The 13th Meeting of the UK–Japan Joint Committee (JCM) on Cooperation in Science and Technology was held in Tokyo on 9 October 2026, according to the UK government's account published the same day. The meeting was chaired by Professor Sir John Edmunds of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and co-chaired by Mr Kawamura Hiroshi of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Organisers said ministers from both sides attended a high-level session for the first time in the committee's history.

The statement said the meeting endorsed existing collaboration and set strategic priorities, drawing on Japan's 7th Science, Technology and Innovation Basic Plan, the updated Free and Open Indo-Pacific, and the UK's 2025 Science and Technology Framework. It reaffirmed the JCM's role in supporting the Frontier Technology Partnership announced at a June 2026 Japan–UK summit in London, and welcomed Japan's signing of an agreement to associate with Horizon Europe.

An attached fact sheet lists 15 areas with goals and steps, including quantum, AI and compute, space, research security, advanced connectivity, agriculture, batteries, cybersecurity, engineering biology and fusion energy. The statement said the next JCM would be held in the UK in 2027, and that the two sides welcomed plans to convene a meeting of their funding agencies that year.