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J@pan Inc Newsletter<br>
The 'JIN' J@pan Inc Newsletter<br>
A weekly opinion piece on social, economic and political trends<br>
in Japan.<br>
Issue No. 502 Wednesday March 04, 2009, Tokyo<br>
<br>
I$B!G(Bve become somewhat numb to the majority of Bloomberg$B!G(Bs headlines<br>
these days. After a quick scan of the morning$B!G(Bs offerings on the Japan<br>
page I find myself heading to the fairer weather of the movie pages.<br>
<br>
Actually, if we$B!G(Bre sticking to business, you could do a lot worse than<br>
be in the movie industry at the moment. It$B!G(Bs strange that after a few<br>
years of the death knells being tolled as the pirates swarmed in from<br>
their cesspits of geekdom (read: the bedrooms of every 10-year-old in<br>
the world), now the whole thing doesn$B!G(Bt look so bad.<br>
<br>
While most people see the movie business more like a huge slot machine<br>
rather than a vehicle for safe investment. Recently some within the<br>
industry are simply pointing to the stock markets, then pointing back<br>
to empty DVD shelves at the local video rental store, to prove their<br>
point.<br>
<br>
Meanwhile, in the world of stocks, new benchmarks continue to be set.<br>
As mentioned, I$B!G(Bve started to switch off to a lot of the headlines I<br>
see each day but on Tuesday we saw another significant $B!H(Bworst.$B!I(B The<br>
Yomiuri carried a brief saying that the Nikkei had dropped 162 points<br>
in early trading to 7,117.66. That would be the lowest level since the<br>
bubble burst in the early 1990s. Of course the drop was from far<br>
loftier heights but it was again significant.<br>
<br>
As mentioned in a previous JIN, Nintendo was one of the few companies<br>
that weren$B!G(Bt hit too badly by the economic downturn. People turn to<br>
cheap entertainment in times like these, so movies and games companies<br>
are likely to do well. A while back, the New York Times ran an article<br>
talking about some of the ways that some small operators are going<br>
about making investment within the industry less of a hit-and-miss<br>
affair.<br>
<br>
One New York-based company managed to reduce risk through a variety of<br>
ways including pre-selling its films to foreign distributors, casting<br>
commercially tested actors and taking advantage of state tax<br>
incentives for filming. By doing this the company was able to promise<br>
its investors a risk floor of 70 percent on the chance that none of<br>
the company$B!G(Bs films succeeded. When the article was published, the<br>
company was projecting at least a 15 percent return for investors and<br>
maybe as much as 40 percent.<br>
<br>
It must be stated that the company was a small independent operator<br>
rather than one of the big studios. The structure of film financing<br>
often changes and the industry is notorious for creative budgets and<br>
escape clauses. But, if investors are happy they$B!G(Bll keep investing.<br>
<br>
It$B!G(Bs a somewhat rare position for the entertainment industry to find<br>
itself in. But the numbers Nintendo were putting forward a while back<br>
were hard to argue with when compared with the likes of Toyota and<br>
Nissan. Meanwhile production houses in places like Australia are again<br>
back to the position they were in when movies such as the second Star<br>
Wars trilogy and the Matrix movies were being made at Fox Studios<br>
Sydney due to the weak Aussie dollar.<br>
<br></div></div>So, there are some good stories to be found out there. A couple of them<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
can be found in the latest edition of J@pan Inc. This week the spring<br>
issue of our mag hits the shelves. On the front cover we$B!G(Bre leading<br>
with James Gow and his Internet forex trading company FXOnline. The<br>
company made headlines in the financial press around the world when<br>
87.5 percent of it was sold for 21.9 billion yen to IG Group late last<br>
year. Now Gow, who stayed on as CEO, is ready to launch the company$B!G(Bs<br>
new contract for difference (CFD) platform with the backing of IG. It<br>
could be a big year for FXOnline as it continues its conquest of the<br>
Japanese market. It$B!G(Bs a great story of a company built from the ground<br>
up in a foreign land.<br>
<br>
Another story worth checking out is an analysis of Digimom, a venture<br>
set up by female entrepreneur Norkio Teramoto. Author Dr. Marilyn<br>
Helms from Dalton State University and Dr. Shiho Futagami from<br>
Yokohama National University examine the importance of female<br>
entrepreneurship in the Japanese economy. Digimom was set up by<br>
Teramoto after she was not offered her job again after maternity<br>
leave. It shows how Teramoto and her team used their situations to<br>
their advantage to build a company from scratch with few resources.<br>
It$B!G(Bs a great read and never more timely.<br>
<br>
Of course, there are plenty more great articles and essays to be read<br>
in the new issue, so pick one up from the usual outlets or go to<br>
<a href="http://www.japaninc.com" target="_blank">www.japaninc.com</a>.<br>
<br>
Michael Condon<br>
Editor-in-chief<br>
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<br>
Our Entrepreneur Handbook Seminar is obviously filling a<br>
need in the community right now, as many people look at<br>
their employers and see the writing on the wall. We had a<br>
sell-out audience of 35, and still more people wanting to<br>
attend.<br>
So, we have decided to re-run the seminar this<br>
month for those people unable to make it last month.<br>
The new date will be Saturday March 21.<br>
<br>
Details will be posted on the website shortly, at:<br>
<a href="http://www.japaninc.com/entrepreneur_handbook_seminar" target="_blank">http://www.japaninc.com/entrepreneur_handbook_seminar</a><br>
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