March 2020

Productivity problems

Japan’s 2.2% unemployment rate may be a point of pride for the country among the Group of Seven (G7) nations, but its workforce has not historically been a paragon of productivity.
April 2020

The new EBC

In the first three months of the new decade, the European Business Council in Japan (EBC) underwent some of the biggest structural and aesthetic changes since it was founded in 1972.
April 2020

Don’t grab the wheel

Although it will still be a while before the elusive flying car takes to the skies, automated driving has arrived. Well, almost.
June 2020

Recovery on the horizon

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympic Games raised expectations for domestic and international businesses in Japan, which envisioned an unprecedented year for the economy. Unfortunately, Covid-19 and its tragic aftermath have brought a 2020 that no one could have imagined.
June 2020

Strengthening partnerships

Against the backdrop of the global Covid-19 pandemic, the EBC is releasing its 2020 white paper, Strengthening partnerships in crisis and opportunities alike.
July 2020

Fragile

The coronavirus pandemic has revealed the fragility of our interconnected global economy. The world is now counting the cost of broken supply chains and a resulting shortage of materials and products.
August 2020

Thinking preventively

When public health is at stake, the sharing of information between medical institutions, tech companies, and government agencies can mean the difference between containing a pandemic and allowing it to spiral out of control.
September 2020

Welcome to Japan?

At the beginning of April, the government of Japan imposed a ban on entry and re-entry into the country as part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic, but this move would ultimately leave an estimated 190,000 permanent and long-term non-Japanese residents stranded abroad.
October 2020

A power shift

On 8 March, a few days before the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic
November 2020

The end of the paperchase

During a recent ceremony at a Buddhist temple in Shinjuku, a priest chanted sutras to memorialise the departed.
December 2020

Fixing our disposable society

On 25 November, the European Parliament voted in favour of a resolution giving consumers the right to repair electronic devices, as well as other measures designed to increase the lifespan and recyclability of products.
January 2021

A new dawn for alliances

Japan has not hosted an ambassador from the United States of America since July 2019. While it doesn’t indicate a collapse in bilateral ties, the vacancy symbolises changes in the longstanding relationship.
January 2021

The year of the vaccine

One bright spot during the global pandemic has been the development and approval of multiple vaccines against Covid-19 — all in under a year.
February 2021

Betting on the planet

On the front lines of the fight against climate change, veteran campaigners for the environment have an unlikely ally: institutional investors that are choosing to invest in environmentally responsible firms and keeping their cash away from big polluters.
March 2021

Rebuilding an industry

The aviation industry has been one of the most visible commercial victims of Covid-19, as countries around the world have attempted to keep the spread of the virus in check with a raft of restrictions on international travel.
April 2021

Face value

The world of the 2002 Steven Spielberg film Minority Report, set in the year 2054, seems to be creeping up on us. When Tom Cruise’s character walks around in public, smart billboards recognise his face and pitch him cars and beer.
May 2021

Struggling, managing, or excelling

SMEs are the backbone of the economy in both Europe and Japan, but many of them have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic and face an uncertain outlook, despite government support schemes.
June 2021

Many missed celebrations

If this were a normal Olympic year, many countries would soon be opening their national houses and pavilions. These spaces, which can take years to plan, give countries a chance to promote tourism and business, host cultural events, and provide their athletes with a place to connect with the media — and to party.
July 2021

Sailing into the future

The nearly week-long blockage of the Suez Canal in March delivered a sharp reminder as to just how crucial cargo shipping is to global trade: around 50,000 vessels carry about 90% of the goods that cross oceans.
August 2021

The return of safe travel?

As the global coronavirus vaccination rollout continues, the issue of ensuring safe cross-border travel is garnering more attention. A key factor will be internationally accepted vaccine passports that prove travellers have been fully inoculated or are not infectious.
September 2021

Lending a paw

When people speak about Japan’s declining birth rate, it’s sometimes pointed out that there are now more pets than children in Japan. But, in reality, that is true of many countries, including France and England. Nevertheless, the Japanese pet market is a large one, with more than 9.6 million cats and nearly 8.5 million dogs, along with a host of other companion animals.
October 2021

Help from the heavens

The recent jaunts of billionaires into space have attracted a great deal of attention — for ushering in the age of space tourism and also for how they starkly illustrate the inequality of life on Earth. But for the foreseeable future, human spaceflight, and unmanned missions to other planets, will represent a fraction of the rapidly expanding space industry.
November 2021

Strengthening stability

On 16 September, the EU announced the details of its Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo–Pacific.
December 2021

Innovations to protect our planet

At the COP26 summit in Glasgow last month, commitments of the kind needed to meaningfully address the climate crisis were notable by their absence.
January 2022

When the chips are down

Lost revenue due to the global semiconductor shortage is estimated to have topped $200 billion in the auto industry alone in 2021.
February 2022

A valuable experience

At their best, internships will offer students or other young people valuable experience and insight into a company, industry, and the world of work.
March 2022

All citizens online

The perfect illustration of resistance to the digitalisation of government in Japan can be seen in the former reform minister Taro Kono’s quest to end the use of faxes.
April 2022

Stricter policies, safer data

In addition, if a firm relies on contracts with data handlers or processers overseas, the company in Japan now must have them audited regularly to ensure they are complying with Japanese data protection standards.
June 2022

Waiting for the winds of change

In addition to the small matter of the impending climate catastrophe, the global energy crisis should be another reason to hasten the shift away from fossil fuels.
June 2022

Five decades of advocacy

There is one simple reason behind the founding and growth of the European Business Council in Japan (EBC): frustration.