC will shortly launch a new Instagram account called ‘Local eyes Japan’, highlighting ‘off-the-beaten-track’ Japan, little-known areas of the country as well as craft and cuisine from destinations not usually on the well-trod tourist trail. It will feature pictures and videos from local authorities, tourist organisations, travellers and local residents with tips and advice on hidden gems and local delicacies away from the most visited areas like Tokyo and Kyoto, offering a glimpse into the regions and culture not normally seen in the UK.
The Instagram account can be seen here https://www.instagram.com/localeyesjapan/
Please also follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for updates specifically about our office events and activities like our annual Japan Study Tour and Japan Seminar, with details of how to apply for the tour and register for our public events.
JET Interviews
JLGC Staff took part in interviews for the JET Programme, organised by the Embassy of Japan in the UK. Director-General Suzuki took part in the recruitment process for the 2021 intake of JET participants online, recruiting for the official Japanese Government’s long-running international exchange and English-teaching programme. Since its founding in 1987, more than 11,000 UK graduates have made their own unique impact within the Japanese community through internationalisation at the grassroots level and foreign language teaching.
There are currently approximately 1,000 local government organisations, including 45 prefectures and 18 designated cities which host JET participants. There are currently 560 participants from the UK in Japan working in Japanese schools and local authorities throughout the country out of total of 5,761, the second-highest nationality by participation, with 57 countries sending JETs in 2019-2020. The Embassy of Japan in the UK leads on recruitment for the programme, while JLGC supports alumni when back in the country at the same time as our HQ CLAIR Tokyo manages placements and relations with local authorities in Japan.
