The number of people employed in the UK by the biggest Japanese companies in the UK rose by around 1% to 76,103 in 2016 – representing over half of the 140,000 or so the Japanese Embassy to the UK estimates …
Read MoreJapan’s (heartfelt) message to the UK and the EU regarding Brexit surprised many by its directness and the way it was shared publicly. Not so surprising was the underlying theme, of wanting to maintain arrangements as they are. As is …
Read MoreBoth Nomura and Toyota have moved to reassure their employees their jobs in the UK are safe – for the time being. The devil is in the detail of course – Toyota says plans through to 6 or 7 years …
Read MoreA regularly cited statistic in the current EU referendum is that 60% of non-European companies have their European HQ in the UK. I have just revised our Top 30 Japanese companies in Europe and found that 16 out of the …
Read MoreMost countries have rival cities – usually the official capital city versus other cities which consider themselves to be the real business, historical or cultural heart of the country – think London versus Manchester or Birmingham, Berlin versus Dusseldorf or …
Read MoreAlong with “tako tsubo” (octopus pot), another Japanese concept “gobou nuki” (plucking out burdock roots) used in HR has been deemed harmful to corporate Japan’s global prospects.
The term has been used frequently in the Japanese media recently, …
Read MoreI proposed last August that “a charm offensive on the Nikkei group of publications might be advisable” to help new Takeda’s first ever non-Japanese President Christophe Weber gain support, and The Nikkei Business’s recent voluminous special features on Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ …
Read MoreAn interview with George Hara, currently Chairman of Alliance Forum and former board member of various Silicon Valley start ups as a venture capitalist kicks off Nikkei Business’s attempt at finding a new standard for evaluating Japanese companies, beyond …
Read MoreThere are well-known similarities between Japan and Germany – they are both manufacturers of exports which are in demand across the world, they have excellent engineering skills and leadership in manufacturing and craftsmanship. Furthermore, both are serious about their work, …
Read MoreProf Noboru Sato, of Nagoya University and formerly of Honda Motors and Samsung gave the following 6 reasons (article in Japanese) that Japan is behind, not only in the globalization of business, but in terms of global cultural influence – …
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