Greater Manchester’s year of opportunity to advance special relationship with Japan
Issued on behalf of the Greater Manchester Japan Steering Group.
Business and civic leaders from across Greater Manchester are preparing to undertake a series of high-level activities and events in 2025 to affirm the city-region’s relationship with Japan and boost important trade, investment, educational, cultural, sport, and community connections.
Following an announcement last year to make Japan a key focus for broadening and deepening diplomatic, business, cultural, and civic links in 2025, plans are now gathering pace ahead of EXPO 2025 in Osaka this summer and Japan Week 2025 in Manchester in autumn.
Greater Manchester EXPO 2025 mission
A delegation from Greater Manchester will visit Japan for a week-long mission from 16-20 June 2025, engaging with political leaders, trade officials, and Japanese businesses, and putting Greater Manchester centre-stage at one of the biggest international events of the decade.
Activities will comprise of civic and business meetings in Tokyo and Osaka, including a special reception hosted by Mayor of Osaka, Hideyuki Yokoyama. A programme of events at EXPO 2025 will follow, with a dedicated Manchester Day on the UK Pavilion, activity on the Osaka Pavilion, and the debut of a commemorative artistic commission, BLOOM.
The 2025 mission to Japan will build on work undertaken in December 2023, which saw Greater Manchester sign a partnership with the city of Osaka to strengthen innovation and economic links and cooperation between the two regions. This was followed by a reciprocal visit to Greater Manchester by an Osaka delegation, including Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama, in July 2024.
EXPO 2025 will be an opportunity to further affirm Greater Manchester’s relationship with Osaka, and for key partners and sponsors of the mission to build on in-person discussions undertaken in December 2023.
Confirmed Greater Manchester partners for the 2025 mission include Daikin, Deloitte, Department for Business and Trade, Electricity North West, Marketing Manchester, MIDAS – Manchester’s Inward Investment Agency, Panasonic, and the University of Manchester, whilst a trade delegation of around 15 local businesses, the Hallé, and BLOOM artists will also attend.
BLOOM
BLOOM will be an original piece of work celebrating Greater Manchester’s contemporary creative scene and the city’s historic and longstanding relationship with Japan. This connection dates to the 19th century when a group of students from the Satsuma region travelled to the city-region to learn about the revolutionary industrial technology that was being used in the local cotton industry.
The piece will reflect this spirit of sharing and transformation with a collaborative performance blending music, dance, and fashion. BLOOM is currently being developed by Greater Manchester creative producers, From The Other, who specialise in innovative work and live music productions.
Japan Week 2025
Greater Manchester’s relationship with Japan will be further developed later in the year when an international cultural festival featuring hundreds of Japanese performers arrives in Manchester.
Organised by the International Friendship Foundation, Japan Week 2025 will take place 4-9 September 2025. The Manchester edition will be the 50th anniversary of the event, which has been held in major world cities including Boston, Seville, and Athens.
The Japan Week 2025 programme and will see events such as traditional tea ceremonies and music performances taking place at venues across the city of Manchester, including Central Library, HOME, and Manchester Museum, amongst others. BLOOM will also feature in programme, making its UK premiere as part of the opening ceremony.
Speaking about the events, Jo Ahmed MBE, Honorary Consul of Japan in Greater Manchester and Chair of the GM-Japan Steering Group, said: “As Honorary Consul of Japan and Chair of the Manchester Japan Steering group, I’m very proud of the warm and industrious relationship that has blossomed between Greater Manchester and Japan in recent years, and the opportunities this has created for business, education, and people to people links.
“2025 will be a year of great opportunity to take our special relationship with Japan to the next level; to develop new and renewed partnerships at EXPO and Japan Week, and to ultimately foster and further our shared values focused on cooperation, innovation, and growth.”
Hiroshi Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to the UK, added: “I welcome Greater Manchester’s drive to advance its special relationship with Japan in 2025. Osaka and Manchester have a long history of partnership and exchange, and Greater Manchester’s mission to Japan and EXPO 2025 will deepen the existing bonds between the two cities. EXPO 2025, and Japan Week 2025 in Manchester, also serve as unique opportunities for Greater Manchester to explore business opportunities in Japan. I hope these projects will lead to concrete outcomes in the future.”
Japan is one of Greater Manchester’s most important economic partners. Greater Manchester exported £99m worth of goods to Japan in 2022, and in 2021 service exports from the city-region to Japan were valued at £151m – putting Japan in the city-region’s top 10 service export markets.
Japan is also a major market for foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UK. There are already around 25 Japanese businesses with a presence in Manchester, including Nippon Electric Glass, Hitachi Astemo, Kansai Electric Power Company, Fujitsu, Mizkan, Dentsu, Kratos Analytical, Daikin, Shimadzu, and Brother.