HISTORY
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
East West Interface (EWI) is built upon Managing Director Sarah Parsons’ International experience and her roots in the heart of England. After leaving her hometown, a mining community in Nottinghamshire, Sarah studied German and Business at the University of Warwick and she spent a year in Dresden, Germany in 1992 experiencing the cultural, business and societal changes taking place after reunification.
After graduation, she spent three years in Japan teaching within a rural community in Gunma prefecture after which she spent three more years working for the Japan Local Government Centre in London. She then moved back to the Midlands to start a family and trained to be a teacher.
Building upon her in-depth knowledge and experience of how different cultures affect business communications, Sarah founded East West Interface (formerly Japan in Perspective), which is currently based in the agricultural county of Lincolnshire. She is now a leading expert in cross-cultural communications combining her business and academic experience in EWI's services.
Sarah is also an Associate for the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
A memorial to Bentinck colliery, Nottinghamshire.
Sarah has good links with regional and European business groups and has delivered training for many European SMEs on behalf of the Department for International Trade, Innovate UK and the EU Japan Centre for Industrial Relations. She has also delivered cross-cultural training in Europe using her German language and knowledge of how different cultures affect business communications. Sarah regularly appears on various media outlets such as BBC World News, the BBC World Service and CNBC to talk about cross-cultural business communications and regularly writes for Forbes Japan, about the differences between Japanese and Western strategic communications.
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Kagami biraki ceremony at the House of Lords with
Roger Godsiff MP, JETAA UK Chair Sarah Parsons,
Baroness D’Souza and Ambassador Tsuruoka
Sarah and her children with Ambassador Tsuruoka receiving her Commendation Award. Photo courtesy of the Embassy of Japan in the UK.
HIGH-LEVEL OF TRUST
Sarah enjoys a high level of trust within the UK- Japan community, having been a Trustee to the Japan Society of the UK and a Committee Member at the Embassy of Japan for the UK Japan Season of Culture leading up to the 2020 Olympics. She spent 5 years as UK Chair of the Japan Exchange and Teaching Alumni Association (JETAA), engaging closely with the Japanese Government and speaking at key events at the Houses of Parliament, the Embassy of Japan in London and Asia House. She has also met key figures including the Emperor and Empress of Japan, Princess Takamado and the Prime Minister’s wife, Akie Abe. Sarah recently received a ‘Commendation from the Japanese Ambassador to the UK’ award for her contribution to Japan UK links. (See Blog for more information)
ACADEMIC EXPERTISE
Sarah is a Research Associate at the Japan Research Centre and an Associate Tutor within the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at SOAS, University of London and spent 6 years as a Senior Teaching within SOAS's School for Finance and Management. She has also been a University Teacher in the School of East Asian Studies at the University of Sheffield. Sarah is currently an Associate Tutor for Warwick Manufacturing Group at the University of Warwick on the International Business Development module. Her areas of expertise are the Business and Economy of Japan and Korea, Management in Japan, Working with Chinese Firms, Finance in Japan & Korea, Cross-cultural Negotiations and Work and Organisation in East Asia. Sarah has supported International Students understand cross-cultural communications, and has designed innovative support packages for International Students.
Sarah has also been a guest lecturer at:
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The University of Warwick (International HRM)
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Cranfield University (International HRM)
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Leeds University (cross-cultural comms)
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Nottingham Trent University (cross-cultural management)
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The University of Lincoln (cross-cultural management)
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Stockholm Business School (Gender in Japan)
She is currently conducting research into the impact of culture on the gender roles within International Business and has published academic articles and a book chapter on the link between the gender roles and leadership in Japan. This research is directly implemented into EWI's corporate packages for globalising companies, so they can navigate the cultural differences that can be barriers to inclusivity.
MORE ABOUT SARAH PARSONS
Sarah lives in rural Lincolnshire with her family and cats called Mittens and Hummus. Sarah is a keen musician-she plays the piano and also is a semi-professional orchestral bassoonist in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Sarah speaks Japanese and German and is currently studying Russian and Chinese.
'Hummus'
'Mittens'