Established at the end of the 19th century, the founders of Toppan witnessed the initial onset of modernisation in Japan and saw the opportunity to launch their business. Toppan’s now vast range of solutions began in the form of the Erhöht letterpress; a technology mainly used for bank notes and postage stamps due to their high definition printing quality.

Today, Toppan has strengthened its printing technology and products into three main segments: Electronics, Information & Communication and Living & Industry. Toppan’s numerous solutions now include printing, communications, security, packaging, décor materials, electronics, and digital transformation.

With its headquarters located in Tokyo, Toppan’s first international venture was to Hong Kong in 1963. Its international operations are now in over 80 business locations, including South East Asia, China, Europe and the Americas. With such a diverse, international client base, Toppan aims to gain a broad understanding of world trends and the impact globalisation will have on its business to best fulfil customer needs.

As well as providing various products and solutions, Toppan recognises the growing importance of ESG (Environmental, social and corporate governance) and SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) on the corporate agenda. Toppan participates and leads environmental initiatives, including issues faced by the global community and contributes back to society in a social and cultural capacity.

The FT also acknowledges these matters have recently increased in interest and are fundamental to the future of business as well as the global economy. Corporate subscribers like Toppan have access to informative resources to increase their global awareness, in turn helping them keep abreast of international trends.

Having read the FT for over 14 years, Toppan’s Richard Broadhead works within the Global Business Center and explains how the FT provides “information on what kind of trends begin overseas, for example, ESG investment, and what kind of trends will eventually come to Japan.” For Toppan the importance of understanding international trends is as much about analysing the impact that they may have locally as how to proactively prepare in each of its global locations.

A huge amount of time and effort is needed to distill relevant events happening in the world and Toppan utilises the FT to do this. An FT Professional Subscription gives Toppan access to the FT’s network of over 600 journalists investigating major events and trends within the world of business, finance and politics. In turn, the team at Toppan gains a refined yet deep analysis of world news and events.

One part of Richard’s role at Toppan is supporting M&A in the Global Business Center. “Reading the FT enables us to better monitor what is going on in international capital and IPO markets.” explains Richard. “I think it is essential for us to be able to summarise that information promptly for the decision-makers driving our global expansion and to identify and understand trends influencing the performance of overseas divisions.”

Richard’s colleague Ayu Kamata, who works in the Global Governance Division, also highlights that the FT is “important as a tool to learn about what is happening in the world, as well as the trends and events.” With global context and analysis from the FT, Toppan connects the dots to developing news and can react to these trends to preserve its global strategy.

Over several decades Toppan has extended its international influence by operating further across the globe — increasing the globalisation of the business. By using the tools that an FT Professional Subscription offers, Ayu points out that “It's pretty easy to develop a global perspective by reading the FT and seeing what's happening in the world. I think reading FT is a step towards globalisation.”

One effect of globalisation is that it allows companies to utilise lower-cost ways to produce their products, however it also increases the level of global competitiveness. Toppan uses the FT to build a global perspective increasing their competitive edge. An FT Professional Subscription ensures Toppan has the tools to never miss a story and view insights within its operational regions and sectors to stay ahead of the competition.

Richard explains that “it would be difficult for us to do business if we do not understand the same kind of information and the same viewpoints as people overseas.” Yet with an FT Professional Subscription, Toppan has access to global journalism at scale, making discoveries and connections across the globe. In turn, subscribers like Richard and Ayu can keep up to date with competitor news and insights.

The FT is globally recognised for reporting without an agenda and has been named most trustworthy media brand, in last year’s Global Business Influencers (GBI) survey by Ipsos. “The FT has a reputation of reporting in a neutral manner,” Richard says and adds that, “It's most important that the FT is not UK-centric. I read the Asian edition of the paper, but there is a global perspective.” The FT’s in-depth analysis and double-sourced articles ensure information is brought to light with a balanced, unbiased approach.

Richard suggests that “Japanese companies are curious about the viewpoint of foreign activists,” he goes on to explain that he reads “Leo Lewis's articles from the perspective of Japan from the outside, although it is an article from Japan.”

As part of the FT Professional Subscription, Richard uses myFT to look at topics such as “Foods & Beverages, Retail, and Japan-related matters.” He sees the importance of reading the FT to be aware of specific topics as “many Japanese companies are affected by foreign investors.”

Similarly to Richard, Ayu expresses her interest in “how articles about Japan are conveyed to the world.” The FT is committed to independent journalism and our trusted journalists gather information from across the world to form a holistic perspective of the news.

Toppan utilises their FT Professional Subscription to amplify its international outlook and increase its ability to dive deep into the analysis of global trends. With a global and unbiased perspective, FT journalism enables Toppan to develop an international outlook and respond to incoming trends into Japan and beyond.

Request a free trial today and see how our award-winning journalism, from 600 journalists across the globe, can help you and your team make informed decisions and reach your goals faster.