Welcome to the Areni Global in Conversation podcast. In today’s episode Understanding Japan's Latest Trends: In Conversation With Ned Goodwin MW Felicity Carter takes the reins. She talks to Ned Goodwin MW about Japan’s fine wine market, as there is sometimes no better way to understand a market than to ask an outsider, because they may have the ability to stand back and observe in a way that insiders can’t. An Australian wine expert and critic, Ned first encountered Japan when he went on a school exchange in his teens. After falling in love with the country and the language, he returned again at the turn of this century, and worked there for more than a decade. In this fascinating interview, Ned and Felicity discuss the fine wine consumers in Japan: who they are and how their behaviours have evolved in recent years.  This interview is part of our new round of exploration dedicated to the fine wine consumers called The Country Profiles Series, snapshots of markets that we believe are particularly interesting. The full report Country Profile: Japan, will be released on September 21st, 2023, accessible to Areni’s partners and full members only. To secure your copy of the report, join us as a member today. More about today’s guest:  In 2010, Ned Goodwin became the first Japan-based Master of Wine. Born in London, raised in Australia and educated in Tokyo and Paris, Goodwin MW has had a storied career in Japan. The host of a Japanese television show, he also founded the importer Wine Diamonds in Tokyo. A well-known critic, he has worked for some of the world’s top wine publications: Now mainly based in Sydney, he is a member of the JamesSuckling.com team and visits Japan as often as he can. Areni asked him his impressions of the market. Learn more about Ned Goodwin MW: Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Goodwin Instagram: @nedgoodwinmw Linkedin: https://au.linkedin.com/in/ned-goodwin-mw-18082 About Felicity Carter, today’s host: Felicity Carter is a well-known journalist and editor based in Europe. She is the Editorial Director of ARENI Global in London, International Editor of Star Wine List in Sweden, co-founder of Business of Drinks podcast, and also works as a contributing editor to The New Wine Review. Formerly, she was founding Executive Editor for The Drop at Pix.Wine, and Editor-in-Chief of Meininger’s Wine Business International, a trade magazine she built into a global must-read, with subscribers in 38 countries. She has consulted to the Dutch government and to Liv-ex, and been the keynote speaker at the wine industry’s biggest conferences and events, from New York and Sydney to Hong Kong. As a writer she has contributed to the Guardian USA, Delicious magazine, and the Sydney Morning Herald, among many other publications. Felicity is also an international wine judge, who has judged in France, Portugal, Germany, Luxembourg and Georgia. To learn more about Felicity Carter: https://twitter.com/felicitycarter https://www.linkedin.com/in/felicity-carter-a5754380/ https://www.instagram.com/carter.felicity/ https://www.facebook.com/felicity.carter.104/ If you want to read the cliff notes on today’s interview, just head to https://areni.global/research/podcasts/   Thank you for joining us today. “Through a comprehensive research and publication programme, ARENI exists to inform, inspire and empower those invested in the future of Fine Wine”.