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BayWa r.e., a leading global renewable energy company from Germany, successfully completed this year the construction of a solar park in Kagoshima Prefecture (Southwestern Japan). This renewable energy asset has been purchased by D&D Solar GK, a new joint venture created by Osaka Gas and the Development Bank of Japan. Over the last ten years, an increasing number of European companies have been sharing their expertise in renewable energy development, to the benefit of energy transition in Japan.

METRON, a French startup founded to reduce energy costs and carbon footprint in industrial facilities, partnered in 2019 and 2020 with NTT DOCOMO Ventures and NTT Facilities, two companies of NTT Group, main telecommunication group in Japan. Together, they aim at using artificial intelligence and big data to improve energy efficiency in Japanese industries.

Vestas Wind Systems, a Danish leader in wind turbines manufacturing, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, one of the world’s largest industrial firms, joined forces in 2014 to establish MHI Vestas, a joint venture aiming at becoming a leading player in the offshore wind industry. MHI Vestas now hires more than 3000 people, has offshore turbines in operation in several European countries, and registered its first orders in Asia. Late 2020, the partnership evolved with new perspectives in wind energy and green hydrogen.

Japan’s annual domestic production of olive oil is limited at about 45 tonnes (2020). Japan cannot meet the internal demand and imports more than 99% of the domestic consumption. In 2020, Japan imported about 70,000 tonnes. The EU supplies the majority of the imports; 96% of total imports in 2020. The main EU exporters are Spain and Italy that together have a market share of about 94%.

When entering the Japanese market, several specific obstacles for operating biogas plants and challenges need to be considered carefully. This report gives interested European SMEs an insight into the opportunities and key success factors for a successful entry in the Japanese biogas plant market.

This report provides interested European SMEs with a sophisticated insight into the opportunities and key success factors for the Japanese smart farming market.

This report presents an overview of trends and opportunities on the Japanese convenience store and drugstore market under the Corona pandemic and delivers strategic insight, tactical guidance and real-life examples of how to succeed in the Japanese convenience store and drugstore market.

This report provides an overview of the current situation on the Japanese consumer market (as of January 2021).

This report, on the basis of over 40 interviews with stakeholders from the Japanese and EU private and public sectors, alongside desk-based research, presents a snapshot of Japan’s circularity. It gives an overview of Japan’s current awareness of circularity and its circular economy policy framework, which centres around the concept of a Sound Material-Cycle Society, its Circular Economy Vision 2020, alongside a table of key circularity indicators comparing the EU and Japan.