British Chamber of Commerce - Executive Director
http://www.bccjapan.com

Japan (Tokyo)

Ian de Stains has been a Japan-watcher and commentator for over 30 years. Arriving initially in 1976 as a BBC producer and presenter, he worked with NHK on radio and TV programmes about Japanese culture and society for international audiences. For a number of years he was also a bi-lingual newsreader on the NHK TV 7.00pm news. Most recently he has been a regular presenter of the “Market Access” programme on ITV Japan.

Since 1987 he has focused on the Anglo-Japanese commercial relationship and the wider issues of public diplomacy. In between, he set up his own communications consultancy and worked with a number of Japanese and international broadcasters and commercial concerns. Many of the programmes on which we worked won, or were nominated for, international awards such as the Prix Italia and the Emmys.

Ian studied for the theatre at London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) before beginning his career in broadcasting. He is a frequent public speaker in the UK and Japan (for example he has given the Keynote Address to the Returning JETs Conference for each of the last 10 years). A Member of the Society of Authors, he has published works of short fiction and writes the regular column “The View from Here” in the Tokyo Weekender. His book, “The Business Traveller’s Handbook to Japan” was published in March 2009 by Stacey International in the UK and he is in discussions with them over another book focusing on Tokyo.

A believer in life-long learning, Ian completed a distance learning Diploma in Arbitration form Reading University in the UK. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and Convenor of its Japan Chapter.