The criteria for membership are as follows. There are two categories of membership, Full and Associate. To qualify for either category, a company (or organisation) should (a) be recommended for membership by at least one Chamber Council member; and (b) understand and accept that the official working language of the Chamber is Japanese (in particular, for meetings concerned with the running of the Chamber such as Council Meetings and the AGM, proceedings and minutes will be in Japanese only, though most other activities and communications will, in practice, also be accessible in English). There is no requirement for Japanese ownership of the company applying.
Any company with employees in the UK who are either Japanese nationals or fluent in the Japanese language would become a Full Member. Any company without employees in the UK who are either Japanese nationals or fluent in the Japanese language is only eligible for Associate Membership. This is because Full Members are eligible for membership of JCCI’s governing Council; the Council conducts its business in Japanese and any Council Member must be fluent in Japanese. A company which subsequently loses its Japanese language capability after becoming a Full Member may then, if it wishes, switch to Associate Membership. The main difference between the categories of Full and Associate Membership is that Associate Members have no voting rights and could only attend the AGM as observers. Associate Members are also not eligible for election to the Chamber’s governing Council. Associate Members may otherwise participate fully in the activities of, and have full access to the services of the Chamber.
The final decision on all applications for membership will be at the Council's discretion at one of its quarterly meetings.
It is normal practice for representative(s) of the applicant company to meet the Chairman (or other members) of the New Members Committee as part of the application procedure. Introductions will be made to Council members for the purposes of (a) above if necessary. Annual subscriptions for Full Membership are on a scale of £400-£3800 (depending on numbers of Japanese staff). Annual subscriptions for Associate Membership are at the flat rate of £600.