Japan Society E-Library

Manufacturing and industry (see also 'Companies', 'Trade' etc)

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume III
Author: Madeley, Christopher

Taking Albert Penniall's diary from his two years in Japan this portrait sheds light on what it was like to work for a Japanese firm in the 1920s and provides a picture of expatriate life in Japan at the time.

Book: Japan Experiences - Fifty Years, One Hundred Views: Post-War Japan Through British Eyes
Author: Fakes, Neville

This chapter offers a brief survey of Japan's oil industry in the 19th century, giving context for its post-war development.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume I
Author: Conte-Helm, Marie

This portrait considers the history of Britain's shipbuilding links with Japan through the firms Armstrong's and Vickers.

Book: Japan Experiences - Fifty Years, One Hundred Views: Post-War Japan Through British Eyes
Author: Abraham, Jimmie; Hugh Cortazzi; Peter Dean; John Figgess; Gail Forrest; and Mike Forrest

Officers from all three services have done stints in post-war Japan as advisers during the Occupation years. Their tasks were to observe the demilitarization of Japan and then to develop contacts with the Self-Defense Forces, and more recently to promote defence sales from British manufacturers. Here a number of previous service attachés recount their experience in Japan. 

Book: Japan Experiences - Fifty Years, One Hundred Views: Post-War Japan Through British Eyes
Author: Thorne, Ben

Ben Thorne was closely involved in efforts to persuade British exporters to look at opportunities in Japan, organised the 1969 British Week in Tokyo, and then formed the Tokyo Export Marketing Centre in 1973. Here he reflects on UK-Japan Commercial relations from 1968 to '79.

Book: Britain and Japan 1859-1991: Themes and Personalities
Author: Hunter, Janet

This chapter covers the development of technological education in early Meiji Japan, including a profile of the career of Kikuchi Kyōzō (1859-1942).

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
Author: Huberman, Toni

This essay offer an account of Charles Holme's (1848-1923) career as an art collecter and connoisseur of Japanese art, as well as his founding of The Studio - the first international arts magazine.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
Author: Mountfield, Robin

An overview of the negotiations preceding the establishment of a Nissan assembly plant in Washington, County Durham.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IX
Author: Kikuchi Yoshiyuki

Edward Divers (1837-1912) and Robert William Atkinson (1850-1929) were influential in the development of the field of chemistry in Meiji Japan. This essay details their respective contributions, along with their thoughts on Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
Author: Hoare, James Edward

Ernest Cyril Comfort played a significant role in the post First World War Civil Aviation Mission to Japan. This essay provides an account of the mission and Comfort's role in aiding Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Book: Japan Experiences - Fifty Years, One Hundred Views: Post-War Japan Through British Eyes
Author: Baker, Kenneth; Denis Healey; Julian Ridsdale; and Patrick Jenkin

Although few British politicians have had more than a cursory knowledge of Japan, large numbers of MPs have visited the country, and some have managed to achieve more than a passing acquaintance with it. The British Japan Parliamentary Group and the UK-Japan 2000 Group (later UK-Japan 21st Century Group) have been the driving force behind this. Here key figures from these organisations describe their dealings with Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
Author: Britton, Dorothy

This essay provides a thorough and tender account of Frank Britton's (1879-1934) life, relations with Japan, and his role in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
Author: Cortazzi, Hugh

This essay provides an account of Honda Sōichirō's (1906-1991) life, personality, and business relationship with Britain.

Book: Britain and Japan 1859-1991: Themes and Personalities
Author: Buckley, Roger

As the first British Ambassador to Japan after the War, Esler Dening (1897-1977) was the central figure in Anglo-Japanese relations at a time when British opinion was distinctly anti-Japanese.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume II
Author: Yamamoto Yumiyo

Inoue Masaru (1843-1910) was one of the Choshu five - ambitious young men sent to England to study in 1863. This essay details the significant contribution of Inoue Masaru to the construction of Japanese railways, and the influence of his time and study in Britain on his civic career.

Book: Japan Experiences - Fifty Years, One Hundred Views: Post-War Japan Through British Eyes
Author: Cortazzi, Hugh

This chapter puts the individual accounts included within Japan Experiences into the context of Anglo-Japanese post-war relations.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume I
Author: Hotta-Lister, Ayako

This portrait assesses the success of the Japan-British Exhibition of 1910 from the perspective of the Japanese organizers.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IX
Author: Nish, Ian

Although in his early years Admiral Katō Hiroharu (1870-1939) admired Britain, in his later career he understandably placed Japan's naval interests ahead of any residual affection for the country. This essay considers the early part of his career, during which he played a significant role in Anglo-Japanese naval cooperation.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Maclean, Nicolas

This essay provides an account of sociologist Keith Thurley's (1931-92) lifelong commitment to industrial cooperation between Europe and Asia, and to the study of contemporary Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IX
Author: Cortazzi, Hugh

Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013) played a significant role in promoting Japanese manufacturing investment in Britain and opening up the Japanese markets, and ensured that Britain was no longer seen as suffering from what the Japanese called eikokubyō (the English disease).

Book: Japan Experiences - Fifty Years, One Hundred Views: Post-War Japan Through British Eyes
Author: Bates, Paul; Neville Fakes; and Michael Wingate

Royal Dutch Shell  was one of the few 'British' companies (a majority of the company's expatriates were British) to train its staff in the Japanese language. Here Paul Bates, Neville Fakes and Michael Wingate recall their experiences with Shell from 1952 to '72, with a focus on the process of doing business in Japan at this time.

Book: Japan Experiences - Fifty Years, One Hundred Views: Post-War Japan Through British Eyes
Author: Perry, Mike

Mike Perry headed Unilever's joint venture in Japan from 1981 to '83 and went on to lead various British campaigns to export to Japan. Here he describes his experiences in Japan in the early 1980s.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume X
Author: Noguchi, Yoshio

Mitsubishi Electric set up various factories in Scotland in the late 20th century. Written by the person largely responsible for these investments, this chapter provides an interesting angle on the motivations of Japanese electronics firms investing in the UK.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
Author: Madeley, Christopher

Nissan has a long history of formal and informal relations with Britain, and this essay provides a history of these relations as well as their nature and establishment.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
Author: Mountfield, Robin

This essay details the negotiations, subsequent investments, and business relationship between Nissan and Britain from 1980-84.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume X
Author: NSK Staff Members

Chapter 37 addresses the plant that NSK opened in Peterlee, County Durham, in 1976. It covers the difficulties the firm faced, as well as the significance of this investment.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IV
Author: Baker-Bates, Merrick

This portrait considers Peter Hewett's (1920-82) major contribution to the post-war growth inAnglo-Japanese trade.

Book: Japan Experiences - Fifty Years, One Hundred Views: Post-War Japan Through British Eyes
Author: Parker, Peter

The importance of attracting capital investment to Britain was increasingly recognised by British governments from the 1970s onwards. Businessman Peter Parker became closely involved with Japanese investment in Britain. Here he recounts his later experiences with Japan and considers the future.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
Author: Cortazzi, Hugh

Shortly before his resignation as Prime Minister in 1954 Yoshida Shigeru visited Britain. This essay examines the political controversy surrounding Yoshida's visit, as well as the visit itself and an assessment of its success.

Book: Japan Experiences - Fifty Years, One Hundred Views: Post-War Japan Through British Eyes
Author: Large, Dick; Graham McCallum; Martyn Naylor; Ann Wilkinson; and David Wilkinson

One of the key service sectors for Britain in Japan was the airline industry, and until the late 1980s the main British company involved was British Airways. Here David Wilkinson, BA's manager in Japan from 1978 to '87 gives an account of his experience there, along with his wife, Ann Wilkinson's reflections. Following this, Martin Naylor recalls the important role played by the Japan British Society in the 1960s and '70s. During a forty-year career in Japan, Dick Large worked for John Swire & Sons (during which time he precided over Swire Japan's international shipping operations), Cathay Pacific and BA. Here he reflects on this period.

Book: Japan Experiences - Fifty Years, One Hundred Views: Post-War Japan Through British Eyes
Author: Fraser, Duncan, and Lew Radbourne

Having first gone to Japan with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force, Lew Radbourne returned in 1949 as a junior expatriate with Dodwell and Company. Duncan Fraser first worked in Japan with Jardin Matheson and Company Limited and ended his service there as Direct of Royals Royce (Far East). Here both recall the early years of working and trading in Japan

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VIII
Author: Hoashi Kōji

This portrait charts the career of Ron Duckenfield (1917-2010) throughout the Second World War, as a fighter pilot and as a prisoner-of-war under the Japanese, and subsequently as air attaché to the British Embassy in Tokyo.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume X
Author: Cortazzi, Hugh

Saba Shōichi (1919-2012) was one of the pioneers of post-war Japanese manufacturing. Specialised in electrical engineering, he was appointed president of Toshiba in 1980 and increased ties with the UK by, among other things, developing programmes for foreign engineers to work and study in Japan and by sponsoring the Toshiba Gallery of Japanese Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume X
Author: Cohen, Ivor

Part I: This essay shows the process of adaptation of Japanese television companies to invest and sell in the UK during the 70s and 80s. 

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume X
Author: Bacon, Peter

Part II: The second section looks at the other side of the coin of UK-Japan components manufacturing and trade. This time British manufacturers had to adapt to Japanese companies’ needs. The process then led to the creation of a business joint venture. 

Book: British Envoys in Japan 1859-1972
Author: Buckley, Roger

Concerning Sir Esler Dening (1897-1977) as a main figure in Anglo-Japanese relations following the ending of the Pacific War, at a time when British opinion was anti-Japanese. 

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
Author: Cortazzi, Hugh

Businessman Sir Peter Parker (1924-2002) made an outstanding contribution to Anglo-Japanese relations in the final decades of the twentieth century. This essay offers an account and analysis of his career and impact in relation to Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume II
Author: Gray, Robin

This essay recalls the circumstances in which the the Anglo-Japanese Commercial Treaty of 1962 was made and its implications for trade between the two countries.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
Author: Toyoda Shōichirō

Toyoda Shōichirō offers his memoir of the Toyota Motor Company's establishment, growth, and subsequent association with Britain.

Book: Japan Experiences - Fifty Years, One Hundred Views: Post-War Japan Through British Eyes
Author: Bradley, Clive, and Bill Williamson

Bill Williamson did two separate tours as Atomic Energy Attaché at the British Embassy. His account of working with the Japanese government in the commissioning of the first nuclear power stations in Japan is a reminder of an important and often over-looked facet of Anglo-Japan relations. Clive Bradley meanwhile was Counsellor for Science and Technology in the British Embassy in the 1980s where he was responsible for reporting on scientific and technological developments and for promoting British science and technology.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
Author: Yamagata-Footman Yuko

This essay details Uyeno Yutaka's (1915- ) family, personal, and business history specifically as it relates to interactions with Britain in the pertrochemical industry.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume I
Author: Checkland, Olive

In an effort to raise the status of Japan to that of a major world power, many engineers were sent from Meiji Japan to work and study in Britain. This portrait charts the challenges and opportunities afforded by this endeavour and the resultant exchange between Japan and Britain.

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