About Jason James OBE

Jason worked for nearly two decades as an equity specialist. As equity strategist and subsequently Head of Research in HSBC’s Tokyo office, he co-authored a textbook on Japanese financial markets, and frequently commented on stock market issues in both English- and Japanese-language media. Jason is qualified as an investment analyst and as a Gaimuin (registered representative) of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and continues to play an active role in managing the Daiwa Foundation's investment portfolio.

Jason is broadly involved in the UK-Japan relationship. His previous job as Director of the British Council in Japan and Cultural Counsellor at the British Embassy in Tokyo gave him a wide network of contacts in the diplomatic, academic and cultural worlds. Helped organise high-level British visits to Japan including those of (then) Prince Charles, Foreign Secretary William Hague, and Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

In his current role, Jason acts as a source of expertise and fixer across a wide range of Japan and UK-Japan issues. He is a member of the UK-Japan 21st Century Group, and regularly attend meetings of the Japan Parliamentary Group. Jason is retained as an advisor to the Crown Prince of Japan, and has given Japan-related briefings or evidence to, for example, the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords, and parliamentary committees in both countries. Having held advisory roles at British and Japanese universities, Jason has given talks in English and Japanese on subjects ranging from economic and security policy to culture and history. He sits on or chairs panels discussing Japan-related issues for both the Daiwa Foundation and other organisations including Chatham House, the Ditchley Foundation and the Institute of Directors. Jason also runs an annual history tour of Japan for a travel company, often involving translation/interpretation between Japanese and English.

Jason has experience of managing different types of organisation in Japan and the UK including being Head of Research for HSBC in Japan, and later British Council Country Director there. He currently manages a charity with offices in London and Tokyo. In both of the first two roles he engaged in significant restructurings. Restructurings in Japan are challenging because making redundancies is unusually difficult there. Jason also navigated the British Council in Japan through the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. He has been a Director of several companies, and is currently a Director of Daiwa Nichiei Kikin Limited (the Daiwa Foundation’s corporate vehicle) and of King’s College School, Cambridge.