Japan Macro Salon with Jesper and Bill
Date
Wednesday 8 October 2025
Time
12.00 - 1.00pm (BST)
8.00 - 9.00pm (JST)
Check the time in your location
Booking Details
Free - On Zoom
Please register for the webinar in advance from the link below. After registering, you will receive a automated confirmation email with meeting access details (please check your spam folder if you don't receive any emails).
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Join us for the latest in our regular quarterly webinar on business and current affairs, Japan Macro Salon with Jesper and Bill. In these our Honorary Vice Chair Bill Emmott teams up with Jesper Koll, longtime Tokyo resident and one of the most keenly watched economists and investment strategists in that town, to discuss what's new in the Japanese economy, business, financial markets and more.
Each quarter, Jesper and Bill open with a conversation about the latest trends that have caught their attention, and then welcome a special guest to focus on a topic of the moment. All the while, they will be interacting with questions from the audience. These webinars are run in association with Asia Society Japan.
For the October edition of Macro Salon, Jesper and Bill will be joined by Leo Lewis, Tokyo bureau chief of the Financial Times. This timely conversation follows the 4 October LDP leadership race, which will determine Japan’s next prime minister. They will explore the economic and business implications of the leadership outcome, as well as the impact of the outgoing prime minister’s recent trade and investment agreement with the United States.
Leo Lewis is the Financial Times’ Tokyo bureau chief. Until the August 2024 market turmoil, he wrote award-winning columns and features as Asia Business Editor; and was previously the FT’s Tokyo correspondent, covering financial markets, investment, banking, and a broad sweep of Japanese industry. His experience of Japan and Asia is extensive – before becoming a journalist and working in London for the Independent on Sunday newspaper, he graduated in Oriental Studies. Roles at The Times (of London) included five years as Beijing bureau chief during a period that covered the rise of Xi Jinping.
Jesper Koll has been researching and investing in Japan since becoming a resident in 1986. Over the past two decades, Jesper has been consistently recognized as one of the top Japan strategists/economists, having worked as Chief Strategist and Head of Research for U.S. investment banks J.P. Morgan and Merrill Lynch. He currently serves as Expert Director for the Monex Group and the Japan Catalyst Fund (Japan’s 1st retail investor based corporate engagement/activist fund). His analysis and insights have earned him a position on several Japanese government and corporate advisory committees, including Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike’s Advisory Board. Jesper serves as Board Director of OIST, the Okinawa Institute for Science and Technology and is a Founder and Board Director of the Asia Society Japan and heads their Policy Committee. He is one of the few non-Japanese members of the Keizai Doyukai, the Japan Association of Corporate Executives; and serves on the board of several Japan-based start-ups. He has written three books in Japanese and, in 2021, created the acclaimed video/pod-cast series Japan - Capitalism that works. Jesper is an economist, angel-investor, patron; and yes, a Japan Optimist.
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Explore our series of webinars with leading experts in politics, economy and media. More details on upcoming events and past webinar videos HERE.