Kazuya Ishida is a potter from Bizen in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. He is Project Administrator of the Oxford Anagama Project, which has built a Bizen-style kiln in Wytham Woods near Oxford, UK.

KANPAI London Sake was founded in February 2017 by wife and husband team Lucy Holmes and Tom Wilson in Peckham, South London. It is the UK's first sake brewery and produces artisan small-batch sake.

"Hokusai: beyond the Great Wave" was an exhibition of the works of the ukiyoe woodblock print artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), held at the British Museum in London from 25 May to 13 August 2017. It focused on works from the last 30 years of the artist's life.

The Fordham Abbey Estate is set to be the site of the UK's first sake brewery. Work is underway on a new brewery and visitor centre, while the Grade II listed Georgian main house will host Japanese food and sake tasting events.

Craftsman Robert Soanes specializes in the restoration and conservation of samurai armour, swords and other Japanese fine art. He lives and works in the English seaside resort of Brighton.

"The Araki" is a sushi restaurant in London's Mayfair run by renowned chef Mitsuhiro Araki. Following the success of his three-Michelin-star restaurant in Tokyo's Ginza, in 2014 Araki relocated to London with his family. The exclusive restaurant serves an "omakase" dinner for approximately £250 per head. Ingredients used at the restaurant include caviar, white truffles, Cornish squid and Scottish Salmon.

Mamachari Bikes in Dalston, East London was founded by Noah Fisher in 2013. It sells refurbished "mamachari" Japanese shopping bikes: practical urban transport for parents and others. The bicyles are imported from Japan and repaired in the shop. Fisher chose Dalston area because it has the highest rate of bicycle usage in London.

Hyper Japan is the UK's largest Japanese culture event. It took place at the Earls Court exhibition space from 25 to 27 July 2014. Events included cooking demonstrations, music performances, sake tasting, martial arts shows and a cosplay parade. The event was divided into five sections: Food & Drink, Culture, HYPER Game & Anime Park, Hyper Kawaii! and Hyper Fringe Market. Many attendees came dressed as their favourite manga, anime or game characters.

Rita Taketsuru (née Rita Cowan) was the Scottish-born wife of the founder of Nikka Whisky, Masataka Taketsuru. She was born in Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow, Scotland. The couple met there in 1919 while Taketsuru was lodging at the Cowan family home, and married the following year before moving to Japan. Rita is well-known in Japan and the subject of a NHK documentary, to be broadcast in Autumn 2014.

On May 6 2014 a special Japanese to English translation workshop was held in conjunction with the launch of Granta 127: Japan, a special issue of the literary magazine published simultaneously in English and Japanese. The workshop was held at the Free Word Centre in London, and was attended by well known Japanese authors Motoya Yukiko and Kawakami Hiromi, as well as Japanese to English translators. A panel discussion took place that evening.

Japanese sake (a brewed alcoholic beverage made from rice) is increasingly popular in London. Several restaurants in the city carry a wide range of sakes, and bottled sake is available in shops such as the Japan Center, near Piccadilly Circus. Recently, sake cocktails have also become popular, helping introduce drinkers in the city to an unfamiliar beverage.

The exhibition "Shunga: sex and humour in Japanese art, 1600-1900" was held at the British Museum in London from 3 October 2013 to 5 January 2014. It featured sexually explicit "shunga" ukiyoe woodblock prints. The hugely-popular exhibition received 88,000 visitors, twice its target. It was curated by Timothy Clark. Despite the popularity of the UK exhibition, at the time a major shunga exhibition had yet to be held in Japan itself.