UK-JP 2025 Navigating Divides in the Modern World

Tokyo, Japan

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English Report   |   Japanese Report

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The title of the theme for the 2025 edition of the UK/JP students conference was bridging divides, with the subtitle that followed, being formed from a paraphrased version of Ngugi wa Thiong'o's idea of "building a world where the progress of one man is not made from the downfall of another.” Despite the fact that this quote did not in its original context, hold any bearing to the specific teaching of policy making. It did however, speak to the essence of what we wished to exist at the centre of every facet of this year's conference from the speakers who invested their time to teach us, to our policy making discussions, and the space that we built where we interacted with the divides that separate us as nations, communities, demographics, and individuals, with the intention of presenting ideas for how a future can be developed that is kinder, for citizens of both the UK and Japan.

It is impossible to hide from the fact that much of society today in both the UK and Japan, carries the weight of systemic divides across every faction of life. We are living in an era where the sustaining of these divides is turbo charged by the unprecedented power of social media, political actors, and online echo chambers that satiate themselves, as much on conflict, as they do not seek resolution.

The characteristics of what makes Japan's cultural identity have strong associations with homogeneity and technical advancements, in the same way that the UK holds credence with the values of diversity and freedom, now balanced on a crossroads as the influence of far-right populism gains strength from both Internet chat rooms interacted with directly by the youth, to the houses of government. The progress that has been made in both countries in terms of global acceptance has been hampered by the drastic increase of support for anti-immigration sentiment, recited by politicians who have been voted into positions of representation, and thus decision makers of what direction the countries' governing powers should design legislation toward.

The divides in each societies response to this singular divide sketches out the scope of citizens reactions, that extend from an increase in political engagement as seen in the number of votes cast rising in the 2025 election, but also destructive action as seen in the UK's 2024 anti-immigration riots, which demonstrate the standard of what is demographic versus what is a violation of sociocultural decency; as encapsulated by a single difference in idea that is one of the many disagreements, that take a true toll on the lives of not just individuals but each citizen that gains access to the story.

In the UK and Japan as nations, such divides may differ in the way they present themselves in many circumstances, with relevant examples of this being potentially, the divide formed from isolation culture amid the rapidly ageing population of Japan not being as much of a relevant issue in the UK, whilst the rise of anti-immigration violence is more present in the UK than in Japan. The similarities of what divides we share are present and extensive. The gender divide in education, work, and opportunities exists alongside the social policies that have historically excluded people with disabilities from society, and the precedent of economic and technological disparity in rural areas, in the realm of shared divides between the two nations. So that although an ocean and the better part of a continent may separate the UK and Japan geographically, what divides us as individuals grants us a chance that we may, as global citizens, use the opportunity to engage in dialogue around different and shared perspectives, to learn from each other, so that an understanding of what divides us can unite us.

It is easy to write these words, and hope that the decision of what a theme shall be for a Student conference will allow us as global citizens to address any form of equality in our two nations, in a modern society where idealism may feel as practical as sticking one's head into the sand in what change it is capable of.

However, this theme surpasses an individuals words, into the opportunity for dialogue that can open the gates for a journey of cultural exchange, opportunities for empathy, and diverse communication that can bridge gaps between not just you and I, but, the present and a future where the progress of one will not be delayed by the desire to embrace a culture of destruction over communication.

To conclude this description, how the theme of bridging divides can be defined is through the desire to understand that there can be no equality without acknowledging that there has been an inequality to begin with, and the progress of this intention was developed through each participant's engagement and open-mindedness to be challenged and learn. The hope, as with every time that the UK/JP students conference community meet, is that true the opportunity to actively communicate with peers in universities from the two countries, will lead to exchanges that even in most inconsequential of seeming ways, in moments that cannot be repeated once again, the act of engagement can bridge what divides us so that one day the memory of it can reunite us in a better tomorrow.