Latest News

Over the past year and a half we have all become rather more knowledgeable about the way in which Mother Nature can spring surprises on us than we ever wanted or expected to be.

Watch the recording of our webinar when Japan Society chairman Bill Emmott was joined by Koichi Nakano and Alex Thomas to discuss controversies surrounding the relation between the public and private sectors and the specific issues and challenges this presents for the UK and Japan.

Don’t miss our brand new Japanese Sports Quiz and other sports resources, which are perfect for those planning a sporty summer term in the run up to the Tokyo 2021 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Take a look at our online resources to find out more about the rainy season in Japan and sights, songs, and customs associated with this time of year. Also check out our new activity pack which can be used at home or in the classroom.

The news came as quite a shock, as it may do now to those Japan Society members not yet aware of it: that Sir Roger Gifford, who spoke so warmly and cheerfully at our webinar on green finance on 19 May, passed away at his home less than a week later, on 25 May.

Watch the recording of the lecture by Dr Sonia Favi where she illustrated the contents of the Japanese Maps Collection of the University of Manchester Library as well as the digitisation process, the creation of the metadata, and how the digitised materials are being used by the library to foster research and public engagement.

Watch the recording of our webinar when Japan Society chairman Bill Emmott was joined to discuss the important issue of green and sustainable finance by two experts in the field: Roger Gifford and Mari Yoshitaka.

Britain and America, quipped the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, are two nations divided by a common language. Or at least I think Shaw said this, but one modern consequence of Google is that when I used it to check the quote, it told me that there is no clear attribution, and that it might have been said by Oscar Wilde or someone else entirely.

Watch the recording of this lecture by Dr Christopher Hood where he explored the long history of disaster movies in Japan. Based on an extensive study of disaster movies both in Japan and Hollywood, this lecture considers the degree to which Japanese disaster movies present both conservative and revisionist approaches.

Watch the recording of our webinar when Bill Emmott was joined by Prof Paul Riley and Georg Holländer from the new Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Oxford and Prof Shin’ichi Takeda of the Translational Medical Center in Tokyo to discuss regenerative medicine and its potential impact on global health.