On Thursday 26 June 2014, Ambassador Hayashi bestowed the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon upon Sir John Beddington, Senior Adviser to the Oxford Martin School and Professor of Natural Resources Management, University of Oxford, and the Former Government Chief Scientific Advisor and Head of the Government Office for Science, in recognition of his significant contribution to strengthening the cooperation between the United Kingdom and Japan in the area of Science and Technology.

Sir John played a significant role in advising the UK Government not to evacuate the British Embassy in Tokyo or UK nationals in Japan, after the tragic earthquake and tsunami and its subsequent effect on TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

The advice that he gave during the disaster was very important to reassure not only the British citizens in Japan but also the Japanese people and rest of the world, and also helped the Japanese Government gain public confidence regarding its response to and basic policy on the Fukushima Daiichi NPS accidents. We, the Japanese government and the Japanese people, recognise and sincerely appreciate his support when we were dealing with the crisis.

He has made significant contributions to strengthen the cooperation between Japan and the UK in the area of science and technology for many years, and his contributions to Japan in the area of science and technology have improved the overall bilateral relations between our countries. He headed the UK delegation to the UK-Japan Joint Committee on Cooperation in Science and Technology, which takes place every 2 years in London or Tokyo, as the Government Chief Scientific Advisor (GCSA). He co-chaired the Committee with the Ambassador for Science and Technology Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

Sir John has regularly attended the Science and Technology in Society (STS) forum, which was inaugurated in 2004 and holds an annual meeting in October every year in Japan. He has participated in all sessions of the Forum, including chairing, making a speech and contributing to sessions. In addition to this, he received several invitations from the Japanese Institutions, including JST (Japan Science and Technology Agency), CRDS (Center for Research and Development Strategy), and National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, to give a lecture on the relationship between policy and science in the area of energy, environment and disaster mitigation.

He also has made significant contributions, even after retiring as Former Government Chief Scientific Advisor in 2013. Since April 2013, Sir John has been the Senior Adviser to the Oxford Martin School and Professor of Natural Resources Management, University of Oxford, contributing to the improvement of academic exchange and scientific cooperation between Japan and the UK. He has welcomed a number of Japanese delegations, including the delegation from RU11, which is the leading research universities consortium in Japan, Dr. Yuko Harayama, a member of Council for Science and Technology Policy, which is the key council chaired by the Prime Minister to coordinate policies for science and technology in Japan, and Professor Akihiko Tanaka, President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Sir John gave the delegation advice regarding how to conduct policies for science and technology and how to organise an advisory team in the government.

The Government of Japan highly appreciates the significant contribution Sir John has made throughout his career. Sir John therefore greatly deserves to be honoured for his outstanding contribution to Japan-UK relations.

The Embassy of Japan