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The EU Business in Japan (EUBIJ) pages provide practical information for European Union businesses and organisations in need of clear guidelines to trade with or invest in Japan or cooperate with Japanese partners.
Over 500 reports and webinars available.
Please note that these pages have a restricted access content only available to registered members. (see below)
When seeking to do business abroad, it is essential to first get to know the country that you are targeting. Awareness about Japan’s politics, economics and social environment is a considerable asset. To help European Union companies improve their knowledge about Japan and break into the Japanese market, the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation has created this EUBIJ support in January 2014. The support aims to bring together and make available all online information which could be beneficial to EU companies wishing to develop business in or with Japan.
The EU-Japan Centre regularly browses the internet to identify Japan-related information and is pleased to make its findings available to you online. Consequently, the views expressed in these sources do not necessarily reflect the views of the Centre nor of any of its associate organisations.
To gain full access to the information contained on these pages, as well as to the numerous side activities, you must register (free of charge) as member.
Please note that this support is only available to EU Member States entities: private business, universities, public authorities, chambers of commerce, clusters... .
For business that are part of a group, the group headquarter must also be located in the European Union.
To apply for membership click here.
Located in the centre of one of the most attractive economic areas in the world, Japan is also one of the few countries in Asia to provide both a stable business environment and a degree of sophistication commensurate to European or US economies. Japan is particularly in demand for international cooperation initiatives, as evidenced by its links with Europe.
There are numerous reasons for investing in Japan: for starters, Japan is a large country which offers diverse business opportunities for those wishing to embark upon a potentially lucrative project. Forty-seven prefectures spanning from the metropolitan area of Tokyo to the snow-covered tops of Hokkaido each present a wide range of opportunities to explore. Cultural and commercial events fill the calendar, and a mix of traditional customs and the latest trends characterise the day to day life of the Japanese. The proportion of elderly people and single women is skyrocketing revealing new growing sectors of activity. Due to its unique and highly dynamic character, the Japanese market is an opportunity worth seizing with both hands!
There are a wide range of possible strategies for entering the Japanese market. To choose the most suitable one for your business you have to be aware of the logistical difficulties to investing in Japan. In addition to understanding the unique behaviour of Japanese consumers and businessmen (see “Culture”) you must be prepared for a wide range of potential legal and regulatory issues. Japan is a relatively closed market, and you need to be well informed to overcome its various potential obstacles.
This chapter looks at cross-cutting operational issues which companies may face when starting or developing their activities in Japan or with Japanese businesses: regulations, standards, financial aspects... . Furthermore, dedicated mages will cover the innovation in Japan as well as information about the local R&D centres and clusters environments.
Despite an overall economic slowdown beginning in the 1990s, Japanese industries remain amongst the most highly advanced and innovative worldwide. In many manufacturing industries – particularly in the electronics and automotive sectors – the term “Japanese” is synonymous with high quality and technologically advanced products, and in a wide variety of sectors, Japanese companies are world leaders in both production and technological advancements in their respective fields.
The objective of this chapter is to provide you with a portal to all publicly available online information relating to the current status of and recent developments within Japanese industries and business sectors.
For hundreds of years, Japan was almost completely cut off from the outside world, and the effects of this policy of isolationism can still be felt today. Despite being an economic and cultural superpower, Japan’s unique geographical and historical circumstances have resulted in the emergence of a distinctive society and culture which may seem intimidating for European entrepreneurs seeking to invest in Japan. Indeed, our surveys of EU businesses with offices and subsidiaries in Japan have concluded that the most common difficulties for European businesses seeking to enter the Japanese market are usually related to cultural matters and to understanding the Japanese approach to business. Therefore, acquiring this culture-related knowledge is of fundamental importance.
The aim of this chapter is to provide you with information on the various cultural barriers to entering the Japanese market.
Specific e-learning videos and past recorded webinars on culture are also available here.
In plus of the website content, the EU-Japan Centre established an helpdesk supporting EU companies with queries about Japan. Do not hesitate to contact us.
Any query about Japan is the most welcome.
In addition to the information pages available on this site and side activities, this section contains the hundreds of reports and recorded webinars we released since the start of this website:
A monthly newsletter informing subscribers about the latest updates done in the website, forthcoming events, recent publications released.
Just subscribe here. (The same link will allow you to register to our quarterly flagship newsletter on EU-Japan cooperation, our policy related one, and the Japan public tender digest)
To give participants the opportunity to improve their knowledge of Japan from the comfort of their desks, webinars "About Japan" are organised. These webinars covers a wide range of important topics such as sector-related information and cross-cutting or cross-cultural issues.
The list of the forthcoming webinars is available here. Registrations are allowed until the day before the webinar.
Recording of past held webinars are available here.
The EU-Japan Centre currently produces 5 newsletters :
Joint venture established in 1987 by the European Commission (DG GROW) and the Japanese Government (METI) for promoting all forms of industrial, trade and investment cooperation between the EU and Japan.
The EU-Japan Centre’s activities are subject to the allocation of a Grant Agreement by the European Commission for 2024-2026
