At “Japan Summit 2010” (16th December at Hotel New Otani Tokyo), an essay written by Mr. Sami Hamdani, an exchange student from Bath University UK was one of the two first prize winners in the Japan Summit 2010 Essay Contest - Asia-Pacific. This prize was given to essays written by students who can be the next-generation leaders and are affiliated with universities and business schools in Japan. He selected the title “The nail that sticks up should not be hammered down” and discussed “why Japan, whilst filing 40% of the world’s patents, does not appear prominently in certain rakings such as Bloomberg Businessweek’s list of the world’s most innovative companies”. In the essay, he discussed the roles of entrepreneurship in innovative activities of Japanese firms.

The winners of the essay contest won tickets to participate in the Japan Summit 2010 where they shared their own vision on strategic issues regarding the country’s future with up-and-coming leaders in politics, business, academia and civil society. Mr. Sami Hamdani said, “At the summit I was given the opportunity to pose questions to a distinguished panel including the CEO of Globis Group, Director of the British Council and ex-head of global equity strategy for HSBC, and the Managing Director of the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan among others. It was a fascinating day”. (By Chie Iguchi)