Taking UK-Japan Ties to Greater Heights

The recent meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street yielded immensely significant results from every perspective. With more than £18 billion in investments set in motion, the new UK-Japan Frontier Technology Partnership, the UK-Japan Offshore Wind Industry Compact and a Joint Declaration on Economic Security Cooperation were announced. Alongside these major agreements, stakeholders from both countries signed more than 10 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and memorandums of cooperation (MoCs) across industry and government.

Allow me to share a personal observation. Before taking up my post in Japan, I served as private secretary to the prime minister for trade and foreign affairs. In that capacity, I witnessed many high-level visits to the UK and the announcements that accompanied them. Drawing on that experience, I can confidently say that the developments announced during this visit are the most impactful I have ever seen—not just in terms of sheer scale, but in the breadth and depth of Japanese corporate engagement with the UK. The fact that so many leading Japanese companies are eager to invest in and collaborate with the UK speaks volumes about the immense trust and ambition underpinning our bilateral relationship.

Corporate Japan driving momentum

What must be particularly emphasized is the broad range of Japanese companies involved. Rather than being limited to a single sector, this visit demonstrated that corporate Japan places its trust in the UK across a wide spectrum of industries.

• Mitsubishi Estate (£2bn investment), Mitsui Fudosan (Investment £3.8bn investment) and Nomura Real Estate (£500mn investment) are leading an investment pipeline of over £9bn over five years. They are expected to develop new urban spaces, high-quality office environments and innovation hubs across the UK.
• Mizuho Financial Group has outlined plans to deploy £3bn to expand its financial services footprint in the UK.
• Hitachi Energy UK plans to create at least 500 new jobs over the next five years, including 100 highly skilled roles at a new Centre of Excellence in Glasgow. An investment of more than £18 million is also planned for their dedicated facility in Stafford.
• Eisai is investing £48mn in new life sciences manufacturing capabilities in Hatfield.
• Rapidus, Japan’s cutting-edge 2-nanometer semiconductor manufacturer, has signed a formal partnership with the UK Semiconductor Institute, paving the way for the first direct pathway for UK semiconductor design companies to manufacture advanced semiconductors.

What this means for Japan

It was a great honor to hear from PM Takaichi about our close bilateral ties, and to have so many Japanese companies participate in the business roundtable held at Downing Street. At the event, both prime ministers called on UK and Japanese companies to deepen their collaboration even further.

For Japanese businesses and investors, the UK is clearly emerging as the “partner of choice”—not only in Europe, but globally. This trend is especially pronounced in critical sectors that will determine the future of the Japanese economy, such as clean energy, semiconductors, AI and supply chain resilience. The new Joint Declaration on Economic Security Cooperation, which focuses on critical minerals and robust supply chains, directly addresses the challenges faced by Japanese industry today.

For those of us working on UK-Japan relations every day, this visit was a powerful demonstration of what can be achieved when both governments and the private sector align their efforts in the same direction. As already reported, PM Starmer has announced his intention to resign, but I am confident that the resilience of the UK-Japan relationship will endure well beyond any change in leadership. The UK Department for Business and Trade will continue to support the realization of this immense potential.