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Japan Society Chairman's Blog (25)

Japan Society Chairman's Blog (25)

It feels a bit early to quote a Christmas carol, with Hallowe’en only just behind us and the weather not even very cold. Mind you, to an Englishman of my generation the celebration of Hallowe’en feels rather alien, since although Japan long ago adopted this American festival of pumpkins, ghosts and ‘trick or treat’, it is a much more recent import into the United Kingdom.

Webinar Video - The Future of Democracy in the USA

Webinar Video - The Future of Democracy in the USA

Watch the video of our webinar on Wednesday 22 October when we were delighted to welcome two expert observers and analysts David Runciman and Hitoshi Tanaka to join Japan Society chairman Bill Emmott to discuss the future of democracy in the USA.

Japan Society Chairman's Blog (24)

Japan Society Chairman's Blog (24)

Freedom of speech is one of those aspects of our modern, thankfully democratic, life that we have come to think of in Britain and Japan as being as natural as sunshine or water, but the merest glance at history tells us that this is far from so.

Sixth Form Japan Week 2020 - Registration Now Open!

Sixth Form Japan Week 2020 - Registration Now Open!

Registration are now open for our annual Japan event for Sixth Form students. This year the event goes online, with a mix of live sessions and flexible on-demand content.

Webinar Video - Japan’s Far More Female Future

Webinar Video - Japan’s Far More Female Future

Watch the video of our webinar on Wednesday 14 October when we were joined by Kathy Matsui in a two-header discussion with Bill Emmott on the important issues of gender equality.

Japan Society Chairman's Blog (23)

Japan Society Chairman's Blog (23)

Politics is a distinctly unedifying process. The quote usually, perhaps apocryphally, attributed to Otto von Bismarck gets it about right: “laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made”.

The Call of Japan: A Continuing Story - 1950 to the Present Day -- Members Discount

The Call of Japan: A Continuing Story - 1950 to the Present Day -- Members Discount

Part personal memoir, part professional flashback, part socio-cultural commentary, The Call of Japan chronicles the author’s experiences during his 40 years of living in Japan, from 1950 to 1974 as a ‘reluctant banker’, and from 2003 to the present as a writer.

Japan Society Chairman's Blog (22)

Japan Society Chairman's Blog (22)

A key text from my long-ago student days was Walter Bagehot’s “The English Constitution” from 1867, in which this great Victorian writer and editor laid down, unofficially but ultimately influentially, some of the fundamental principles by which this country’s unwritten constitution functions.

Webinar Video - Developing Professional Women’s Football in Japan & the UK

Webinar Video - Developing Professional Women’s Football in Japan & the UK

Watch the video of our webinar on Thursday 8 October with two pioneers of women’s football, Kikko Okajima Murray and Kelly Simmons, who join Japan Society board member Yuuichiro Nakajima, to discuss the professionalization of the game, the impacts of the pandemic and the role of football as a force for social change.

Webinar Video - Reporting the world in Japan and the UK

Webinar Video - Reporting the world in Japan and the UK

Watch the video of our webinar on Tuesday 29 September with NHK’s Aiko Doden and John Simpson of the BBC, who join Japan Society Chairman, Bill Emmott, to discuss how our countries’ media’s approaches to foreign news and foreign correspondents is evolving.