The North East Chamber of Commerce has offered 10 firms the chance to join a regional delegation that will visit Osaka in February, according to a 6 December Northern Echo report. The region’s largest business membership organisation is encouraging firms to export goods to Japan. Arranged in conjunction with the British Consulate in Osaka and UK Trade and Investment, the visit will provide firms from the north-east with an opportunity to take part in meetings organised by the Osaka Chamber of Commerce (OCCI); be introduced to potential customers and suppliers in Osaka; attend a consulate reception to meet Japanese contacts and business representatives; as well as take part in an opinion-exchange programme with the OCCI.
New Leader in Mobile Phone Use The UK has replaced Japan as the country in which users of mobile phones and tablet computers consume the most data, according to a 16 December Ofcom report. The UK uses an average of 424MB of data per month—a 60% year-on-year increase— and Japan 392MB. The communications regulator also found that internet users in the UK spend, on average, 728min per week online.
Long-lost Artwork Found An Isle of Man museum has correctly identified a painting by a popular Japanese artist whose works were lost during World War II, the BBC reported on 9 December. Staff identified the painter from a signature on the portrait of a 19th century ship captain’s wife, by the highly acclaimed Jirokichi Kasagi (1870–1923). Recently acquired by the museum, it is believed the painting was produced in Japan from a photograph carried on a vessel during a trading voyage. It is hoped that, after undergoing conservation work, the painting will be displayed in the museum.
Firm to Join Space Project A UK supplier of high-tech space kit has been chosen to work on a Japanese space programme, the London Press Service reported on 27 November. Thomas Keating Ltd, based in southeast England, will observe trace gases in the upper atmosphere from space in the Japanese Experiment Module/ Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder project. The firm, set up in the 1780s to make flea powder, now designs and manufactures scientific instruments used in astronomy, cosmology, atmospheric remote sensing, as well as electron spin resonance that helps engineers develop controlled nuclear fusion. The firm has been recognised for its success and received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2012.
LONDON PRESS SERVICE
Firms Wanted for Trade Mission
Spent Atomic Waste to Be Returned High-level radioactive waste will be sent back to Japan around February following reprocessing in the UK, The Japan Times reported on 5 December. The 28 canisters of waste will contain spent nuclear fuel reprocessed at the request of Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc, Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc and Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc.
Writer Visits Grantham Over Thatcher Links A Japanese journalist went to the Lincolnshire town to obtain information about its links with former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, according to a 3 December article in This is Lincolnshire. The Asahi Shimbun reporter visited a number of locations, including the Grantham Museum and Grantham Girls’ School, to gather information for a story. The former prime minister is a popular figure in Japan because of the similarities in the way the two countries’ industries grew during the 1980s and 1990s.
This is the third time radioactive waste will be brought from the UK. Japan previously received 104 canisters of such waste from the UK, and expects to receive another 800 in the future. All the containers will be placed in a disposal site located deep underground after being stored for 30 to 50 years for cooling at a facility in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture.
Greeting Card Poll Results People in the UK send the most greetings cards in the world, while individuals in Japan send the second-fewest number of cards, according to Ofcom’s 20 December International Communications Market Report. The communications regulator found that out of the 5,243 survey respondents from around the world, 37% of adults in the UK had sent a greeting card, invitation or postcard during the month of December, while only 23% had done so in Japan. Pollees in France sent the fewest greeting cards (17%).
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