A Japanese journalist has been discovering the differences between the media in Britain and Japan, by spending two weeks at the Isle of Wight County Press.

Mitsuhisa Asaoka, from Hokkaido, one of Japan’s largest Islands, swapped his desk at the twice-daily Hokkaido Shimbun – Hokkaido Press – where he is one of 600 journalists, for one at the County Press, which has just 27 journalists, sub-editors and photographers.

Mitsu, as he is known to everyone, shadowed the weekly paper’s reporters to magistrates’ and crown courts, inquests, horticultural shows, the Seaview Regatta and even to watch a traditional English cricket match.

It was a far cry from Hokkaido with its capital, Sapporo, the sixth largest city in Japan, which has five million people.

The paper itself boasts 600 journalists who produce 45 different editions a day, and around half its news content is from agencies such as Associated Press.

Its circulation is 1.2m for the morning edition and 800,000 in the evening.

Despite Japan’s reputation for its super-efficient workforce, Mitsu (pictured) found his paper could learn some lessons from the County Press.

He said: “I could not believe the way you have a meeting with the editor and it only lasts 20 minutes once a week but in that time, everyone can express a view.

“We have many meetings and everyone is called in by the boss but a lot of the time is taken by ceremonials.”

Mitsu, (36), said cost of living was another big difference, with the surprise being that it is much higher on the Isle of Wight than in Hokkaido, especially to eat out.

He said the informality of the relationship between staff and bosses at the County Press was very different to home too.

He said: “I know from movies you can call your boss by his or her first name but when I call the editor Brian, I feel very nervous.

“At Seaview Regatta I was very surprised parents joined in the sports events. That would not happen in Japan because people are too shy.”

Mitsu spent time at the County Press during his trip to England after e-mailing the paper.

Editor Brian Dennis said: “He wanted to come to an Island newspaper and he chose us.

“It’s interesting to see what similarities there are – apart from I don’t have 600 staff. But generally speaking we work in the same way and Mitsu was fairly familar with what we do.

“When he arrived he had a speech prepared and he told us about himself and the place where he comes from. It was very interesting and he got on well with everyone.”