This year the Dujat Trip to Japan took place from Monday 16 June to Friday 20 June, with many successful company visits and networking events with our delegation of Dujat members, together with Mr. Tjapko Poppens, Mayor of Amstelveen.
The next trip is scheduled to take place from 1 – 5 June 2026. Save the date! Applications will open in due time (only members can join).
Visit World Expo Osaka
We started the Dujat Trip to Japan with a visit to the Expo 2025 Osaka, where we were welcomed by Consul General Mr. Marc Kuipers at the Dutch Pavilion. After a tour and a lunch at the pavilion, delegation members individually visited the expo.
Morning Visit Kobelco Cranes
On Tuesday our delegation visited the factory of Kobelco Construction Machinery in Akashi, Hyogo for an interesting tour, presentation and interactive Q&A. We thank Mr. Makoto Kato from Kobelco Construction Machinery Europe B.V. for helping us arrange this visit. It is an honor to have Kobelco as a valued member of Dujat for already many years.
Lunch at Mt. Rokko
Before we continued to Tokyo, we took the ropeway up to Kobe Nunobiki Herb Gardens, a Kobe landmark with beautiful views of the city of Kobe and Mt. Rokko. This was right next to Shin Kobe Station, so we could take the shinkansen to Tokyo right after.
Morning Visit Nippon Express
On Wednesday morning we visited the HQ of Nippon Express Group in Tokyo. We extend our gratitude to Mr. Tadahiro Furue, Senior Managing Executive Officer & Chief Managing Officer, and his team at NX for the great welcome and interactive meeting. In addition, we thank Mr. Jasper van Oudenhoven and Mr. Akihito Hattori from Nippon Express (Nederland) B.V. for making this visit possible. Nippon Express has been an important member of Dujat for many years and we look forward to our continued cooperation!
Deloitte/NFIA Roundtable
On Wednesday afternoon, the EU Digital regulation and Cyber Security Roundtable took place at the Deloitte Tokyo office. This interactive session was organized by Deloitte, together with NFIA Japan and supported by Trend Micro and Soliton.
It was an honor that H.E. Mr. Gilles Beschoor Plug, Ambassador of the Netherlands attended and gave a speech. Special thanks to Mr. Stefan Verrips and Mr. Sebastiaan ter Wee (Deloitte) and Ms. Kahoru Nagatani (NFIA Japan) for making this event possible!
Morning Visit Nippon Gases
We were pleased to visit Nippon Sanso Holdings Corporation on Thursday morning, and thank them for welcoming the Dujat delegation at their HQ in Tokyo for a detailed introduction to the company and an interactive Q&A session. From industrial to medical, semiconductor, food & beverage and more, it was really interesting to learn more about the wide range of gases and solutions they offer.
We thank Nippon Sanso Holdings Corporation for the wonderful welcome, and we would like to specially thank Ms. Inge Gysemans and Ms. Viola van Zelst from Nippon Gases Netherlands for helping us coordinate this visit from the Netherlands.
AVB Meeting & Reception
On Thursday the annual Dujat Advisory Board Meeting took place at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the reception at the Residence of H.E. Mr. Gilles Beschoor Plug, Ambassador of the Netherlands in Japan. With the 425th Anniversary of Japan-Netherlands exchange and the World Expo in Osaka, this is a special year for both countries and it was great to celebrate Dutch-Japanese relations with many trusted friends in Japan.
Thank you very much to Mr. Jun Suzuki for leading our advisory board meeting and to all advisory board members for attending, to Mr. Tjapko Poppens, Mayor of Amstelveen, for the heartfelt speech, and of course most of all to Ambassador H.E. Mr. Gilles Beschoor Plug for hosting this wonderful reception!
Morning Visit Nikon
The last company visit was to the new Global Headquarters and Innovation Center of Nikon in Tokyo, which opened in October 2024. It was an honor to be welcomed by Mr. Muneaki Tokunari, President & COO and his team for an update about their company and new sustainable office building, and a tour at the beautiful new Nikon Museum. The visit was kindly arranged by Mr. Masahiro Horie, Director & President of Nikon Europe, and we thank him for this wonderful opportunity!
Dujat Showcase at GLOBIS Campus
On Friday afternoon we organized the Dujat Showcase Tokyo Event at GLOBIS University – Graduate School of Management in collaboration with GLOBIS Europe and NFIA Japan. The showcase opened with a speech from our chairman Mr. Luc Houben and a presentation by Mr. Sven Van Stichel, COO/CMO of GLOBIS Europe. After GLOBIS, Ms. Kahoru Nagatani & Mr. Takashi Yamaguchi, Project Managers of NFIA Japan gave a presentation about business opportunities in the Netherlands for Japanese companies.
After pitch presentations by Dujat members, Mr. Hideaki Takase Member of the Board of Directors, Senior Managing Executive Officer, MUFG Bank, Ltd. gave a valuable testimonial about his experience with the Netherlands and about why MUFG has chosen the Netherlands for its European HQ. The event was concluded with a closing speech by Mr. Tjapko Poppens, Mayor of Amstelveen, and a networking reception. We extend our gratitude to all speakers and participants, to NFIA Japan for the collaboration and especially to GLOBIS for hosting this interactive networking event! More about the Showcase Tokyo event can be found here.
Dinner at The Place of Tokyo
As always we concluded the trip with a joint dinner, hosted by Dujat at The Place of Tokyo, right next to the Tokyo Tower. Thank you to the 2025 delegation for joining us on this trip!
Some additional meetings were also scheduled before and during the trip, to meet with Dujat relations.
Visit UltraSuperNew
On Thursday 12 June we visited UltraSuperNew – Independent Creative Agency and met with Marc Wesseling and Tomo Murakami at their brand new office in Tokyo. The creative agency also has an office in Amsterdam and became member of Dujat as of last year. Many thanks for the warm welcome and we look forward to our continued collaboration!
Reunion Dinner at Seikei Club
We were honored to be invited for a joint dinner on Thursday with many friends in Japan, taking place at Seikei Club in Tokyo. Thank you Mr. Iichi Mishima for hosting it!
Nippon Sanso Holdings Corporation
It was a pleasure to meet with Mr. Shigeru Hirayama, Mr. Teiichiro Sawa, and Mr. Koichiro Kubo at the HQ of Nippon Sanso Holdings Corporation, Nippon Gases Netherlands in Tokyo, in preparation for our company visit with the Dujat Delegation. Thank you so much for the warm welcome!
Visit Chairman of the Dujat Advisory Board in Japan: Mr. Teiichi Goto
Luc Houben, Chairman of Dujat and Managing Director Christa de Kemp visited Mr. Teiichi Goto, President & CEO of FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, who is Chairman of the Dujat Advisory Board in Japan, and his colleague Mr. Homare Kai, Deputy General Manager, Life Sciences Business Div. at FUJIFILM.
Mr. Goto is also the President of the Japan-Netherlands Society (JNS), which is a Japanese organization that, like Dujat, works to strengthen the relation between the two countries: http://www.j-nls.org/english/index.html
Thank you so much for your kind support of our organization!
Visit New AVB Member: Mr. Osamu Mogi
Luc Houben and Christa de Kemp were honored to also visit Mr. Osamu Mogi, Representative Director, Senior Executive Corporate Officer International Operations Division, Kikkoman Corporation. As of 2025, he joined as a new member of the Dujat Advisory Board in Japan. We are thankful for his support and to have Kikkoman Corporation represented in our Advisory Board from this year.
