Main Purpose of Job:

The British Embassy Japan Network promotes work experience and internship opportunities with the aim of building strong links between the UK and Japan. We encourage talented undergraduates, recent graduates and other school and college students to get a taste of embassy work and expand their employability for future careers linked to the UK-Japan relationship.  

Successful completion of the Internship programme will give you the option of joining our interim personnel pool for future fixed term job opportunities and will give you the experience to support strong applications for future permanent roles in the British Embassy Tokyo or Consulate General Osaka.

What the Jobholder will be Expected to Achieve:

This Internship programme would particularly suit someone with strong links to either the UK or to Japan and is considering pursuing a career in international relations, trade and investment, or similar fields in the future.

Successful candidates will gain an understanding of the mission of the British Embassy and its Consulate through training and work assigned by the key teams of Japan Network. Your role will be determined based on your interests, specialities, skills and experience. In any team, you are expected to bring in new ideas, approaches, fresh perspectives, a willingness to challenge entrenched working practices, and help us boost capacity.

Your host team will provide you with a range of opportunities to familiarise you with our way of working and our current policy focus areas and will agree with you a full programme to cover the term of the Internship that reflects your interests and learning objectives. The Internship can last up to a maximum of 6 months, but it is possible that we can accommodate shorter periods and reduced working hours following consultation at the interview.

Our internships cover a range of teams and can include:

1. Media, Communications and Marketing: Handling media relations, marketing and PR campaigns, and productions such as digital content, branding assets and analytics to raise awareness and promote the UK in Japan.
2. Consular: Providing consular assistance to British Nationals who visit or reside in Japan. Services include notarial services, emergency travel documents and general enquiries.
3. Economic Diplomacy: Enabling collaboration in the areas of economy and finance, trade policy, market access, climate change, health, development, science innovation and tech.
4. International Trade and Investment: Supporting and promoting UK exports to Japan and inward investment to the UK from Japan. We also have representatives from the UK’s devolved administrations – Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
5. Political: Leading on UK-Japan cooperation for development of policies on cyber, counterterrorism, human rights, defence and security, including delivering joint capacity-building projects in third countries.  

There will also be an opportunity for interns to support preparations for a variety of political, economic, and cultural events such as EXPO 2025. The exact work streams are to be confirmed.  

Resources Managed (staff and expenditure): None

• Desire to advance skills and knowledge  
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in Japanese and English
• Proficient computer skills
• Resilient in a constantly evolving environment
• Strong team player and self-starter with positive, dedicated and open attitude

Language Requirements:

• Japanese and English
• Level of language required: Fluent (CEFR C2 / IELTS 8 or above) in one language and business level (CEFR B2 / IELTS 6 or above) skills in the other