31 Jul Australia-Japan News | July 2022
This page collates links to interesting articles that provide a picture of what is happening in Japan and in the Australia-Japan relationship, with brief summaries of their content.
While we don’t claim this list to be comprehensive, and some of the articles may be behind paywalls, we hope it will evolve into a valuable resource that assists members and subscribers in keeping up to date and provides a record of key developments… make sure to check back regularly to see the latest.
* indicates the article is behind a paywall.
July 2022
Nippon Steel Launches Joint Research with University of Queensland and Urban Utilities on development of technology to produce valuable chemicals from CO2 using microorganisms
Nippon Steel announced on 22 July its joint research proposal with the University of Queensland and Urban Utilities (Australia) has been funded by the Australian Research Council through the Linkage Project scheme. The project aims to convert CO2 into valuable chemicals using a combination of microbial and electrochemical processes at a large scale. Read more >
INPEX and Northern Territory Government Sign Statement of Commitment to a Net Zero Emissions Future
INPEX Corporation announced on 21 July that it has signed a statement of commitment to a net zero emissions future with the government of Northern Territory where INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG onshore processing facilities are located. The commitment statement was signed with Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Natasha Fyles who travelled to Japan to meet with major Japanese companies and government agencies to pursue the Territory’s economic opportunities. Under this non-binding statement, the two parties are scheduled to negotiate on five business targets including expansion of the Ichthys LNG processing facilities and increase of LNG production capacity. Read more >
Luncheon Meeting between Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Miyake and Northern Territory Chief Minister Fyles
Japan’s Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shingo Miyake met with Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Natasha Fyles at a luncheon at the Official Residence of the Australian Embassy in Tokyo. Miyake and Fyles exchanged views on the two countries’ deepening cooperation in energy sector including LNG, CCS and hydrogen among others. Read more >
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet leads a trade mission to Japan
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has arrived in Japan on a 10-day trade mission tour, which also includes South Korea and India. In Japan, the trade mission will take place in Tokyo and Hiroshima from 21-24 July and will be promoting investment in NSW’s priority growth sectors such as clean energy production, tourism and international education.
Read more >
Lendlease and Mitsubishi Estate Asia acquire One Circular Quay project in Sydney
Lendlease and Mitsubishi Estate Asia have formed a joint venture to acquire the One Circular Quay development in Sydney for over $800 million. To be developed by Lendlease and Mitsubishi Estate, and constructed by Lendlease, the proposed towers at One Circular Quay will have an estimated end value of $3 billion. Mitsubishi Estate will increase its 19.9% interest in the project to 66.7% and Lendlease’s ownership will reduce to 33.3%. Read more >
Quad members agree to promote hydrogen, ammonia fuel tech*
Energy Ministers from the Quad nations met in Sydney on 13 July and reaffirmed to advance clean energy technologies such as the use of hydrogen and ammonia as fuel. Japan’s Energy Minister, Hagiuda met individually with his U.S. and Australian counterparts and asked for cooperation toward increased production of LNG. Hagiuda said the two countries have said they understand Japan’s position. Hagiuda also said the government will actively support companies who are planning to invest in LNG projects or signing new purchase agreement for LNG through public finance. *Read more >
Fujitsu announces plans to acquire Asia-Pacific’s largest independent ServiceNow consultancy, Enable Professional Services
AJBCC member, Fujitsu Australia and Fujitsu Limited on 7 July announced acquisition plans for Enable Professional Services (headquartered in Melbourne), Asia-Pacific region’s largest independent ServiceNow-specialist. The acquisition will enable Fujitsu to gain market-leading expertise to deliver ServiceNow services across the region. Enable Professional Services will operate as a stand-alone Fujitsu company for the foreseeable future, and it will be re-branded ‘Enable, a Fujitsu company’. Read more >
Record 35 women elected to Japan upper house
A record 35 women won seats in Sunday’s House of Councilors election in Japan, breaking the previous record of 28 set in 2016 and matching that in 2019. The result reflects a slow but gradual change in the country’s male-dominated political landscape, with the number of female candidates who ran in the election also the highest ever at 181 of the total 545 contenders. Read more >
Japan’s Kishida vows efforts for swift proposal of Constitution reform
Prime Minister Kishida said on Monday, a day after his party had won a sweeping victory in the House of Councilors election, that he will push forward efforts toward proposing revision of Japan’s pacifist constitution. After Sunday’s election, the LDP-Komeito coalition together with other pro-constitutional reform forces will have 177 seats in the upper house, retaining the two-thirds majority needed to propose a constitutional revision. Read more >
Japan ruling bloc wins big in somber upper house election*
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its smaller partner Komeito together secured the majority of seats contested in Japan’s Upper House election held on 10 July. Of the 125 seats that were contested, the ruling coalition secured 76 seats. Kishida’s LDP alone won 63 seats. The largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan struggled to expand support, but another opposition group, Nippon Ishin (the Japan Innovation Party) increased its seats. *Read more >
Mitsui to acquire majority share in Position Partners, an Australian computerized construction systems integrator
Mitsui & Co. announced on 7 July it has acquired additional shares in Position Partners, a provider of intelligent positioning solutions for construction, civil engineering and mining work, to become the majority shareholder. Mitsui invested in Position Partners in 2019 to hold a 20% share in the company, and has since been leveraging its global network to expand the company’s business. Read more >
New COVID-19 cases top 45,000 in Japan, nearly double from last week
Japan’s nationwide new COVID-19 infection cases reached 45,821 on 6 July, nearly double from a week earlier. A total 8,341 new cases were confirmed in Tokyo, compared with 3,803 a week earlier. Infections had been declining across the nation since mid-May but began to increase in late June. Read more >
Planit (Nomura Group) secures New Zealand market with acquisition of Qual IT
Nomura Research Institute Australia’s wholly-owned Planit Test Management Solutions (Sydney based) has acquired a New Zealand based IT quality assurance company, Qual IT, the company announced on 4 July. The combined entity of Planit and Qual IT will create the largest IT testing company in NZ and Australia, and the third largest globally.
Read more >
Establishment of Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Adelaide Inc.
A new Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCiADL) was established in Adelaide in May 2022. JCCiALD aims to strengthen business and economic ties between Japan and Australia/South Australia and to provide a platform for the local Japanese businesses in South Australia. Read more >
BX Bunka Australia Pty Ltd Buys Max Door Solutions Pty Ltd
BX Bunka Australia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japanese company Bunka Shutter that engages in the manufacture and sale of shutters, housing and building materials, announced on 1 July that it has entered into a binding agreement to purchase QLD and NSW based Max Door Solutions. BX Bunka said the acquisition supports its growth strategy in the Australian commercial and industrial door market. Read more >
Venice Energy and Marubeni join forces on South Australian LNG import project
Venice Energy, South Australia’s LNG import terminal developer, announced on 1 July that it has signed an MoU with Japan’s Marubeni to create a joint venture partnership for its AUD$260m project being developed in SA. The project* is among at least five proposed LNG import terminals in Australia’s south-east to help meet demand for gas in the southern states. Read more >
Russia transfers Sakhalin-2 to new operator without compensation*
A decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 30 June indicates that the assets of Sakhalin-2, oil and natural gas projects in Russia’s Far East, be transferred to a newly established Russian entity without compensation. Japan’s Mitsui and Mitsubishi currently own stakes of 12.5% and 10% respectively in Sakhalin Energy Investment Company. The decree says Sakhalin Energy’s foreign shareholders can participate in the new company, but only if they agree to the conditions of the Russian authorities. *Read more >
NATO Asia-Pacific partners (AP4) Leaders’ Meeting
On 29 June, leaders of Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea held the Leaders’ Meeting of the four Asia-Pacific partners (AP4) of NATO in Madrid, Spain. Based on the recognition that the security of Indo-Pacific and Europe is indivisible, the four leaders including Prime Minister Kishida and Prime Minister Albanese agreed to take the lead to deepen cooperation and communication between the Indo-Pacific and NATO. Read more >
Women account for record 33% of candidates in Diet election
Around one-third of candidates in the upcoming Japan’s Upper House election are female, the highest ratio since Japanese women were first allowed to vote and run for Diet seats in 1946. As of June this year, 23% of Japan’s Upper House members were women, the lowest percentage among Group of Seven nations. Female candidates account for 181 of the 545 contenders registered for the 10 July election. Read more >