Event Report - Ireland Japan Business Awards 2025
On 21st November, the 2025 Ireland Japan Business Awards (IJBAs) were held in at the Conrad Tokyo.
The Ireland Japan Chamber of Commerce (IJCC) were honoured to celebrate the successes in the Ireland-Japan business community with our members, partners and friends. At this year’s IJBAs, our guests were able to enjoy a wide range of flavours from Ireland, thanks to our Official Drink Sponsors, The BUSKER Irish Whiskey, Mad March Hare Irish Poitín, and Jameson Irish Whiskey.
This year’s IJBAs also saw the greatest level of participation from our NPO, student and JET membership yet, due to the generous donation of tickets from our Official Inclusivity Sponsors, IDA Ireland and ElectroRoute Japan. Thanks to their support we were able to celebrate the special occasion with a wider representation of our community.
As guests flowed into the venue from 6:00 p.m., they were greeted with a flurry of energetic reels and polkas performed by Pinch of Snuff – bringing the venue to life. Pinch of Snuff are one of the most-talked about bands playing Irish traditional music in Japan, and were able to join us this year due to the support of The BUSKER Irish Whiskey, our Official Entertainment Sponsor for this year.
At 6:30 p.m., our MC for the evening, Lily Wu, Project Manager at Intralink and former Executive Manager at the IJCC, opened the ceremony and welcomed Ambassador of Ireland to Japan, H.E. Damien Cole to the stage. In his remarks, Ambassador Cole spoke to the strength of the economic relationship between Ireland and Japan and the importance of trade between our two countries.
This was followed by remarks from IJCC President, Sarah Hickey, which highlighted the recent growth of the Chamber as well as greater diversification within our community over the past year. Words of thanks were also extended to IJCC members, partners and supporters for their various contributions to the Chamber and work in delivering the IJBAs again this year.
Following the conclusion of remarks, MC Lily Wu, Ambassador Cole, and Ms. Hickey were joined on stage by Vice President of the IJCC, Yoshihiro Tsuchiya, and IJCC Operations Manager Eli Unger, to perform a ceremonial sake barrel opening (kagami-biraki). The sake barrel for the ceremony contained “Rihachi” sake, and was generously provided by Tanabe Takeshita Brewery. This distillery in Matsue, Shimane, is a member of the Matsue Chamber of Commerce, as well as a new member of the IJCC.
Once the barrel had been opened, Ms. Hickey then led the venue in a toast, with all attendees joining in with their own glass of Rihachi.
After the conclusion of the toast, MC Lily Wu drew the audience’s attention to the gift bag placed at each attendees’ seat, which contained a gift set of a Guinness can and pint glass. This was provided courtesy of DIAGEO, whose support we were grateful to receive again this year in providing Guinness on tap.
Ms. Wu then introduced the table prizes for the night, provided by The BUSKER, ONODA Inc., Toyoko Inn and the Embassy of Ireland. Winners were decided by special stickers found on the underside of our guests’ nametags.
The dinner course began shortly after, beginning with the service of “Oldest Fashioned Cocktail” to all guests, provided courtesy of Official Drink Sponsor, Mad March Póitín. This was followed by a beautifully arranged menu prepared by the Conrad Tokyo, which featured an array of Irish produce and flavours, including Irish beef generously provided with support from Bord Bia Japan.
During the 4-course dinner, Paul O’Hare, IJCC Regional Committee member took the stage to raffle the coveted grand prize of the evening: a 1-night stay for 2 in a bay view room at the Conrad Tokyo. The winner was announced via a wheel of names, and the prize was delivered directly to the winner’s seat by a member of event staff. We would like to thank IJCC Corporate member, Conrad Tokyo, for their generous donation to our prize raffle this year.
During the remainder of the dinner service the remaining prizes were silently delivered to the winners’ tables. We were delighted to receive the continued support of our various Raffle Sponsors: Bord Bia, Calderwood Images, Irish Pub An Sólás, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Okuizumo NAORAI, ONODA Inc., Tokyo Comedy Bar, Tanabe Takeshita Brewery, Shelbourne Liquor.
Upon the conclusion of the raffle and dinner service, the highly anticipated awards ceremony began. During the course of the ceremony, MC Lily Wu invited IJCC President Sarah Hickey and Ambassador Damien Cole to officiate the proceedings.
This year we had 4 award categories: Special Recognition Award, Enterprise Ireland Company of the Year, SME of the Year, and Company of the Year. Each awardee was presented with engraved trophies, which featured designs provided by imageMILL, the event’s Branding Sponsor.
The awardees for the Ireland Japan Business Awards 2025 were as follows:
Special Recognition Award – Aisling Braiden
The Special Recognition Award is presented to an individual, organization, or initiative that has made an outstanding contribution to advancing Ireland-Japan relations — whether through leadership, collaboration, or long-standing service to the community.
Aisling Braiden has facilitated and spread the growth of Irish culture in Japan for over 20 years, as the Press and Cultural Attaché at the Embassy of Ireland, Japan.
Mrs. Braiden has also been an advocate for inclusivity within the community, and sparked a new impetus to achieve greater representation of female leadership within the Ireland Japan Chamber of Commerce.
In recognition of the dedicated service that Mrs. Braiden has provided the Ireland-Japan community over the years, through her unwavering support of cultural initiatives and events across the country, we are honoured to award her the Special Recognition Award for 2025.
Remarking on their selection for the Special Recognition Award, Mrs. Braiden had the following to share:
“Thank you very much for this Ireland Japan Chamber of Commerce Special Recognition Award. Is mór agam é.
As a member of the Irish community in Japan, I greatly admire the IJCC: its energy, openness, and the dedication of its members who give their time to strengthen Irish–Japanese business links. I’m honoured to receive this recognition.
In promoting Irish arts and culture as part of Ireland’s Global Ireland strategy, my goal is always to increase understanding of Ireland, our people, and our values. Culture is central to who we are, and Japan’s strong appreciation for cultural exchange creates many meaningful opportunities for deeper connections across culture, business and community.
It has been a privilege to share my love of Ireland and our vibrant culture with people in Japan for the past 25 years, supported by wonderful colleagues. This year has been especially busy as we opened our new Embassy, Ireland House Tokyo, with its beautiful new event space. I am grateful to my family and friends for their support.
I always welcome ideas and feedback, and I know the IJCC community will continue to support and collaborate with us as partners in our cultural activities.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh. I am truly delighted by this honour.
皆様、この IJBA 賞をいただき誠にありがとうございます! ”
Enterprise Ireland Company of the Year Award – Equal1
This award is sponsored by Enterprise Ireland and recognizes an Enterprise Ireland client company that has achieved success in the Japanese market or demonstrated strong business growth in Japan.
Reiko Hiruma of Enterprise Ireland joined Ambassador Cole and Ms. Hickey on stage to officiate this award, which was presented to Equal1, a quantum computing company developing silicon-base quantum computers that are both practical and scalable for real-world applications.
Remarking on their selection as Enterprise Ireland Company of the Year 2025, Niall Keegan, Director of Business Development, Japan, had the following to share:
“It is my pleasure to accept the Enterprise Ireland Company of the Year for 2025 on behalf of Equal1. Equal1 is very much at the leading edge of a brand new field of technology known as quantum computing. Although quantum computing is not yet used widely in industry there are companies and organizations who are starting to take advantage of the power that quantum computing brings, in pharma for drug discovery, logistics for supply chain optimization, finance for risk analysis and portfolio optimization for example.
Japan has a very keen interest in quantum computing in general and the promise of scalability inherent in the semiconductor qubit technology pioneered by Equal1.
With the help and support of all our partners in Japan, we look forward to building a business here that can seen as a model for high-tech collaboration between Ireland and Japan.”
SME of the Year Award – Custom Media
The SME of the Year Award recognizes a small or medium-sized enterprise that has demonstrated exceptional growth, innovation, or commitment to Ireland-Japan business relations. SMEs are a core part of our community, and make up many of the Irish-Japanese businesses that are most familiar to us - including everything from Irish pubs and bands to startups and small-scale importers.
Custom Media is a creative agency providing B2B marketing services with 17 years of experience in the Japanese market. Over the course of 2024-2025, they implemented a successful and wide-reaching integrated PR and social media campaign to raise the profile of one of their largest Irish clients in Japan and encourage greater inward investment to Ireland. Through this, they have actively supported the growth of Ireland-Japan business relations over the last fiscal year, which is why we are delighted to award the 2025 SME of the Year Award to Custom Media.
Remarking on their selection as SME of the Year 2025, Robert Heldt, CEO & Co-Founder, had the following to share:
“We’re deeply grateful to the IJCC for recognizing Custom Media as the 2025 SME of the Year. This honour means a lot to us.
Over the past 17 years, our journey has been one of constant reinvention — from print to digital, to becoming a full-service B2B agency, and now navigating the fast-evolving world of AI. Through all that change, one thing has always stayed the same — our people. Simon and I feel incredibly fortunate to work alongside such a talented and dedicated team who show up every day with creativity, resilience, and passion.
We’re also lucky to collaborate with amazing clients like IDA Ireland and global B2B brands across manufacturing, technology, healthcare, and clean energy — organizations that inspire us with their innovation and purpose. Their trust keeps us focused on our mission to help drive meaningful, sustainable change.
We’re truly honoured and look forward to continuing to work closely with the IJCC community in the years ahead.”
Simon Farrell, Publisher at Custom Media, followed Mr. Heldt to deliver the following comment:
“This award is testament to the incredible dedication, innovation and leadership of CEO Robert Heldt who is the real driving force behind Custom Media.
Since we established Custom Media in 2008, we have endured a major earthquake, global financial crises and a pandemic in the highly competitive media industry that has shifted dramatically due to technology, economics and consumer behaviour.
We pulled through mainly thanks to Robert’s unique brand of humane but tenacious problem solving.
I am sure I speak for all Custom Media colleagues, clients and partners when I acknowledge Robert for creating our highly professional team and we are excited to celebrate the outstanding achievement of the IJCC SME Award together. Thank you Robert and the IJCC!”
Company of the Year Award – Sojitz Corporation / Pinergy
The “Company of The Year” award recognizes a company for significant milestones in its history, new product launches, or any other significant contribution to Ireland-Japan business relations.
Over the past number of years, Sojitz Corporation has made significant advances into Ireland’s renewable energy and electricity retail sectors. We would like to recognize in particular the growth of the strategic partnership between Sojitz and Pinergy, an Irish green electricity retailer, following Sojitz’s 98% acquisition of Pinergy earlier this year. This landmark development fits with Sojitz’s strategy of combining renewable power generation with retail energy services to support Ireland’s decarbonization goals.
It is for this reason that we are delighted to present the 2025 Ireland Japan Chamber of Commerce Company of the Year to Sojitz Corporation and Pinergy.
Remarking on their selection as Company of the Year, Sojitz Corporation and Pinergy had the following to share:
Sojitz Corporation
“We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Ireland Japan Chamber of Commerce (IJCC) for this prestigious award. This recognition is a true privilege, and a reflection of the strong partnership between Ireland and Japan. We look forward to deepening our collaboration with Pinergy, expanding renewable solutions, and continuing to build bridges between Ireland and Japan. ”
Pinergy
“On behalf of the Pinergy team, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Ireland Japan Chamber of Commerce (IJCC) for awarding this prestigious award to Pinergy and Sojitz. Pinergy is a business firmly rooted in the energy transition. Pinergy is an energy company with a difference, with a vision to partner with our customers and help them use less energy.
The strategic partnership between Sojitz Corporation and Pinergy was formally announced late last year. Together with Sojitz, we have a shared vision and ambition to become a total energy solution provider. With Sojitz, we share a vision for a new type of energy retailer that focuses on delivering cleaner energy, enhanced technologies as well as supporting transformational change and behaviours for our customers, to revolutionize the energy sector in Ireland.”
The Ireland Japan Chamber of Commerce would like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to our awardees again this year: Aisling Braiden, Equal1, Custom Media and Sojitz Corporation/Pinergy.
As the awards ceremony drew to a close, our attendees were treated to a last performance by Pinch of Snuff, thanks to Official Entertainment Sponsor, The BUSKER Irish Whiskey. During the last segment of the night, guests were free to grab drinks from our Official Drink Sponsors at their booths and the hotel bar, and enjoy the lively atmosphere.
During the last portion of the night, attendees that wanted to try more of the Rihachi sake could also visit the Tanabe Takeshita Brewery tasting booth set up at the venue alongside another member of the Matsue Chamber of Commerce, Okuizumo NAORAI, which displayed information on their luxury beef products. We extremely grateful for the support at this year’s IJBAs from the Matsue Chamber of Commerce, and look forward to deepening the relationship with the IJCC going forward.
As the clock struck 10 p.m., the event was closed off according to IJBA tradition, with a sanbonjime, led by IJCC Director Philip Greenan.
Míle buíochas (many thanks) to everyone who attended this year's Ireland Japan Business Awards, as well as to all our partners that helped bring the ceremony to life again this year.
A word of thanks goes out to devoted team of staff and volunteers. Many thanks to our brilliant and experienced volunteers: Kazumi Yokota, Kenji Aoki, and Yumiko Horikoshi, for their efforts behind the scenes. We would also like to thank Rodrigo Marín, our talented photographer for the night, as well as IJCC Events Intern Emmett Weber, for keeping our social media active throughout the night.
Lastly, we would like to express our continued gratitude of IJCC Platinum Sponsors Toyoko Inn and the BUSKER for their consistent and unwavering support of the Chamber.
As always, it was our pleasure to provide the opportunity to celebrate our community’s successes this year and we look forward seeing everyone in 2026!
