Japan Inc. articles from March 2008

Japan Inc. archives from March 2008

Message from the publisher.
March 1, 2008... An interesting trend in IP Several weeks ago, two representatives of a major Japanese financial group came to see me with an unusual request. As many readers will know, our sister company Japan Inc Holdings does market entry and venture...

Message from the editor.(Editorial)
March 1, 2008... Dear Readers, As the fiscal year draws to a close and the market is plagued by credit worries, and more general commercial anxiety, we are pleased to keep our eyes firmly focused on new business and innovation. This is manifest in Greg...

Letters to the editor.(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... Dear Editor, I enjoyed reading the wide-ranging subject matter of the last J@pan Inc, particularly the article on Vietnam: a country which has fascinated me for the past two decades. For me, it is one of the most interesting countries in...

Mobile moves.(Business Break)
March 1, 2008... While SoftBank seems to be winning the battle for new subscribers in the saturated mobile phone market, niche player Emobile--which launched in spring 2007--looks to be making steady progress. The "Mobile Broadband" provider signed up a record...

Second Life.(Business Break)
March 1, 2008... If you thought mobile phone users weren't engrossed enough in their hand sets as it was, thanks to a platform developed by SUN--a Tokyo based firm specializing in mobile content delivery--there may be even more commuters forgetting to get off...

Breakthrough for Skype.(Business Break)
March 1, 2008... VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) service Skype should receive a significant boost in the Japanese market with Sony providing PSP (their handheld games console) users with a software update to allow users to run the popular peer-to-peer...

Web 2.0.(Business Break)
March 1, 2008... Omnipresent (at least on the interwebs) entrepreneur and early stage investor Joi Ito announced that his company Digital Garage would be bringing Web 2.0 phenomenon Twitter to Japan. The social networking 'micro-blogging' service allows users...

The sun setting on DRM?(Business Break)
March 1, 2008... While not specifically mentioning Japan, Amazon.com announced in January that they would be launching their Digital Rights Management (DRM)-free download service 'Amazon mp3' worldwide by the end of 2008. Amazon mp3 includes DRM-free downloads...

Power from footsteps.(Business Break)
March 1, 2008... The Asahi Shimbun reports that JR East began an experiment this year to generate electricity from the pressure of commuters' footsteps as they pass through ticket wickets. Covering an area of 90 square meters adjacent to the Yaesu entrance of...

New business & IPO.(Business Break)
March 1, 2008... IPOs scheduled for January and February were for the most part fairly unremarkable with the notable exception of Seven Bank. Originally known as IY Bank, the major shareholders prior to IPO were '7 and i' Holdings with approximately 25% and Ito...

Trends in Japan: eco fashion.
March 1, 2008... Tokyo teen fashion Mecca, Shibuya, is having an unusual bohemian moment. Take a stroll through the trendy Shibuya 109 fashion building and you'll see many a boutique offering '60s-inspired flower-print dresses with flowing skirts and sleeves...

Measure for measure: hard information about selected industries, a corporate profile of a major Japanese listed company, and a column on a selected player from the retail industry.(Statistics & company information)
March 1, 2008... Finance * Value of false share purchase disclosures made at the Financial Services Agency's EDINET website attributed to Teramento in January: [yen]20 trillion * Capitalization of Teramento: [yen]1,000 * Number of Liberal...

Retail focus: Don Quijote.
March 1, 2008... In the shopping paradise that is Japan, the retail business can often be dog-eat-dog, with companies racking their best brains for ideas on how to please the country's notoriously fussy customers. For these discerning consumers, not just the...

CEO interview: Junichi Fujimoto, FON Japan.(WiFi Internet)(Interview)
March 1, 2008... Smaller devices incorporating wireless networking are proliferating--not just computers, but phones, PDAs and hand-held gaming machines are using the Internet to send and receive data at high speed. Areas of dense population, such as Japanese...

Exclusive interview: Michel Lachaussee; J@pan Inc talks to the President of the French Chamber of Commerce in Japan.(French Chamber of Commerce in Japan)(Interview)
March 1, 2008... Who does the chamber represent? The French chamber in Japan is the oldest European chamber of commerce, started in 1918. In Japan we have now reached a membership of 556. We are also the largest contributor to the European Business Council...

The father of invention.(Inventions & patents)
March 1, 2008... The business of invention When Shuji Nakamura invented the blue ray laser diode, he never imagined that the technology would be used worldwide. Neither did he anticipate that it would be the center of so much controversy. Even before...

Perspectives on Tokyo living & real estate.(Relocation services)
March 1, 2008... Kenneth Arbour, President of Century 21 SKY Realty and Tokyo Orientations, has spent over 20 years in the real estate and relocation business in Tokyo. This is the third of four articles, in which Ken covers trends in the real estate market in...

Is the customer a false god? Part III: my struggle at the frontline of Japanese Enterprise IT.(IT industry)
March 1, 2008... The ancient religion of Shinto regards all natural objects and exceptional creatures as kami or "Gods." Visitors to Japan can easily sample a taste of kami-sama treatment by indulging themselves in the high level of customer service in tasteful...

Changing the status quo: the future of stock exchange technology in Japan.(Electronic trading in Japan)
March 1, 2008... Almost since its inception in 1878, the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has been synonymous with trading in the Japanese financial markets. Other regional bourses do exist to serve investors, but after careful merging and consolidation over the...

The trade in people: a former recruiter looks at the industry in Japan asking the question, has the bubble burst?(Recruitment industry)
March 1, 2008... With the need for strong, foreign executive recruiters having been created through the demand to move high-caliber professionals, often within tightly knit industries, a lot of the demand has come on the back of strong financial optimism and...

Marcus Evans conferences.(Conference news)(Calendar)
March 1, 2008... Customer Relationship Excellence Pursuing the original CRM definition--Enhancing customer satisfaction and increasing enterprise profit by utilising customer data Hilton Tokyo Hotel, Japan | 15th & 16th April 2008 This conference...

Recruitment services directory.(Directory)
March 1, 2008... Name Phone URL A-Human Inc 03-3519-4181 www.a-human.net/english A-TEN Associates 03-5425-7788 www.a-10.com Japan Ltd Adecco 03-6439-7300 www.adecco.com Advance Inc ...

Personnel perspectives; Three views of the human resources process: candidate, recruiter, employer.(Recruitment)
March 1, 2008... The Candidate Whether at graduate level or further down the line in a career, increasingly, most of us are more likely than ever to keep a keen eye on the job market, whether or not we are proactively seeking employment. In Japan, when the...

Profile: Shigeru Ishiba, minister of defense.(Politics)
March 1, 2008... Shigeru Ishiba is something of an anomaly in the Japanese political world. His soft-spoken and reserved manner belies his high level of competence. Experts credit his ability to boil down complicated defense and foreign policy issues into an...

Knotted beauty: how the Japanese cedar tree found new life.(Furniture manufacturing)
March 1, 2008... The cedar tree in Japan World War II caused tremendous environmental damage to Japan, the majority of the country being forested land. During the post-war reforestation projects, Japan was implanted with an influx of Japanese cedar trees,...

Market turbulence and the emotional conundrum.(Investment)
March 1, 2008... "The recent stock market woes have dented my investing confidence, so I'm sitting on the sidelines right now. I'm scared markets will go down more... if they don't I'll curse myself!" When is a good time to invest? Obviously at market...

Inside out: business in Venezuela; J@pan Inc's column concerning business opportunities outside of Japan.(Venezuela)(Column)
March 1, 2008... Venezuela is one of the most resource-rich nations in the world yet it is also one of the most politically risky countries today. Doing business there is not something that investors or enterprises do without careful consideration. Western...

Human flight.(Skydiving)
March 1, 2008... For the expat resident Japan has a lot going for it; within a couple hours in winter there's skiing, in summer the beach and a variety of interesting weekend excursions, whatever may tickle one's fancy. What may be less obvious is skydiving in...

Bubbles for brunch.(Champagne brunches)
March 1, 2008... The economic bubble may have burst long ago in Japan, but bubbles of a different kind still persist in many venues across Tokyo. Synonymous with celebration, celebrities, good time and good taste, champagne is the drink of choice for many...

Reinventing Western fashion.(Fashion and design)
March 1, 2008... The kimono way In terms of national costume and dress, there can be nothing so quintessentially Japanese as the kimono. These often beautiful and elaborate garments became widespread during the Edo period (1603-1867) and the craft of...

Arrivals & Departures.
March 1, 2008... In collaboration with Santa Fe Relocation Services Japan KK, the J@pan Inc Arrivals & Departures column takes a look at some of the key figures in Japan's expatriate business community who are either just landing in Japan of flying off to new...

Back & Forward.
March 1, 2008... Back and Forward is a regular column that takes a slightly irreverent look at some of Japan's biggest business stories. Tough first month... For the entire year of 2007, Japan's Nikkei index was down 11.1%, closing at 15,307.78...

Classic crossword.
March 1, 2008... J@pan Inc is offering a prize of two free tickets to see Tokyo Sinfonia--Japan's finest chamber orchestra conducted by Robert Ryker. All correctly completed entries will be entered into our prize draw. Please send answers to: J@pan Inc...