The Business Opportunities  //  Mission to Japan

Home » Events » UKTI Mission to Japan - September 2011 » The Business Opportunities

There are more than 400 British companies enjoying success in Japan including visible high street names such as Body Shop, Paul Smith and Burberry as well as HSBC, GlaxoSmithKline and Rolls-Royce.  The UK’s service industry is also very active, from design to legal, financial and consultancy services.

Still the world’s third-largest, Japan’seconomy is 4 times the size of India’s, and twice as large as the UK’s. Japan’s 125m wealthy consumers and advance dindustrial base constitute the UK’s largest export market outside Europe, North Americaand China, worth over £8bn.

Key sectors where there are opportunities for UK exports of goods and services are:

Interested in innovative UK Advanced Engineering solutions and receptive to new and proven technology. Contact us for further information.

One of the most attractive markets for British design services, Japan has a substantial manufacturing industry, much of which is export-oriented. Contact us for further information.

The Japanese Government has an ambitious plan to reduce Japan’s emissions by 25%  by 2020. Japan is working to establish a domestic emissions trading scheme. The 11 March Earthquake and Tsunami andsubsequent crippling of the FukushimaNuclear Power Plant have led to a rethink ofthe energy mix in Japan. Japan’s hopes for70% of power from nuclear by 2050 and 14new-build nuclear reactors have been all butshelved, leading to a potentially large gap infuture energy production.In his speech to the OECD on 25 May, PrimeMinister Kan announced a review of Japan’senergy policy, adding renewables and energyefficiency as 2 new pillars to the existingpillars of nuclear and fossil fuel. His plan callsfor increasing the share of renewable energyin total electricity supply from the current 9%to 20% by early 2020. This follows on fromJapan’s commitment to reduce greenhousegas emissions by 25% by 2020.Renewables of particular interest to Japaninclude solar PV, offshore floating wind, tidal,wave and biomass. Potential opportunitiesexist for British companies seeking jointventures or other forms of collaboration withJapanese companies in the above areas.There is also potential opportunity in projectmanagement.Japanese corporations such as Mitsubishi,Panasonic-Sanyo, Sharp, Hitachi, Toshiba andthe carmakers are global leaders in many energytechnologies including solar PV, wind turbines,storage batteries, low-carbon transport,smart grid applications and home energymanagement systems. In a fiercely competitivemarket they are often eager to collaborate withoverseas firms whose technologies or ideas canoffer them a competitive edge.Contact us for further information.

Many British fashion companies who have developed a distinctive strategy for the Japanese market have been very successful. Paul Smith first became famous in Japan and now has nearly 200 stores there. Contact us for further information.

UK law firms and financial institutions have been active in providing advice to the many Japanese manufacturers who have a global outreach. Tokyo is one of the major global financial centres and has a massive accumulation of personal wealth estimated at JPY1400 trillion. Contact us for further information.

Food and drink comprises about 5% of UK exports to Japan. Contact us for further information.

Japan is the Mecca of digital games; many leading games companies are born in Japan including Capcom, Namco Bandai, Square Enix Sony Computer Entertainment and Nintendo. Total revenue of Japanese digital games companies for domestic and overseas business was £21 billion in 2008. Japan alone was worth £4.7 billion. The mobile content market was worth £9.6 billion in 2008 and is still growing. Mobile handsets have become a key platform of digital content. Thanks to the success of the iPhone, new digital media and services are now crucial for differentiation. The Japanese market is always interested in new products. Opportunities exist for advanced and innovative products, especially in the areas of content, development tools software, hardware, peripherals, animation and 3D, design services in new digital games and mobile games.. Contact us for further information.

Japan’s ICT industry is exciting, interesting and looking for innovative technology from all over the world. Contact us for further information.

Japan is the second largest market globally for both the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. The UK is the largest exporter of pharmaceuticals to Japan. Contact us for further information.

Japan is the world’s second largest music market. Contact us for further information.