Japan–British Society

Foundation of the society

The society was founded in 1908, six years after Japan and the United Kingdom formed the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, which at first was a purely military arrangement. Japanese Government Officials established the society after recognising the need for mutual understanding of the two countries' societies and cultures.

The Japan–British Society and the Japan Society's Japan branch (which is no longer extant) appear to have had their roots in a group known as "the Old Country Club" for Japanese who had previously lived in England.

On 20 October 1908, a meeting was held at the Peer's Club in Tokyo to discuss the formation in Tokyo of a society to equal the Japan Society of London. Viscount Hayashi was elected as chairman, and the British Ambassador was elected as its first president. The Ambassador proposed that the society be named "The Japanese and British Society", however those present chose the shorter "The British Society" instead.

On 27 November 1908, "The British Society" held its inaugural meeting at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, and at some point after 1910, changed its name to "The Japan-British Society".

1908 to the present day

On 13 March 1935, Mr. Charles Sale of the Japan Society used the inauguration of a telephone service between Japan and the United Kingdom to send the Japan Society's greetings to the officers and council of the Japan–British Society in Tokyo, and to their patron Prince Chichibu.

During the Second World War, the society's activities were halted, and air raids destroyed much of their records. The society resumed its activities upon the conclusion of the Treaty of San Francisco in 1951.

Large-scale festivals of Japanese culture were held in the U.K. in 1981 and 1991. In 1998, a reciprocal event, the UK98 festival, was held with the cooperation of the association to introduce British culture to Japan.

The Society supported the Japan 2001 festival, which featured a series of events to introduce traditional and contemporary Japanese culture throughout Britain. The event's joint patrons were the Prince of Wales and the Crown Prince of Japan. In addition, the society began compiling a history of the organization in preparation for its centenary in 2008.