Of Abe and Antwerp
On my last trip to Tokyo, I joined some of my colleagues for after-work beers.
Expecting a Japanese-style pub, packed with exotic sake and whiskies, I arrived instead at ‘Antwerp Central’, a Belgian bar full of the decidedly non-exotic beers that I had just left behind in Brussels.
It may sound like a drinking joke, but it’s really a snapshot for how intertwined Europe and Japan have become.
Parisians read Japanese manga, Osakans furnish their apartments at Ikea, Stockholmers drive Toyotas, and Tokyoites eat at Italian restaurants.
But relations weren't always this warm. The warmth is, in fact, surprisingly recent.
It was as recently as Shinzo Abe’s premiership that the relationship really began to boom. Before Mr. Abe, cut-throat competition in automotive and electronics induced a fierce rivalry in the eighties, that eventually settled into lukewarm friendship by the turn of the millennium.
Japan’s longest serving Prime Minister wanted to defy the trend and draw closer to Europe, and it’s easy to see why.
Both Europe and Japan are flourishing democracies, with vibrant free markets to power their modern, advanced, economies. Trade in goods and services between the two hovered around $200bn in 2024 - an all time high, that rises every year.
And both face similar challenges. Demographic decline has driven populist revolts in both entities. Both have manufacturing dominated economies that have felt the strain during the transition to a digital world. North Korean troops launch missiles over Japan one day, and lead assaults on Ukrainian trenches the next.
To put it bluntly; good relations may be a new thing, but they’re here to stay.
Enter Iwakura
“Very well”, I hear you cry. “Japan and Europe are cooperating. That’s nice. But wasn’t this article about this Iwakura thing?”.
Sure. Let’s start with what Iwakura is.
The Iwakura Mission was a diplomatic mission that set sail from Yokohama in 1871. Named after its leader, Iwakura Tomomi, this mission was one of many conducted by Meiji-era Japan, aimed at studying the industry, politics, and societies of the great powers.
After a visit to the United States, Iwakura led his team to Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna and Rome, as well as the authors beloved hometown of Manchester. In each city, the delegation exchanged technologies, learned from industrial and political leaders, and sought to cooperate and exchange as much as possible.
It’s in that spirit of cooperation, mutual learning, industrial exchange, and dare I say, a bit of adventure, that this magazine was named.
A New Mission Statement
But there’s more to Iwakura than the name. Iwakura wants to help solve a problem.
In downtown Brussels, in offices overlooking the Berlaymont, the Japanese business community has a booming presence.
In Tokyo, the European delegation sits a short drive from the famous Shibuya square. The European Business Council in Japan sits close to the Imperial Palace and next to the important ‘Mitsubishi quarter’ of the city.
But for all this infrastructure, and for all the Euro-Japanese relationship has grown, both sides still struggle to understand each other.
This is in some ways understandable. Can a Japanese salaryman in Tokyo be expected to understand the regulatory processes of the European Commission? Can the director of an Italian factory be expected to understand the absolute power of the Keidanren?
Can either be expected to understand the similarities, in wealth, power and influence, between Europe’s national champions (e.g Volkswagen and Sanofi), and the Japanese Zaibatsu (e.g; Mitsui or Sumitomo)?
Understanding the market and politics of the other is an enormous challenge, that no business, no entity, can truly say to have solved. Just look at the ‘Big Four’ consultancies, who have hoovered up millions as a result of this. They hold and maintain de-facto monopolies on the market access, business advice, and compliance expertise needed to broaden the relationship.
Perhaps the largest companies in the world think nothing of paying for this advice, but what about the backbone of our mutual economies? The small Japanese whiskey exporter, or the European machine tool manufacturer, are losing out.
Pillars of Business, Politics & History
And so, if the intolerable cliche of drawing inspiration from Japanese history, or my heavy handed wielding of Japanese words to seem more exotic hasn’t driven you away, you’ll by now have an idea of where I’m going with this.
By writing on the Euro-Japanese relationship, Iwakura is going to breach, in its own small way, the gap in understanding between the two partners.
And it’s going to focus on three pillars of cooperation as it does that.
Business - the heart of the Euro-Japanese relationship. It drives trade, jobs, and innovation, and it’s the core of Iwakura. From Japanese heat pumps helping Europe hit its climate targets to European pharmaceuticals filling Japanese pharmacies, Iwakura will track the economic currents that bind the two sides closer together.
Politics - setting the rules of the game. Business can’t be understood without the politics that shape it. Do Europe’s populists really have that much in common with the Japanese Sanseito party? Why is Osaka the home of libertarianism, and why does that matter for Europe? These are the kinds of political dynamics we’ll unpack.
History - context and continuity. Europe and Japan are unusual in that many of their biggest companies are older than the states they belong to. The Mitsubishi group traces its origins back to the 19th century, Volkswagen to the industrial ambitions of post-war Europe. Understanding these histories is the key to understanding how today’s corporate giants and political systems really work.
Setting Sail
So TLDR; what can you expect from Iwakura going forwards?
Every Wednesday, you can expect one of three core article types dropping in your inbox.
Iwakura Business - Markets, technology, business, and investments. Think Bloomberg-lite.
Iwakura Politics - High-level political analysis of EU-Japan politics. Think Politico-lite.
Iwakura History - Business focused history, connecting to what’s driving the news today. Think… Ok, I don’t have an example here.
And look, if you’re the type of person who’s interested in business, politics or history blogs, then I know already that you have a high tolerance for dry content, but this isn’t Iwakura.
Iwakura is going to be snappy, to-the-point, legible, and informative. It’s not going to take itself too seriously, it’s going to be jokey, and self-deprecating, just like the author.
If this all sounds good to you, and you’re curious about how Europe and Japan shape each others future, then subscribe to step aboard the new Iwakura Mission - first article dropping tomorrow!