On 9^th December, the Ireland Japan Business Awards 2022 was held in the luxurious Conrad Tokyo.

The ceremony took place in-person after a 3-year hiatus, and we were absolutely delighted to see esteemed members of the Ireland-Japan business community come together again in celebration after being apart.

Eamonn Murphy, IJCC Vice President was the MC for the evening and opened the night once all were seated.

IJCC President, Yoshihiro Tsuchiya then proceeded to address our guests and provided significant updates on the Chamber’s activities throughout this year.

Ambassador of Ireland to Japan, H.E. Damien Cole then followed with his address, remarking on the long lasting and close business relations shared by Ireland and Japan. Ambassador Cole then initiated a toast with all our guests.

The Ireland Japan Business Awards was supported by IJCC Platinum Sponsor Toyoko Inn and IJCC Knowledge and Information Partner ScoutAsia. We are privileged to have their incredible support of not only the business awards, but also of the Chamber.

After sharing a few videos from our sponsors, our MC started our table and raffle prizes to the room’s delight. Thank you again to Toyoko Inn, ONODA Inc, Whisk-E and Conrad Tokyo for your very generous prizes.

After the high spirits from the prize draws, guests enjoyed a lovely four course meal over some fantastic Irish music played by the wonderful Lady Chieftains. The room filled with a warm sense of Irish hospitality and created the ‘mood of Ireland’ in Japan.

Finally, the evening transitioned to the awaited awards ceremony.

The proceedings began with videos shared by our Ireland House colleagues: IDA, Entreprise Ireland, Bord Bia and the Embassy of Ireland.

As anticipation began to build, our MC proceeded to announce the winners for each category.

This year we had 3 award categories: Entrepreneur of the Year Award, EI Exporter of the Year Award and Company of the Year Award.

Entrepreneur of the Year Award:

Founders of ElectroRoute (https://electroroute.com/)

 Mr. Eamonn O’Donoghue, CEO of ElectroRoute speaking in regard to receiving the Entrepreneur of the Year award.

The ElectroRoute team pictured with the Entrepreneur of the Year award at the Ireland Japan Business Awards.

Comment by ElectroRoute:

“The founding team and employees of ElectroRoute are honoured to have received this award from the IJCC. We are very proud of everything we have achieved as ElectroRoute and proud that we have achieved this as an Irish company that is now operating on a global stage. Our strong relationship with Japan and Mitsubishi Corporation has been central to our journey and successes. ElectroRoute look forward to our continued growth and expansion within the Japanese marketplace and furthering our collective mission of delivering the green transition.”

EI Exporter of the Year Award:

Benetel Ltd. (https://benetel.com/)

Mr. Niall Keegan, Director of Business Development in Japan, gave a few words on Benetel’s achievements in being recognised for the EI Exporter of the Year. This was followed by a special video message from Benetel CEO Mr. Adrian O’Connor.

Mr. Niall Keegan, pictured with Neil Cooney, Head of Enterprise Ireland Japan, Ambassador of Ireland to Japan, H.E. Damien Cole and Yoshihiro Tsuchiya, IJCC President with the EI Exporter of the Year award the evening of the ceremony.

Comment by Mr. Adrian O’Connor, CEO, Benetel:

“We are deeply honored to be selected by the IJCC for the Exporter of the Year Award in 2022.  This award is as a result of the great support and confidence of our customers and partners in Japan. It also recognizes the outstanding work of the Benetel team to deliver leading-edge 5G products for the Japanese market”

Company of the Year Award:

ONODA Inc. (https://onoda-inc.jp/en/) and Rathbornes 1488 (https://www.rathbornes1488.com/)

Mr. Iki Motoharu, General Manager, Wholesale Business Department, Domestic Business Division of ONODA Inc, delivered an acceptance speech on behalf of CEO Mr. Shigeyoshi Onoda and Director Mr. Hiroaki Akiyama.

Mr. Iki Motoharu, pictured with Neil Cooney, Head of Enterprise Ireland Japan, Ambassador of Ireland to Japan, H.E. Damien Cole and Yoshihiro Tsuchiya, IJCC President with the EI Exporter of the Year award the evening of the ceremony.

Comment by ONODA Inc:

“It is a great honour and at the same time a humbling experience to receive such a prestigious award. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our business partners, the companies that have supported us and, by extension, Tsuchiya and everyone else who has given us such tremendous support. I am filled with gratitude.

Our company will be celebrating our 20th anniversary of its founding next year. RATHBORNES, however, is 500 years old. The company was founded in 1488. It will soon be five years since RATHBORNES products were launched in Japan. The Irish peoples’ open friendliness has always been a great help to us in many different situations. I am always saved by their friendly Irish character.

Although the recent economic and global situation is often described as a headwind, we see the pinch as an opportunity and aim to expand our business more globally than ever before. Above all, we will continue to build a stronger bridge between Ireland and Japan and make further contributions.

We would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for jointly awarding this prestigious award to our company and RATHBORNES.

We look forward to your continued guidance and encouragement in the future.

Thank you very much for your support.”

A very warm Comhghairdeas again to all the recipients: the Founders of ElectroRoute, Benetel Ltd, ONODA Inc. and Rathbornes 1488.

This event also could not have been successful without our wonderful staff and volunteers. We would like to thank our wonderful volunteers Mr. Tom Toi, Ms. Megumi Ikeda, Ms. Kazumi Yokota, Mr. Kenji Aoki, and Ms. Shereen Perera.

A special thanks to the Lady Chieftains for their wonderful scene-setting Irish music and Keith Crowley, our talented photographer.

Thank you to everyone who attended the event and for your kind support of our Chamber this year. We are honoured to have the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the Ireland-Japan community with you, together this year. We know with our close friendship, both Ireland and Japan will only go from strength to strength in 2023 and beyond.

Go raibh míle maith agat!

If you would like to see more photos from this event, please visit the IJCC Flickr page.