Themes and stories

2025 marks the year of Wales and Japan - a celebration of the cultural, creative, business and sporting ties shared between our two countries. It’s a year that’s designed to strengthen existing links, forge new connections and boost investment between both nations.

With the 6,000 miles (9,657km) or so that separate  them, on the surface, it might seem like there are few links connecting Wales and Japan, but the reality is that there are several rooted in history, as well as more recent collaborations, that web together our two great nations.

Wales’ 2015 Wellbeing of Future Generations Act was world pioneering. 2025 will mark the 10th anniversary of the Act. 

The Act fully aligns with Expo ‘Designing a Future Society for our Lives’ and the ‘Empowering’ and ‘Connecting’ themes. It also aligns with the UK Pavillion theme ‘Come build the future’. 

Proof points:

• Wales second in the world for recycling
• Record 291 community-awarded Green Flag sites
•  Lonely Planet sustainable travel Top 10

Despite the thousands of nautical miles separating them, Japanese communities still recovering from the 2011 tsunami are forever connected to the students of UWC Atlantic College, a small international school housed in a 12th-century castle on the South Wales coast. Founded by Kurt Hahn in 1952, UWC Atlantic became first of the 18 United World Colleges across four continents, including UWC ISAK Japan. Decades later, an unexpected bond between students in Wales and the people of Japan created a unique shared mission: saving lives at sea with a lifeboat in a box. 

Although located on opposite sides of the world, Wales and Japan share a deep cultural and environmental connection through their mutual love of forests. Both nations have rich histories and traditions tied to their woodlands, valuing forests not only for their natural beauty but also for their spiritual and ecological importance. 

One man did more than any to make these links stronger than just a shared outlook.  Born in Neath in the Welsh Valleys in 1940, C.W.Nicol lived an extraordinary life which saw him become a Japanese citizen and dedicate his life to preserving Japan's forests, drawing on his Welsh roots for inspiration. 

Explore Wales’ thriving renewables, medtech, cyber and compound semiconductor sectors.

February – WIND Japan

In 2023, consent was granted for the nation’s first floating wind farm, 25 miles (40 km) off the Pembrokeshire coast, building towards an ambition of generating 4 gigawatts of new floating offshore wind projects by 2030 — enough to power four million homes — and over 25 gigawatts by the middle of the century.

In 2019, the twinning of Conwy Castle in north Wales and Himeji Castle in Hyogo, Japan, was dubbed the “beginning of a beautiful friendship” by Himeji mayor, Hideyasu Kiyomoto. The two iconic locations were the first ever UNESCO World Heritage Sites to be twinned, marking the start of a monumental relationship and an opportunity to celebrate everything the regions have in common.

The Japanese designer who befriended Warhol, had his own Barbie and collaborated with Wales’ most innovative band

When you think of art linking Wales and Japan, what is your mind drawn to? Usually, what ties two nations and cultures together will be a shared story, an intertwining of events in the past. Sometimes however, the most fabulous connections happen individually and organically; a story of nothing more than a shared joy in creativity, a mutual passion for art. This is a story about renowned artist Keiichi Tanaami and innovative Welsh band, the Super Furry Animals.

A leading name at the forefront of New York’s psychedelic 70s cultural revolution, Keiichi Tanaami’s prolific creations led to him working with people all over the globe including some of the pioneers of the Cool Cymru movement, such as The Super Furry Animals, who have performed all around the world including in Japan.

Have you ever heard of the Ainu language? With only fourteen people estimated to be confident enough in the language to be able to teach it, it’d be no surprise if you hadn’t. However, this might soon change as over recent decades Ainu speakers in Japan have been putting up a fight to save their language from its current UNESCO critically endangered status. So, what is the history of Ainu and how does the fight for its future echo the efforts made to protect the Welsh language over the decades?

Thanks to its enchanting and heartwarming stories like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and Ponyo, Tokyo-based animation studio, Studio Ghibli, has evolved from a beloved national name in Japan to an internationally celebrated production house, known world over for its fantastical creations. 

While the endearing landscapes and characters found in its films may seem otherworldly, you might be surprised to know that much of the inspiration behind Ghibli’s stories is rooted in reality and can be traced back to Wales. 

Synonymous with Japan, sushi is a dish that’s loved by people worldwide. But, what many might not know is that, without the discoveries of a British botanist in Wales, the entire industry risked being devastated. It was the findings of marine lecturer and researcher, Dr Kathleen Mary Drew-Baker, off the Pembrokeshire coast, that helped to revolutionise seaweed production and enabled sushi to become the global dish that it is today.

When it comes to sport, rugby is undoubtedly much loved by both Wales and Japan. In fact, it was while watching the ‘beautiful’ Welsh team play against Japan in 1975 that Koji Tokumasu, the President of Asia Rugby and driving force behind Japan hosting the 2019 World Cup, fell in love with the game, sparking a shared passion between the two nations.

Since then, a number of successors of that 70s Welsh team have made their home in Japan, none more celebrated than Wales’ record try scorer Shane Williams. So what made the Welsh rugby legend fall in love with the Land of the Rising Sun and what’s next for Wales and Japan’s rugby relationship