• Data and trust in Japan and Europe - I recently logged back into an online events platform which I had not used for a couple of years, in order to set up ticket sales for a seminar.  A message popped up saying that in order to continue using the site for sales, I needed to register with the US Inland Revenue Service. I...
  • Japan – Europe, Middle East & Africa business update - The Japanese clutch and automotive transmission manufacturer Exedy is buying Protean Electric, the UK-based developer of in-wheel motors (IWMs) for electric vehicles, for around €30m. Exedy says the acquisition will help it to transform its portfolio to provide new opportunities in the automotive sector as it undergoes “a major transformation”. What Japanese companies are doing about...
  • Japan in the UK – The Brexit Agreement 5 and 10 years on - It is five years ago today that David Henig,  director of the UK Trade Policy Project at the think-tank European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) and Pernille Rudlin, Managing Director of Rudlin Consulting, were the speakers for the Japan Society’s webinar – The Brexit Agreement One Month On.  Viewing it again, and looking at...
  • Biggest European companies in Japan - Having looked at the largest foreign-owned companies in Japan in a previous post, we thought we’d take a look at the largest companies in Japan owned by European companies in more detail. By employee number, they are: Mitsubishi Fuso Truck – Germany (89.2% owned by Daimler), #3 overall, 10,633 employees Bosch – Germany, #10 overall,...
  • Two swallows make a summer? - We were somewhat sceptical when the Financial Times greeted Mitsubishi Corporation’s $1bn acquisition of Norwegian company Grieg Seafood’s salmon farms as being part of a record breaking acquisition spree by Japanese companies. It seemed that here in Europe at least, Japanese acquisitions had not really picked up momentum at all, compared to the pre Brexit...
  • Biggest foreign companies in Japan - It all depends on what you mean by big, of course. And, it turns out, what you mean by foreign. Our favourite way of measuring size and growth at Rudlin Consulting has been by numbers of employees, because ranking by capital or turnover risks comparing apples to oranges. Taking a look at the rankings compiled...
  • Japanese financial services in the UK and EMEA - The UK’s financial regulatory authority has announced further plans to ease the rules for banks and insurers in the UK. This is in line with both previous and current British government policy of putting more emphasis on growth and investment over concerns about safety and risk. It is also part of trying to find a...
  • The puzzle of Japanese foreign direct investment in the UK - Something has been puzzling me for a few years about Japanese foreign investment in the UK. The net investment by Japanese companies in the British “communications” sector since 2016 is US$55bn, over three times more than the next largest net investment, which was in the food manufacturing sector. There have been various acquisitions and investments...
  • What is a Japanese company anyway? - One of many jobs I did not get over the years was a board position for an investment trust focused on Japan. In the “any other questions for us?” bit at the end, I raised the issue of “how do you define a Japanese company? Is it enough just to say it is listed on...
  • Largest Japan owned companies in the UK – 2024 - The largest Japan owned companies in the UK employ around 65,000 people and have grown around 5% on average in terms of employee numbers in the year 2023 to 2024. The top 5 The top three largest companies are the same as in 2015/6 – Nissan Motor Manufacturing with around 7,000 employees, down 500 from...

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