From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Mon Jan 14 23:57:02 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2019 23:57:02 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 975 (New Year's Edition) - Terrie's Predictions for 2019 Message-ID: * * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A weekly roundup of news & information from Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. (http://www.terrielloyd.com) New Year's Edition Monday, Jan 14, 2019, Issue No. 975 - What's New -- Predictions for 2019 - News Credits SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES: http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take, or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ +++ Terrie's Predictions for 2019 Once again, it's time to make jackasses of ourselves by making some predictions for 2019 on events that will influence how we do business in Japan. For 2018 our scorecard was an impressively bad zero-for-five guesses - probably worse than throwing darts blindfolded! In case you forgot, here are our 5 predictions for last year (2018). http://www.japaninc.com/tt928_five-predictions-for-2018 Our 2019 predictions are: 1. Ghosn fundamentally gets off The arrest of Carlos Ghosn, previously the Chairman of Nissan, has focused world attention on two key issues. The first is whether Ghosn in fact did anything illegal, or even intended to do so, and the second is the inquisitional nature of prosecutions in Japan. It appears that the police and prosecution are pinning a successful campaign on some grey zone allegations, and which if successful, will mean that political will rather than pure evidence is all you need to convict someone in Japan. Especially laughable is the prosecutor's attempt to reinterpret the law about the statute of limitations (over a 2008 FX swap). They posit that the clock for the five years (or seven years, depending on who you ask) time limit was suspended each time Ghosn was traveling on business overseas - and thus what is 5 years for a normal person living in Japan would take Ghosn several lifetimes to enjoy the same protection. We also find it curious that the prosecution feels the need to leak random "outrageous" acts by Ghosn as an attempt to sway public opinion, when, if they already had written incontrovertible evidence, why not simple use that instead? Certainly this does not seem to be as straight forward a case as the prosecutors had hoped, and the courts themselves are sensitive to public opinion. The domestic and international outcry over Ghosn's rough treatment in Tokyo has exposed the Japanese legal system for its medieval methods, where you get to hold on to a prisoner for as long as it takes to break them down. Usually they need this time to break someone psychologically when there is an absence of concrete evidence and they need a confession instead. Unfortunately for them, Ghosn is mentally a much tougher customer than the average Taro, and it's conceivable that he could force the prosecutors into an embarrassing back down. The Japanese justice minister, Takashi Yamashita, snapped back at international critics at one point that the criticism was unwarranted and Japan has the right to run it's own legal system. However, while Japan does indeed have the right to be as medieval as it likes, the country still has to trade with the rest of the world to survive, and this is why it has been forced into various internationally-normalized treaties and agreements that privately it would rather not have signed. The Hague Convention on the kidnapping of Japanese-foreign kids by (mostly) their moms is a good example. This case is going to have some significant repercussions that the Abe government doesn't seem to understand. Firstly, far fewer foreign senior executives will now be willing to take on the top job in a Japanese company for fear that they will be deposed in a similar fashion in the future. Christophe Weber of Takeda, who is taking that company on a historic and potentially disastrous M&A of Irish drug maker Shire, must surely be wondering if he should relocate out of Japan, and live/work somewhere with more predictable legal procedures and rules. There will be others thinking the same thing. For example, would any foreigner want to become the next CEO of Nissan, even though the company is still controlled by foreigners? The recent resignation of Jose Munoz suggests "no". As to our headline about Ghosn getting off. We think there is a high chance that he will be found guilty of some grey zone charge, probably showing intent to defraud the company without actually committing that fraud (so, breach of fiduciary duty), and will be given a suspended sentence so that he can leave the country. The main objective of his attackers, both in Nissan and in the political theater, will have been achieved - namely the ruining of his reputation and sending him packing, and a return of control of Nissan into Japanese hands. "They" do still of course need to replace him, and we expect that a Japanese CEO will be brought in to substitute for Saikawa. Purely a guess, but we imagine there will be negotiations going on even now between the French and Japanese governments, revolving around the Japanese substitute CEO as a concession (by Renault) in return for letting Ghosn go as a concession by the Japanese side. Obviously this last point is pure speculation by us, but the scenario would fit the Japanese historical mindset: i) sudden strike to disable the enemy, ii) secure public opinion and thus legitimacy, iii) negotiate with the enemy while holding a hostage, iv) placement of a loyal vassal, and v) business as usual. 2. Trump reverberations for Japan Trump's reality TV style of governing is having a very real impact on the Japanese economy - with fear being the main factor, rather than actual trade retaliation. The fear at the top of every large Japanese manufacturer's mind is just how hard Trump's administration will go after the Chinese. Japan's shift in recent years to tools and high-tech trade to China is very lucrative for the companies involved, and the last thing they need is for the Chinese economy to go into free fall after being hit with punitive tariffs from the USA. The Tankan survey (index of big manufacturers' sentiment about the business environment) dropped month after month in 2018 over such fears, although it has leveled out in the last two months. We predict that if Trump can extricate himself from the Wall and Russia accusations and get back to running the country his way, business confidence will take another turn for the worse. The second point of impact by the Trump administration is that after China, the USA is likely to turn its sights on Japan. Big American auto companies are regular complainers about non-tariff trade barriers, and they have the ear of Pence, whom Trump relies on in part for his own ideas. Whether the auto makers have a real basis for complaint is a somewhat of a moot point, because the Japanese public is losing interest in even buying their own country's cars, but certainly there are many sectors besides autos which are subject to unreasonable red tape and which need to be named and shamed. But of course to do this kind of work, the US government needs more, not less, public sector staff in the international trade department, and with the circus going on in Washington, it's hard to see these hires happening. A third point of impact, which is actually beneficial to the Japanese, is that the increasing isolationist stance of the US is changing international trade and labor flows. For example, in the TPP (now called CPTPP, without the USA) trade alliance, US withdrawal has meant that the partners have dropped many of the more aggressive IP and legal requirements that the Obama government had been pushing for. Likewise, the throttling of H-1B visas for tech companies in California is causing a build up of graduating engineers in India, Bangladesh, and Vietnam, and causing them to be diverted to places like Japan instead. In turn, this has created a boom in Japanese language learning for those engineers, which we cover in #4 below. [Article continues below...] --------- Deal-making Network Kicks Off In Japan ---------- Dean Lindal and Bill Trimble are two of the original founders of the Entrepreneur's Organization (EO), a group of entrepreneurs that has since grown to about 13,000 members worldwide. After involvement in many deals where they have been the primary investors, they realized that there is a need for deal network that helps entrepreneurs and investors meet each other directly. What they came up with is www.dealgateway.com, a trusted, introduction-only, digital marketplace for entrepreneurs and deal makers, and which is based on a secure blockchain platform. For want of a better comparison, it's like an eBay for private financial deals, ranging from capital raisings for venture firms, through to M&A and partnering opportunities across the globe. The kick-off event will be a business breakfast next week. Seats are limited to 35 people. Place: Hotel New Otani, Aries Seminar Room (5th floor, New Otani Garden Court building) Date: Monday, January 21st, 2019, Time: 07:30am ~ 09:00am Charge: Free For more information or to book a seat, contact: yolande at dealgateway.com ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] 3. Consumption tax increase passes, and is non-event The old analogy of increasing the water temperature to boil a frog (a 19th Century experiment since proven false), the Japanese working population seems destined to take small hits of taxation increase, without protest. There have been three tax increases (1989 - 0%->3%, 1997 - 3%->5%, 2014 - 5%->8%) so far, and people have had a generation to get used to the idea that more taxes are necessary if social spending is to continue at the present rate. The 2014 tax increase was dramatic because it was highly publicized and created a pre-tax spending bump that accentuated the downturn in the following year. This scared politicians and of course is one reason why the Abe government put off a planned increase to 10% in 2017. This time around, however, we think the increase will have rather less impact on consumer spending. Firstly because for the first time in years, real wages are ever so slowly starting to go up, and secondly because the demographic slide in Japan has been relentlessly hammered home by the media, and so there would be few people left who would argue against the logic of more funding. The reality, though, is that the increase to 10% will not completely offset the impact of aged nursing and other social costs, and so our prediction is that a special study group, to be enjoined shortly after by the politicians, will start to point to sales tax levels overseas and call for additional increases here at home. While this logic may or may not be accepted, the government will first have to reduce corporate tax rates significantly, or otherwise risk putting an increasing number of corporations out of business. We think within this year, the government will also start floating trial balloons to increase the retirement age, perhaps by offering people who defer their pensions some special tax incentives so as to stay on the job. 4. Immigration policy loosens further The legislation covering Japan's new blue collar work visas was passed in the Diet last year and now the relevant ministries are adding the language and rules that they want to see the visas operate under. 14 industries are considered to be under threat from lack of manpower, ranging from farming to hospitality, and sources say that around 40,000 people will be accepted by the end of this year, with around 500,000 by 2025. On the face of it these new visas seem like a big departure from the past (i.e., allowing blue collar workers to get work visas and not just pseudo-slave-like trainee visas), and you'd be forgiven for thinking that we're seeing the very start of a reluctant opening of Japan's immigration doors. However, our take is that the immigration doors have been open for quite a while, and these blue collar visas are in fact just a natural progression of the "Immigration by stealth" program that the Abe government has been practicing for the last 8 years through its issuance of hundreds of thousands of student and language-learning visas. In this light, the blue collar visas are in fact part of a longer-term loosening trend, and we only see this continuing and gathering momentum as the general populace gets used to having foreign young people serve them in convenience stores, drive cabs, and pull weeds. As Yoshio Kimura, the chairman of the LDP's own committee on foreign workers, said, the actual number of foreign laborers needed is actually about double the current number approved. We think that 2019 represents the first year of a public multi-year program by the LDP to change voter attitudes to immigration, and slowly increase the numbers into the millions. As mentioned above, one of the interesting side benefits of immigration loosening up is the sudden increase in interest for people to learn Japanese. We are seeing this trend take place in all the target recruiting countries, where those doing the worker recruiting are also running schools, providing life support (phones, rental deposit loans, etc.) and other services, to take advantage of the new gold rush. 5. Resurgence in bankruptcies In November last year 718 companies went bankrupt, a slight drop on the 730 companies in October, but still above the average 690 companies going under monthly last year. Of course each of these 8,300 companies annually represents just the tip of an iceberg of about 350,000 zombie companies nationwide (our estimate). The last peak for bankruptcies in Japan was the dot.com bust in 2000~2001, when roughly 1,800 companies a month were imploding, followed by the Lehman Shock, when about 1,500 a month were going under. BTW, a zombie company is a business that can only just (or in Japan, often not at all) service its loans but not repay the principal. While the current economic conditions are certainly not as severe as the Lehman Shock, we find it strange that Japan's bankruptcy levels are at a 10-year low, when we know from real-life business interactions that there are plenty of companies out there who are struggling to survive - some because of technology changes (such as the printing industry), some because of international competition (smaller manufacturers), and some because of changing demographics (such as English teaching). How are they surviving? We believe it's mostly the soft stance that banks and their servicers are taking due to ongoing government pressure to protect such firms. This "sweep them under the rug" debt-hiding strategy started with the loan repayment moratorium in 2009 by the then-banking minister Shizuka Kamei. The government has since continued the protection of this massive garbage dump of companies by threatening special FSA "attention" for banks who don't cooperate. And why are the zombie companies are being spared? Probably because no one at senior levels (in government) wants to spoil the Abe recovery message, and thus the fiction of corporate sector health continues on for 2019. ...The information janitors/ ***------------------------****-------------------------*** *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 6,062 members as of January 14, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Mon Jan 21 15:59:18 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2019 15:59:18 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 976 (Tourism Edition) - The Type of MICE Tourism Japan Really Doesn't Need Message-ID: * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S (TOURISM) TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A bi-weekly focused look at the tourism sector in Japan, by Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. (http://www.terrielloyd.com) Tourism Sector Edition Sunday, Jan 20, 2019, Issue No. 976 SUBSCRIBE to, UNSUBSCRIBE from Terrie's Take at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie +++ The Type of MICE Tourism Japan Really Doesn't Need The Mainichi newspaper doesn't have a lot of foreign readers, and that shows in its sparse selection of foreign-language news. But every now and again a pearl pops up. This week it was an editorial about predatory academic journals and their related (also predatory) international conferences, and how they are mushrooming here in Japan. What is a predatory journal or conference? Basically it's an academically or professionally focused event or publication that pretends to have the same rigor and controls as mainstream operators, but in fact is really just set up to make money and which ignores basic ethics, support, curation, and investment put in by reputable businesses. http://bit.ly/2CyyFyl [Good primer on how to spot a fake conference.] This article rang a bell for me at several different levels. Firstly, I recall a good 15 years ago a company out of Singapore who I shall call "MX" (because they may have excitable lawyers), which held what appeared to be legitimate high-end (semi-academic) technology conferences, but which, after you dived under the hood, was less about quality and more about money generation. Now they may have cleaned up their act in the intervening years, because I see that they are still in business, but my experience back then was that the programs were left to the last minute while the sales staff ran around aggressively pushing for sponsors and paid signups. Then, if those were sufficient, there was a sudden burst of last-minute activity to create the actual event. Their events were usually pre-publicized with high-profile speakers from overseas, talking about advanced subjects that were popular at the time. While some of these appointments turned out to be real, more often than not the advertised presenters would get replaced or crowded out by local speakers (often paying to speak) from various Japanese technology firms and who were presenting what essentially amounted to an advertisement for their product(s). Needless to say, the audience were not impressed, and following the first few conferences I started hearing more and more people wonder if MX was a scam or not. I guess the word got around that the conferences were low-grade, because they're down to 8 events a year now - with only one in IT. The predatory sector exists because as an academic, getting your papers into high-grade journals, and presentations into credible conferences, is a major challenge. Generally the mainstream journal publishers are extremely picky about the quality of research, the submitting academics' existing credentials, and the attractiveness of the presentation so as to ensure maximum audience attention. From a commercial perspective this is fair enough, but it also means that unless you're one of the top 5%, you're left out in the cold. And this is a huge problem for academics in countries whose tenure systems reward those who are published and who have presented at major international conferences. Which brings us to Japan and the second "bell ring" from the Mainichi article. Currently there are many Japanese researchers working on projects that are either unscientific and outliers, or which are in areas of low-to-no international interest, or which are mired in decade's-long pure research that may never have a pay-off. This is not a peculiarity of Japanese universities, but it seems to me that Japan has more than its fair share of low-performing (but perhaps hard-working) academics who want to hide out in their lab for years and avoid public scrutiny. Unfortunately for them, the Abe government is peeling back the protective layers and the pressure is on. So, the ability to pay out a slab of your grant money to get your name in headlights even at an ersatz international conference, without having to have had a scientific breakthrough, sounds like a career-saver. And this exactly the type of customer that the predatory journals and conferences target. [Continued below...] -------- JapanTravel Local: Shiga Kogen Snow Trip --------- Join us for a fun weekend of skiing, snowboarding, relaxing and sightseeing at the end of January in Shiga Kogen! Japan Travel takes you to one of the largest ski resorts in Japan, which is also home to the famous snow monkeys who enjoy soaking in the hot springs. Do not miss out on this great winter trip - especially while we have our early bird discount going on till Dec 20th! Just key in 'earlybird' at checkout to enjoy a 2,000 yen. Sign up at: http://bit.ly/2Ci1uA5 [Link goes to Japan Travel web site.] ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] As to who actually runs such conferences, it seems that most roads lead to one man: Srinubabu Gedela. Mr. Gedala apparently owns a plethora of companies in India, but two which come up repeatedly are OMICS, his main publishing arm, and ConferenceSeries, his conference arm. Gedala operates on a massive scale and according to his website the firms run more than 3,000 events and conferences around the globe. Here in Japan, ConferenceSeries lists 155 professional and academic conferences for 2019, which is far more than any other single player. OMICS and Gedela's related companies were subject to a law suit in the USA in August, 2016, as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) identified the business practices of the group as unethical and at times an outright scam. The FTC complaint stated that the defendants had been, "...deceiving academics and researchers about the nature of its publications and hiding publication fees ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars." And further, "OMICS regularly advertises conferences featuring academic experts who were never scheduled to appear, in order to attract registrants". Just over a year later, in October 2017, the FTC won an injunction against OMICS and group companies, and in 2018 sought damages of US$50m from the company, which is the amount that the FTC estimated OMICS and its related firms took in during the complaint period. That's big money for a fake conference company. http://bit.ly/2T2CJh9 [FTC's Summary Judgement motion against OMIC and Co.] So what's the tie-in to tourism here? Well, just as there is a clear market need by under-achieving Japanese academics and their universities for a public forum, there is also an equally pressing need by regional governments who are trying to move their tourism sector towards MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions). MICE can mean big money flows for the local hotels, dining and entertainment, and convention facilities sectors. One well-attended conference of 500-1,500 participants can run 3 days, with attendees typically arriving two days early to overcome jet lag, and leaving a day later to see a bit of that part of Japan. The attendees generally stay in the vicinity, which means significant expenditure on outside meetings, drinks, food, gifts, clothing, and all the other services that temporarily lonely academics may need. The problem for most would-be MICE host cities is that not many groups actually want to go to Japan, let alone to a particular corner of Japan. Among foreign multinationals that typically do MICE, Japan is still perceived as too expensive and as having a limited choice of facilities. Much easier instead to hold your large events in Bangkok or Singapore, which have great facilities at significantly cheaper rates, and which are also generally cheaper to get to. So when a company like OMICS/ConferenceSeries comes along and offers to bring hundreds if not thousands of high-spending academics to its 155 conferences, heads are turned and local MICE authorities excitedly offer attractive terms to get that business. Although I don't know of any specific examples, I would not be surprised if one of the incentives was collaboration with a local university, to increase credibility for the event. For a normal conference this would not be problematic, but if the promoters behind the conference have low integrity and don't care about the content of that conference, that type of MICE tourism will quickly get Japan a bad name and further impact efforts to feed the MICE sector. Another unwanted effect of predatory conferences is that if they can't draw top people from developed countries, the flow starts to come from more vulnerable populations - attracted by junkets or low-barrier-to-entry forums that promise a spotlight but in reality do nothing more than relieve hopeful attendees of their money. And once here, such audience members are less likely to have the budget and inclination to contribute to the local economy - so both sides lose. Japan shouldn't be holding fake conferences that are obviously luring developing country academics - it's shameful, deceptive, and predatory. I think that the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) should get together with the Education Ministry, and issue some guidelines on what is acceptable as an academic or professional conference held on Japanese soil. Convention companies should be required to undergo a rigorous licensing regime similar to travel agents, and for those that fail or who have had successful legal actions taken against them overseas - well they should be blacklisted. At the same time, the education ministry needs to set some guidelines about what types of conferences and journals will earn academics their career "points" (e.g., Continuing Medical Education - CME - credits for the medical industry) and what to avoid. They also need to run some fraud awareness classes for each college to replicate and expose their academic staff to. And if you run a travel, events, or marketing business, no doubt you have already been approached by, or will soon be approached by the OMICS group or someone like them. We had a period about six months ago where we continually got contacted by various firms (always the same MO) who wanted to "collaborate" with us - usually with us offering services, support, and sales. When we first heard the pitch - hundreds of booking customers in one go - we were excited, but then I recalled the MX company and started doing some digging. It pays to stay vigilent and remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Here is a non-exhaustive list of companies related to Srinubabu Gedala, put together by Brisbane journalist Graham Readfern: * OMICS Group ? named in the FTC case * OMICS Publishing Group ? named in FTC case * Conference Series LLC ? named in the FTC case * iMED Publications ? named in the FTC case * EuroSciCon Ltd ? conference organizer registered at UK?s Companies House by Srinubabu Gedela * Allied Academies ? conference organizer and journal publisher registered at UK?s Companies House by Srinubabu Gedela * Trade Science Inc ? journal publisher, shares contact address with OMICS Publishing * Meetings International ? science and technology conferences with a web domain registered to Srinubabu Gedela http://bit.ly/2W736o1 [Link to Mr. Readfern's list.] ...The information janitors/ *********************************************************** ---- Mint condition Herman Miller SAYL Chairs for sale ---- Local (Tokyo) entrepreneur moving office has 5-6 as-new Herman Miller SAYL chairs for sale. Beautiful design and easy on the back. Black color. Priced at JPY35,000/chair + delivery. Available immediately. https://www.kagg.jp/office-chairs/hermanmiller/12940/76148 [Herman Miller page for this model] For more information, contact: roland.biegler at gmail.com ----------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 6,072 members as of Jan 20, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Mon Jan 28 20:52:18 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2019 20:52:18 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 977 - Transgender Work-arounds in Japan, e-biz news from Japan Message-ID: * * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A weekly roundup of news & information from Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. (http://www.terrielloyd.com) General Edition Monday, Jan 28, 2019, Issue No. 977 - What's New -- Transgender Work-arounds in Japan - News -- Controversial stem-cell treatment for spinal-cord injury approved - Corrections/Feedback - Travel Picks -- Live squid in Hakodate, ginseng in Shimane - News Credits SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES: http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take, or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ +++ Transgender Work-arounds in Japan Last week the Supreme Court (of Japan) upheld a law that requires transgender people to undergo surgery to remove their biological organs if they want to be recognized by the state as the gender that they identify with. The ruling came after a challenge from one very gutsy transgender Japanese named Takakito Usui, a transgender man who had fought the legal system all the way up to the top court. He was challenging a 2004 law that states that those wanting transgender recognition to have a body that, "...appears to have parts that resemble the genital organs," of the gender they want to have registered. For Usui, this means the removal of his ovaries, fallopian tubes, and uterus - a major operation that is otherwise medically totally unnecessary. Actually, if we were to read this section of the law literally, it would also mean that a person moving from female to male would have to have a fake front-end as well - since the "parts" apparently need to be visible. Or perhaps they can get by wearing a prosthesis every day... Gender changing surgery from male to female has been around for a while and these days you can even get donor uteruses. Such operations apparently do not have a high success rate and are said to be extremely painful during recovery. But at least they are possible. On the other hand, going from female to male, there is as yet no surgery available that reasonably replicates the male reproductive organs. OK, sure there is the fake roll-some-flesh surgery that's been around for years, where you have to use an implanted air pump, but frankly the complications of such amateurish efforts probably outweigh the benefits. Tissue rejection, lack of functionality, scarring, infection... the long list of negatives all add up to why Usui and many others object to being forced to have surgery. Why? It's not as if anyone else can see the parts in question under normal circumstances. And even at an onsen he could wear a prosthesis. So in effect the law is saying, "until there is effective surgery, you either have to lose your reproductive organs or wait until female-male transplant techniques become available." Yeah, right, and this could take a generation of doctors to achieve - so the judiciary is really just kicking the can down the road. Usui's suit claimed that the 2004 law is unconstitutional because it violates the right to individual self-determination. In response the four justices in their myopic (out of touch) wisdom countered that the law is indeed constitutional because it "reduces confusion in families and society," a typical BS fall-back the judiciary here uses when they know perfectly well that the complainant's case is both logical and compelling - but the court wants to protect the status quo. Actually, this is one of the reasons why in Japan you never know how a law suit is going to go, because the justices can make it up as they go along. [Article continues below...] ------ German-speaking Travel Consultant Internship ------- Japan Travel KK (www.japantravel.com) is experiencing strong growth of its German desk for inbound travelers to Japan, and we are looking for a German-English speaking intern to join the team, with a view of transitioning to a full-time position and work visa in Japan. The internship will be for a minimum 3 months and a maximum of 6 months, after which there will be a management and peer review. You can be either a student who needs to do an internship to meet academic course requirements, or you can be a person in the workforce thinking to reset your life and location. Apart from German you should be able to speak basic English and/or Japanese (either is OK). The type of work you'll be doing is assisting German customers wanting to plan trips to Japan. This would include the following: * Responding to incoming leads and conversing (usually email/chat) with customers * Researching accommodation, transport, activities, diet preferences/availability, entertainment, guides, and other things that travelers require * Using our quotation and itinerary systems to produce the customer materials * Interacting with customers and consulting them on choices and areas of concern * Translation of content about destinations * Writing original content (articles) about destinations and activities * Assisting us with German social media For more details: jerome.lee at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] For Usui and other Japanese transgender individuals, the ruling wasn't all bad, though, because at least the chief justice did note that societal values are changing and, "...doubts are undeniably emerging." Which "doubts" he was referring to wasn't clear, but we presume it's that society now doubts the doctrine that transgender people are not normal and instead are sick, and thus subject to interventional "correction". It is a feature of Japanese societal control, through the courts, the police and prisons, the education system, and the government, that everyone is equal and for the benefit of society we should all try to be the same. No nails sticking up - they are inconvenient, disruptive, and "confusing". But if you are going to be a nail and be noticeable, then you'd better have a good Plan B to deal with your differences. As with everything in pragmatic Japan, such work-arounds do indeed exist - using either by being declared officially sick or being part of a religion that requires you to be different as part of its doctrine. The concept of transgenderism as a sickness is a holdover from the 1970's when the World Health Organization was pressed to recognize gender identity as a disorder. While this may sound like a bad idea and one that reinforces the idea that being LGBT is a mental problem and deviant behavior (which back then was the point of labeling such people), in fact in Japan the concept of "transgender = being sick" has been helpful. It has meant that: a) the Japanese medical fraternity have been compelled to follow international practice and thus Gender Identity Disorder (GID) has become a medical condition which gives access to state-subsidized drugs (hormones) and surgery, and b) you can now go to the doctor to get a note giving GID as a reason why you should be able to avoid certain activities in order to lead a normal life. For example, in the following article by Buzzfeed, a transgender girl at a Japanese public school was forced to do physical exercise with the boys, at the same level as boys. Having a GID disorder allowed that girl to circumvent the school's own very narrow rule book and be excepted from the workouts and peer group embarrassment. Now, as the Buzzfeed story notes, the rest of the developed world has already moved on from the idea of GID being a sickness, but the article posits that transgender people here want to maintain current status quo because they are worried that it will become more difficult for them to lead a normal life if the illness classification changes or disappears. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lesterfeder/transgender-in-japan [Buzzfeed article] That brings us to another possible solution for transgender people, which is to possibly use religion as an argument for being different. We have practical experience of this in our family. When our kids attended Japanese schools (we didn't subject them to this for very long - maybe 18 months), they were forced to eat whale meat in the school bentos. They came home complaining that when they didn't eat the whale rashers they were scolded by the teachers. A call by the wife to the school about kids having a cultural background that respected whales as intelligent beings didn't get any traction at all. Then she had a great idea of telling the school principal that the kids had a religion that forbids the consumption of whale meat. Well, this was the magic bullet that trumped the school's "everyone is treated the same" syndrome. No more whale meat! So it would seem to us that maybe Usui might want to start a religion that holds as a central tenet the sanctity of one's body even though you may switch genders. It would be a creative and interesting way to challenge the courts, and in particular would threaten the millions of others who are in religion for tax reasons and who would hate to see a court move against any religion which could threaten their own freedom and independence. However, perhaps another less tiring route for Usui and other transgender Japanese is to simply leave Japan and find a country that is much more accommodating - such as Australia or New Zealand. In fact in New Zealand, Gender Dysphoria - a term that replaced GID about 5 years ago and which emphasizes that the condition is NOT a mental illness - is actively supported by government institutions, ranging from subsidized (nearly free) hormones and surgeries, to a passport which is gender based on your own preference. Indeed, the government's web page on transgender care says right at the top, "Social stigmatisation and discrimination, including within the health care system, is a barrier to accessing health services and contributes to adverse outcomes. Transgender people have the right to respectful health care." https://www.health.govt.nz/your-health/healthy-living/transgender-new-zealanders/health-care-transgender-new-zealanders [NZ government transgender health care page.] https://www.finder.com.au/sex-reassignment-surgery [Australia's Medicare availability] We can only wish that the Japanese authorities will some day have the same open mindedness in supporting those who walk a different path in this society. ...The information janitors/ ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ NEWS - How big is anime in Japan? Try JPY2trn...! - Big mascot trouble in Susaki, Kochi - Controversial stem-cell treatment for spinal-cord injury approved - Cherry blossoms early again this year - Uber launches next city - Osaka => How big is anime in Japan? Try JPY2trn...! The Association of Japanese Animations (AJA) has published its latest report on the domestic animation industry and has stated that the sector topped JPY2trn in sales for the first time ever. The actual revenue amount was JPY2.1527trn (roughly US$20bn) and marks the fifth straight year of revenue increases. This represents an increase of 8% in the last two years, with the greatest sales jump happening in exports to foreign consumers. In fact, without the foreign market boom, the sector probably would have contracted, due to movie sales being down 38.3%. ***Ed: Search Google with the single word "Japan" and you'll get some idea just how dominant the anime business is.** (Source: TT commentary from asahi.com, Jan 26, 2019) http://bit.ly/2sPtYvy => Big mascot trouble in Susaki, Kochi In a rather light-hearted news item last week, the New York Times reported on a dispute going on at the Kochi Prefecture city of Susaki. Apparently the city, like almost every other city in Japan, has contracted with a local creative agency to develop a mascot character (the type with a human inside). Their's is called Shinjokun, modeled on a now-extinct local otter. Unfortunately for the municipal council, the creative agency developed an unauthorized second character, also an otter, called Chiitan. This second character seems to have a deviant personality, and has gone viral performing anti-social and physically dangerous acts - something completely out of character for a mascot that is supposed to entertain little kids. It seems that Chiitan's creators had good intentions, wanting to have the character go viral - which it did, but the stunt with the grass cutter and the air post bashing was just too much for the grandees on the council. So Chiitan has been fired. ***Ed: Watch the last video clip of the article, which shows Chittan losing it with an air-filled post and a baseball bat. Nasty.** (Source: TT commentary from nytimes.com, Jan 22, 2019) https://nyti.ms/2DCPTfO => Controversial stem-cell treatment for spinal-cord injury approved The Japanese ministry of health has given the green light to neurosurgeons in Hokkaido to treat patients with severe spinal cord injuries with stem cells to regenerate the affected areas. The approval is being hailed as a huge step forward by Japanese scientists but specialists overseas are expressing concern that the Japanese have fast-tracked the treatment and should be doing a proper controlled double blind study to prove whether the treatment really does work as claimed. In particular, foreign specialists are pointing to the fact that similar treatments overseas were not effective and in fact caused complications in the lungs (even though the work site is the spine). ***Ed: This is a good article and points to the fact that either the Japanese are on to a huge breakthrough, or that they are taking huge risks that will backfire as patients suffer complications. The new treatment is called Stemirac.** (Source: TT commentary from nature.com, Jan 24, 2019) https://go.nature.com/2CPUSrF => Cherry blossoms early again this year Pity the poor foreign tourist trying to gauge when the best time to visit Japan and catch its ephemeral cherry blossom season is. As in 2018, it looks like the blossoms will about a week early. The first blooms of Japan's distinctive Somei-Yoshino trees will be in Kochi, which benefits from the warm waters of the Kuroshio current, somewhere around March 18. Blooms are expected in Tokyo and Nagoya around March 22nd, and in Kyoto around March 25. Hokkaido will feature the last blooms, in the first week of May. (Source: TT commentary from japantimes.co.jp, Jan 15, 2019) http://bit.ly/2Un7bmC => Uber launches next city - Osaka It seems that Uber has figured out a legitimate business model for its ride-hailing business in Japan. After being shut out of the market early on by Japanese authorities, the company has now started creating partnerships with smaller cab firms who are being steam rollered by Japan's largest taxi operator, Nihon Kotsu. In fact, Nihon Kotsu's JapanTaxi operation has been growing by leaps and bounds after partnerships with domestic heavyweights (including DeNA and DoCoMo) all over the country, and it now boasts a fleet of 70,000 vehicles. This has their smaller competitors running scared and is driving those firms into Uber's arms. The latest city to feature an Uber partner is Osaka, and according to Uber Japan's general manager, Tokyo will launch by the end of this year. (Source: TT commentary from asia.nikkei.com, Jan 24, 2019) https://s.nikkei.com/2G1QetT NOTE: Broken links Some online news sources remove their articles after just a few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we apologize for the inconvenience. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ UPCOMING EVENTS No upcoming events this week. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** --------- Japan Travel Corporate Travel Services ---------- Japan Travel's Type-2 licensed travel agency business is one Japan's few independent foreign-owned inbound DMCs. One of our specialties is looking after corporate groups of 10-300 people. To date we have assisted in the successful holding of training events, incentive travel, conferences, off-sites, and team bonding programs. We have looked after the full gamut of services, such as: international air travel, hotels, local travel, event logistics and venues, entertainment, micro-management of dietary needs, and special needs customers. We are highly motivated and are happy to work in a variety of roles tailored to suit your needs: as a full-fledged corporate travel agency partner, as a logistics partner for a particular issue, or as a source of innovative experiences and venues. Looking after hard-to-please high-tech groups is our specialty! For corporate travel assistance, contact us at: tours at japantravel.com. Or visit our pages at: http://japantravel.co.jp/en/about/travel-agency/ ----------------------------------------------------------- ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ CORRECTIONS/FEEDBACK => No corrections or feedback this week. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ TRAVEL DESTINATIONS PICKS => Hakodate Fish Market, The little squid that could - Hokkaido If the thought of eating a still "alive" squid makes you squirm, there are other ways to get close to the freshest seafood this side of Toyosu. In the middle of this compact yet diverse collection of market stalls there is a small oval aquarium, a large blue tank with see-through windows, where you can see squid swim in a circular motion - a bit like a kindergarten racetrack where none of the "racehorses" will do as they are told. What happens next is a tragi-comedy. The class clown in your group, or just someone who pulled the shortest straw, is given a simplified fishing rod with a small bit of bait. His or her job is to catch one of the few squid are swimming around. There are not that many squid, so you just have to be patient. It isn?t an impossible task, but one that takes long enough to build up a bit of drama. Remember, Hokkaido is a place where people, and possibly squid, slow down. They didn?t even have bullet trains here until March 2016. http://bit.ly/2Mxl7HM => Meet the Locals on the Volcanic Daikonjima, Shimane-ken ?Daikonjima? means radish island. Early farmers in the area chose the name deliberately to discourage outsiders from visiting the island and trying to steal its Korean ginseng crop. The black volcanic soil of the island is rich in nutrients and is perfect for growing ginseng as well as other valuable crops. Daikonjima Island is located in the middle of Lake Nakaumi in the eastern part of Shimane prefecture. It was formed by lava flows from Otsukayama shield volcano around 200,000 years ago. Farming on the island didn't begin until about the Edo-period. The ginseng produced by Daikonjima is among the highest quality in the world and is exported at a premium. The major drawback of ginseng is that it requires 5 or more years before it can be harvested. In order to generate income in the interim period, Daikonjima?s farmers grow and sell peony flowers and other fruits and vegetables, and take advantage of the fresh fish Lake Nakaumi offers up. http://bit.ly/2B6rb5L ***------------------------****-------------------------*** *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 6,068 members as of January 28, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Mon Feb 4 19:50:28 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2019 19:50:28 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 978 (Tourism Edition) - Japan's Departure Tax - The Perfect, Stealth Grab for Half a Billion Dollars Message-ID: * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S (TOURISM) TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A bi-weekly focused look at the tourism sector in Japan, by Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. ( http://www.terrielloyd.com) Tourism Sector Edition Sunday, Feb 03, 2019, Issue No. 978 SUBSCRIBE to, UNSUBSCRIBE from Terrie's Take at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie +++ Japan's Departure Tax - The Perfect, Stealth Grab for Half a Billion Dollars >From Monday January 7th, Japan introduced its first new tax in 28 years (the last one being a land value tax in 1992), which is a traveler departure tax of JPY1,000 per passenger aged two or older and who is not in the armed forces, government, or other exempt category. The new tax will apply to about 50m people annually, being approximately 17m Japanese heading overseas for business and pleasure, oh, and of course not forgetting the 32m (estimated) foreigners who will be traveling to Japan this year. As far as taxes go, this one has attracted very little criticism or commentary, probably because for the average voting Japanese, overseas trips are synonymous with luxury lifestyles and so who could complain about an extra thousand yen tagged on to a trip that will probably cost hundreds of thousands more? There is also the fact that many other developed countries already charge departure taxes, including Australia, whose Passenger Movement Charge (PMC) of AU$55 is one of the highest in the world, and the UK's Air Passenger Duty (APD), which is probably the second highest, coming in at 13 pounds per economy class passenger and 26 pounds for other classes. Both Australia and the UK introduced their taxes nominally to "improve" customs and immigration processing for visiting tourists, but as personal experience will vouch, it is really just another way of scalping tourists who are not in a position to fight back politically (although they can stay away - more below on this). So it seems that Japan is simply borrowing international precedents to establish its own little tax pin prick, and it's likely that just as with the other two destinations mentioned, the tax will continue to tick upwards from here. Indeed, in the UK, the original traveler tax started out at 5 pounds and is now almost triple that. The most disturbing thing about Japan's new travel tax, though, is the extraordinary opaqueness of what the tax will be used for. Estimates are that the new tax will net about JPY50bn in new income for the government, and the powers that be have mumbled that they will apply that cash for "smoother travel services, improving information services, and facial recognition gates at air and seaports". OK... so are we saying that we need about US$500 million PER year for electronic gates, free WiFi, and electronic payment systems? I've used the "automatic" immigration gates that are already there - and as a registered user I can tell you that they are almost useless. They do nothing other than automate the taking of photo and finger prints, after which you still have to talk to an bored official who then re-checks your paperwork. Indeed, for the paper-obsessed Japanese, it is hard to imagine the bureaucracy trusting AI and facial recognition to process a foreigner leaving the country. [Continued below...] ---------- Japan Rugby Accommodation Challenges? ---------- If you're like us, you probably left it to the last minute to get your Rugby World Cup tickets. And now you have them, your next challenge is going to be finding somewhere to stay both for the games, and in between as well. Yep, because in its efforts to spread the goodwill around, the Japanese rugby folks assigned the preliminary round matches to some very, very small towns, all around the country. As other ticket holders are now discovering, finding somewhere to kip down is hard. That's where Japan Travel comes in. We're one of Japan's few foreign-owned Type-2 licensed travel agencies, and our specialty is finding solutions to your problems. Need somewhere to stay near Oita or Kamaishi? Why not avoid the crowd and simply rent a car-and-support package through us, allowing you to pick any one of a number of other towns in the area to stay in. Or, if you want to be close to the action, what about renting a motor home or even a tent, and having local food catered in?! We can offer you a multitude of options and make your stay in Japan a memorable one. Just tell us your challenge and your budget range. For rugby travel assistance, contact us at: tours at japantravel.com. Or visit our pages at: http://japantravel.co.jp/en/about/travel-agency/ ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] The reality is that this is a tax on people who can't complain about it because 70% of them are not citizens or tax payers, and those who are, well they are in the minority being rich enough to travel overseas - so they're likely to want to stay quiet. This has meant that the politicians have made no effort at all to justify the tax grab. Hmmm, so just where is the money really going? It seems that each new media report has a different shopping list. Some are talking about town infrastructure, like the WiFi I mentioned previously, while others seem to be talking about IT systems and further encroachment by government on business services that ideally should stay in the private sector. When I'm out in the regions, I'm hearing murmurs of a desire for local tourism entities to tap in to those funds for marketing and websites. And no doubt there will also be some for NPOs that support volunteer guides and translators. Oh, and what about more electronic notice boards and surveillance cameras? You can never have too many of those - especially when Japanese electronics manufacturers can't find anyone else to buy their overpriced stuff anyway... With JPY50bn every year - or perhaps JPY100bn by the time the government has jacked up the fees several times - it seems to me that there is going to be a big chunk left over with no one to claim it. That means we're in for some serious partying and overpriced projects by the old boys in the tourism sector and very little of practical use to tourists themselves. So what else is new? Petrol taxes and motorway tolls around the country have long exceeded the cost of running the country's infrastructure, and yet no one seems to care enough about it to create a fuss. Instead, people have slowly just stopped using cars, and the amakudari guys have gotten fat on entertainment expenses. Which leads us to the second big question - whether departure taxes are a risk-free revenue source or whether they will actually damage the inbound travel business? A study done last October (2018) by the Austrian Institute of Economic Research and the University of Iceland found that after Germany and Austria introduced a departure tax in 2011, the number of passengers fell by 9% in the year of introduction and 5% a year thereafter. Most affected were the Low Cost Carrier (LCC) airlines and the airports that served them. Likewise, a separate study also done in 2018 found that a Norwegian departure tax of NOK80 introduced in 2016 caused the Irish LCC Ryanair to stop using a local airport in Oslo, Rygge, and because of the loss of business the airport subsequently had to close to civil aviation operations...! Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. I can think of a number of secondary airports in Japan that might suffer a similar fate - such as the Ibaraki airport, currently a base for China's Spring Airlines. Likewise Takamatsu, Matsuyama, Kumamoto, and probably 20 others. Separately the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has calculated that if Australia abolished its PMC fees, tourism would increase by around AU$1.7bn, almost 6 times more than the current AU$485m the tax brings in. It would be interesting if IATA did a similar study for Japan. http://bit.ly/2RztuDz [Study on German, Austrian travel fall-off after Departure Tax was introduced.] ...The information janitors/ *********************************************************** --------- Japan Travel Corporate Travel Services ---------- Japan Travel's Type-2 licensed travel agency business is one Japan's few independent foreign-owned inbound DMCs. One of our specialties is looking after corporate groups of 10-300 people. To date we have assisted in the successful holding of training events, incentive travel, conferences, off-sites, and team bonding programs. We have looked after the full gamut of services, such as: international air travel, hotels, local travel, event logistics and venues, entertainment, micro-management of dietary needs, and special needs customers. We are highly motivated and are happy to work in a variety of roles tailored to suit your needs: as a full-fledged corporate travel agency partner, as a logistics partner for a particular issue, or as a source of innovative experiences and venues. Looking after hard-to-please high-tech groups is our specialty! For corporate travel assistance, contact us at: tours at japantravel.com. Or visit our pages at: http://japantravel.co.jp/en/about/travel-agency/ ----------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 6,072 members as of Feb 03, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Mon Feb 11 21:24:39 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2019 21:24:39 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 979 - Toyota - Late to the Party and Making Up for Lost Time, e-Biz News from Japan Message-ID: * * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A weekly roundup of news & information from Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. (http://www.terrielloyd.com) General Edition Monday, Feb 11, 2019, Issue No. 979 - What's New -- Toyota - Late to the Party and Making Up for Lost Time - News -- 10-day golden week could cause financial chaos - Corrections/Feedback - Travel Picks -- Farm Stays in Ishikawa, Pottery in Shizuoka - News Credits SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES: http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take, or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ +++ Toyota - Late to the Party and Making Up for Lost Time Last week Toyota made the latest in a string of press announcements that show how seriously the company is taking multiple threats to its current top-3 position in the global auto market. It announced that one of its subsidiaries had set itself the goal of developing a "supercomputer-on-wheels" self-driving vehicle ready to demonstrate at the Tokyo Olympics one year from now. The subsidiary company, called "Toyota Research Institute Advanced Development" (TRI-AD), already has 500 employees and a cash pile of JPY300bn invested by Toyota itself and two large suppliers - Aisin Seiki and Denso. TRI-AD expects to have over 1,000 employees by the end of the year. Experimenting with autonomous cars is nothing new for Toyota - the company has messed around with a variety of strategies for over 10 years, ever since it became interested in Tesla in the late 2000s. However, despite coming up with a number of experimental models revolving around the Lexus range of sedans, the company couldn't break its addiction for its current complex internal combustion engine business model. It also underestimated the momentum of the market accelerating towards electrics, and some powerful emerging car user paradigms (self-driving vehicles, car sharing, and subscription ridership). It's been interesting to watch Toyota wrestle with the massive changes coming through. Initially they tried to partner with the new kid on the block, Tesla, then they tried to create a new business model that would give them infrastructure/size leverage over their scrappy competitors (Hydrogen electrics), but in the end they have been forced to re-center to the obvious consumer preference for straight-forward electrics with advanced software - as epitomized by Tesla. And so it is that with TRI-AD and it's Highway Teammate self-driving project, along with a battery tie-up with Panasonic in January, Toyota appears to have realized that it either needs to be out in front or else watch its current manufacturing advantages quickly drain away. The company has moved fast, applying a mountain of cash to buy out or build the components it thinks it needs to compete. Apart from the billions for TRI-Ad, in 2018 alone Toyota also invested billions in Getaround (co-invested with Softbank in US$300m round), Metawave (US$10m), Uber (US$500m), Japan Taxi (co-invested with Mirai Fund for US$60m), Grab (US$1bn), and a number of other firms. The appeal of autonomous vehicles is easy to understand. Commercial and delivery operators are salivating at the idea of vehicles that don't have human drivers and which can be run 24 hours a day. All over the developed world, the aging and thinning of the blue collar workforce is giving rise to significant wages pressure on delivery companies and an inability to keep up with the online shopping revolution (who will deliver those millions of smiley face boxes at low cost?). Nowhere is this challenge more pronounced than here in Japan. Amazon may be convenient for city dwellers, but it's hell for e-commerce delivery companies, and this (volume and low prices) is why Yamato "fired" Amazon as a customer a couple of years ago. Then of course there is the appeal of car sharing, ride sharing, and ride subscriptions - where you no longer need a car parked in the garage but instead can dial one up. Yes, you may have to wait 30 minutes for a vacant vehicle so it won't be as convenient as going to your garage or parking lot, but if it costs just a fraction of having your own vehicle, and means safer rides, AND it comes to you, this is going to be a huge game changer. Which of course is exactly the value proposition of driverless cars being developed by Uber and Waymo. [Article continues below...] ------ Inbound Travel Business Matching - Last Call ------- In 2018, 31 million visitors came to Japan, over 3,000 international conferences were held here, and the Rugby World Cup and the Olympic and Paralympic Games are just around the corner. Holding an event in Japan is not difficult any more, as many new meeting facilities and hotels open one after the other. Working with the right partners is now the key to success in organizing a MICE in Japan. IME 2019 will be held on Thursday Feb 28 at Tokyo Int?l Forum and will help you find your right partner. Come and join as a buyer at IME 2019. (https://www.ime2019.jp/en/index.html) ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] One of the interesting things to witness in the Toyota strategy evolution is how the company is starting to realize that while traditionally they, with tons of money and thus getting to make the rules (as in "he who has the gold makes the rules" - Johnny Hart's "Wizard of Id"), in the brave new world of unicorn companies, the guys with the ideas can now get funded from other sources - such as venture capital funds like Son's US$100bn Vision Fund, crowdfunding, or even just the reinvestment of earnings from an entrepreneur's previous earn-out. This makes it hard for a big firm like Toyota, used to buying its way into new technology, to stay in the game. Probably the realization that the world of financing was changing started after Toyota bought US$50m of Tesla stock in 2010, just as that company was going public. In the following 5 years it struggled mightily to monetize the relationship in the form of technology transfer, but couldn't get used to the idea that it wasn't the boss. In fact, after experiencing software and drive train problems with the Toyota RAV4 in 2014, Toyota finally dumped all of its Tesla stock in 2016 (but only announced this in 2017) for a tidy sum that we estimate to be north of US$1bn. As stock analysts in the U.S. mentioned at the time, Toyota probably made more money from its Tesla investment than Tesla had ever made for itself. However, now with the Model 3 turn-around, it looks like Toyota may have made a hasty decision and Tesla is rebounding strongly to possibly become one of next decade's market challengers. In fact, after the news broke that Toyota had sold its Tesla stake, the markets reacted badly and sent Toyota shares 1.92% lower by the end of the day, contributing to a year-long decline of the stock price by an overall 13.1%. What the markets appeared to be telling Toyota was that while it may be a big Kahuna today, all its expertise and infrastructure won't amount to much in the future when the way we use and own autos is likely to change so dramatically. Indeed, as Tesla and now other electric converts are preaching, by going electric the hardware is becoming commoditized and the barriers to entry for competitors are shrinking. Instead, the main value of a car will be in the software and how you use the car as a multi-functional tool. This had been Apple's lesson to IBM, Dell a decade ago, and soon perhaps it will be Google's lesson to Apple. Once you get past the software of operating the car, which as the smartphone paradigm has demonstrated does eventually reach a point of diminishing or negative investment return, you need to have a better point of differentiation - some way in which your software has more scope and relevance, more impact on users, than your competitors can make. Apple's answer was a content ecosystem, that stood strong for 10 years, and is only just now being threatened (by Netflix and Disney). For auto manufacturers, the equivalent will be driverless vehicles and the business models that will follow. Of course there are always going to be customers who want to own their own car, for status or comfort, or because they live in remote areas, or for professional needs, but for the average person if you can get the same benefits from ordering a shared vehicle that comes to you, for a small per-use fee, why would you invest in a car? This is the same argument as power to the home. Most of us don't have a coal-fired power station (or even a hydrogen one) in the basement. Toyota definitely understands how fundamental and threatening the changes will be, and it has done a good job of creating a massive ecosystem (Page 3) that looks a bit like "Apple for cars". You can see the presentation here: http://bit.ly/2ByJznX [Toyota competitiveness presentation for investors.] Japan is a great example of the post-automobile era will look like. Essentially because of a stagnant economy for more than 20 years, there has been a generation of young people who haven't had the money (initially), then the interest (eventually), to own a car. Over the last 10 years auto production in Japan has fallen from a peak of 9.94m in 2007 to 8.3m in 2017, a fall of 17%. Yeah, it's not a precipitous drop, but if you look at the trends of who is getting by without using a car recently, Toyota has to be worried about its home market. In the major cities where all the young people have moved to, and who should be the vehicle buyers of tomorrow, car ownership is way below the national average. As an example, in Gifu there were 75 cars per 100 people (a rather surprising statistic) in keeping with its position as one of the top prefectures for old men (No. 8 for male death by old age), while in Tokyo there are just 23 per 100. Japan overall, the rate of ownership is 48.95%, or 61.2m vehicles (stats from MLIT 2017). So if the next generation isn't buying cars, they're not getting driver's licences. Then if Toyota wants to stay in business it needs to quickly develop a new business paradigm to offer private transportation as a service. ...The information janitors/ ***------------------------****-------------------------*** ------ German-speaking Travel Consultant Internship ------- Japan Travel KK (www.japantravel.com) is experiencing strong growth of its German desk for inbound travelers to Japan, and we are looking for a German-English speaking intern to join the team, with a view of transitioning to a full-time position and work visa in Japan. The internship will be for a minimum 3 months and a maximum of 6 months, after which there will be a management and peer review. You can be either a student who needs to do an internship to meet academic course requirements, or you can be a person in the workforce thinking to reset your life and location. Apart from German you should be able to speak basic English and/or Japanese (either is OK). The type of work you'll be doing is assisting German customers wanting to plan trips to Japan. This would include the following: * Responding to incoming leads and conversing (usually email/chat) with customers * Researching accommodation, transport, activities, diet preferences/availability, entertainment, guides, and other things that travelers require * Using our quotation and itinerary systems to produce the customer materials * Interacting with customers and consulting them on choices and areas of concern * Translation of content about destinations * Writing original content (articles) about destinations and activities * Assisting us with German social media For more details: jerome.lee at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ NEWS - Another bedrock company caught cheating on data - Japan getting (semi) serious about blue collar worker trafficking? - 10-day golden week could cause financial chaos - Itochu baring fangs in Descente tussle - About time! Someone is introducing video interpreter kiosks => Another bedrock company caught cheating on data Major real estate leasing firm Leopalace 21 has admitted that to cut costs it has been fudging data on the fire worthiness of its apartment buildings, and in fact as many as 1,324 buildings with more than 10,000 residents do not meet government standards on fire safety and soundproofing. Leopalace operates about 40,000 apartment buildings across Japan and says that immediately it will ask 7,782 residents to move out of 641 critically defective buildings. The company has said it will repair the buildings in question. ***Ed: So why is it that the Japanese prosecutors think it's OK to jail Carlos Ghosn on flimsy white collar charges when here is a company whose cheating affects the lives of thousands? Furthermore, will there be an investigation into past fires at Leopalace apartments, to determine if there have already been deaths and injuries resulting from the company's cheating? Not likely.** (Source: TT commentary from nhk.or.jp, Feb 07, 2019) http://bit.ly/2tgoIBl => Japan getting (semi) serious about blue collar worker trafficking? According to the Yomiuri newspaper, the Labor ministry plans to introduce new rules about just who can be involved in the recruiting and dispatch of the estimated 340,000 blue collar foreign workers expected to move to Japan (actually many are already here, in the current "broken" trainee system) over the next five years. Apparently recognizing the futility of trying to control foreign organizations that are recruiting these workers, the government is going to instead put the onus on local licensed dispatch companies to monitor and control the ethics of their foreign partners. In particular, the objective is to curb the practice of charging laborers extortionate fees for a chance to work in Japan. It was revealed in a worker survey conducted by the Justice Ministry in 2017 that about 50% of the 2,870 trainees who absconded from their Japan contracts had paid brokers in their home countries up to JPY1m or more for a chance to come to Japan. They ran away so that they could take higher paying jobs and try to pay off their debts. The Ministry said it will uncover bad actors by randomly interviewing the workers, checking about fees and on-boarding experiences. ***Ed: Unfortunately, as commentators have said, the problem with these new rules is that there is no effective paper proof of charges levied, and that is assuming that the broker can even be found. We think that putting the onus on local players will mean that they will effectively be forced to set up regional offices and control the recruiting process themselves - but this may not be permitted by the laborers' home countries. Thus, this will probably become yet another rule that has to be fudged to make the system work.** (Source: TT commentary from the-japan-news.com, Feb 09, 2019) http://bit.ly/2I7DsN2 => 10-day golden week could cause financial chaos In recognizing the change of emperors this year, the Japanese government has freaked out the investment markets by unilaterally declaring a 10-day national holiday from April 27 to May 6. This will be one of the longest stock market holidays ever among developed countries. In the USA the longest break was a market holiday of 6 days after the 9/11 attacks. The fear is that over the 10 days some major market moving event might occur and Japanese financial firms and investors will be caught flatfooted as a result. This is particularly likely for foreign exchange, where a Brexit no-deal scenario just 3 weeks earlier or the ongoing China-US trade spat could roil the markets and cause the Japanese yen to become a safe haven for foreign funds. A soaring yen while everyone is out on holiday could cause a collapse of confidence in Japanese stocks once they return and thence cause a run on the market itself. (Source: TT commentary from asahi.com, Jan 30, 2019) http://bit.ly/2MXkgQQ => Itochu baring fangs in Descente tussle On the outside, Japan's trading companies look polite and refined, until they aren't - which is regularly enough if you happen to have them as a major investor. This is what the apparel firm Descente has discovered with trading house Itochu. Apparently Itochu has tied up with another major shareholder to try to seize control of the company. Hostile takeovers overseas are normal enough behavior, but in Japan usually the "hostile" part takes place behind closed doors. The tiff apparently comes about because Itochu is fed up with Descente's timid management style. ***Ed: While it's tempting to say that the hostile takeover is a sign of business evolution in Japan, where shareholders start pushing companies to apply their capital and management resources more effectively, in fact it's probably not. Instead, it's more likely that the Itochu guys were disrespected by the Descente ones and Itochu's move is a rather feudal public warning both to Descente and other investees not to mess with it. (Source: TT commentary from mainichi.jp, Feb 08, 2019) http://bit.ly/2DpXFbn => About time! Someone is introducing video interpreter kiosks Such a simple idea - we have been wondering when someone would actually start the service. Now an unnamed Tokyo subcontractor has won a mandate to supply department store operator Aeon with video chat interpreters so that store staff can communicate with foreign customers. The new service, which works on smartphones and in-store tablets, will offer 10 languages in real time. The company is rolling the service out to 550 stores at Aeon (supermarkets) and Aeon Style (department stores) initially, then once done will expand to all group companies. ***Ed: Interesting to see this article state that tourists were using an "antenna" shop service out at Narita 5-10 times a day. That is not so demanding that you couldn't support 100 stores with more than 5-10 full-time staff, and maybe some part-time ones.** (Source: TT commentary from asia.nikkei.com, Feb 5, 2019) https://s.nikkei.com/2RTNxNg NOTE: Broken links Some online news sources remove their articles after just a few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we apologize for the inconvenience. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ UPCOMING EVENTS No upcoming events this week. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** --------- Japan Travel Corporate Travel Services ---------- Japan Travel's Type-2 licensed travel agency business is one Japan's few independent foreign-owned inbound DMCs. One of our specialties is looking after corporate groups of 10-300 people. To date we have assisted in the successful holding of training events, incentive travel, conferences, off-sites, and team bonding programs. We have looked after the full gamut of services, such as: international air travel, hotels, local travel, event logistics and venues, entertainment, micro-management of dietary needs, and special needs customers. We are highly motivated and are happy to work in a variety of roles tailored to suit your needs: as a full-fledged corporate travel agency partner, as a logistics partner for a particular issue, or as a source of innovative experiences and venues. Looking after hard-to-please high-tech groups is our specialty! For corporate travel assistance, contact us at: tours at japantravel.com. Or visit our pages at: http://japantravel.co.jp/en/about/travel-agency/ ----------------------------------------------------------- ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ CORRECTIONS/FEEDBACK => No corrections or feedback this week. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ TRAVEL DESTINATIONS PICKS Old-Time Farm Life: Shunran-no-Sato, Ishikawa Pref. Mountain village with authentic farmstay experiences What was rural farm life like a century ago in Japan? You can experience the answer to that yourself in the mountains near the small seaside town of Noto, the ideal place to connect with the rich agricultural heritage here. This place is also a base for exploration of the Noto Peninsula and its scenic coastlines, thriving markets, and traditional crafts. There is plenty to see and do in any season. Noto has a long history of fishing, and the adult yellowtail caught in winter, known as kamburi, are a standout. Other local products include soy sauce, sea salt, blueberries, strawberries, and sake, as well as festivals of fire, motivating monsters, and thanksgiving. And of course, the countryside is full of alluring rice fields interspersed with forested hills and mountains, making Noto a great destination for visitors looking to connect with Japan?s nature. http://bit.ly/2timCRj => Mimoroyaki Workshop, Shizuoka Enjoy pottery pieces with a unique twist The Mimoroyaki Ceramic Workshop sits on the grounds of Okuni Shrine in Mori, Shizuoka. The pottery artisans here create a range of beautiful pieces, including vases, incense burners, and even pendants for jewelry items, and each item they create boasts a special touch. The pieces at Mimoroyaki are glazed with natural items found on the shrine grounds, giving them a special spiritual connection. So what exactly do these natural glazes entail? Cedar ash, cedar leaves, and stones are all used to create different hues for pottery pieces. When you walk around the workshop and browse the items available for purchase, you'll see that everything on display comes in very earthy colors, and that's nature's magic at work! At Mimoroyaki, there are also pottery classes held every Monday if you have an interest in learning to create pieces yourself. There are a number of workshop time slots available, but registrations are required in advance, so bear that in mind if you want to get your hands dirty! Alongside the spiritual connection to nature that the pottery created here contains, every piece is completely unique. By purchasing something from Mimoroyaki, you're purchasing a story, and something that was made with a person's two hands. Nothing here is mass produced. http://bit.ly/2SG0Sxa ***------------------------****-------------------------*** *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 6,071 members as of February 11, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Tue Feb 19 03:54:09 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2019 03:54:09 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 980 (Tourism Edition) - The Full-stack Travel Company Message-ID: * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S (TOURISM) TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A bi-weekly focused look at the tourism sector in Japan, by Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. ( http://www.terrielloyd.com) Tourism Sector Edition Sunday, Feb 19, 2019, Issue No. 980 SUBSCRIBE to, UNSUBSCRIBE from Terrie's Take at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie +++ The Full-stack Travel Company Over the last 3 years I have spoken with many potential investors about what Japan Travel (www.japantravel.com) is and why they might want to invest. All the books, such as Venture Capital for Dummies - my favorite in that particular genre - say that to be attractive to Venture Capital firms (VCs) and other professional investors, you need have a single compelling focus and be solving a problem in a large market, that you are well placed to fix. You need to be ready to bet the farm (actually, usually someone else's farm) on your project, you should be willing to fail big in the process, you must have a global story, you should have a management team in their 30's with a lot of insider knowledge, and either a couple of PhDs or a couple of previous tech company wins under your collective belts. So does that describe anyone in a start-up business that you know of? Certainly it doesn't for me - well, not in Japan anyway. Rather, most of my business start-up friends prefer to start out small and learn the ropes first. Then they develop multiple sources of revenue which allow them to build reliable prototypes to help mine that proverbial pot of gold in their business sector, all while making enough to pay the bills with. Once they have developed something and tested it to a good response in the market, they might go out and start talking to potential investors. Usually they will start with friends and family, perhaps some larger companies in the sector, and if they've taken more than a year to start up, then probably they will also be talking to the Japan Finance Corporation (JFC). If you have never heard of the JFC you should check them out. They help start-ups when no one else will. They have a massive JPY24.65trn in assets invested (latest data is 2014) and I've sent more than one penniless start-up founder to go see them. http://bit.ly/2GPjMLJ [Japan Finance Corporation website] With such a scrappy, pragmatic start, I've found that most people likely to invest in a company like our's are not VCs obsessed with billion dollar valuations, but rather, other business people who have been around the track a couple of times and who recognize a good idea and competent execution when they see it. As such, the pragmatic start-up, and certainly my own business, are a kind of "anti-VC" start-up - meaning we have been battle-tested and molded by real market experiences prior to raising capital. In other words, we're a bit slower to get to first base. [Continued below...] ------ Inbound Travel Business Matching - Last Call ------- In 2018, 31 million visitors came to Japan, over 3,000 international conferences were held here, and the Rugby World Cup and the Olympic and Paralympic Games are just around the corner. Holding an event in Japan is not difficult any more, as many new meeting facilities and hotels open one after the other. Working with the right partners is now the key to success in organizing a MICE in Japan. IME 2019 will be held on Thursday Feb 28 at Tokyo Int?l Forum and will help you find your right partner. Come and join as a buyer at IME 2019. (http://bit.ly/2GOewrQ) ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] In fact, truth be told I have not done so well with VCs in developing Japan Travel at all. Instead, I have probably made all the fundraising mistakes that an entrepreneur could possibly make! For example, my first significant mistake was naming a travel business as Japan Tourist. I thought it was (and still is) a great name - very to the point on what we wanted to do - which was to revitalize Japan inbound travel, starting with foreigners. Instead, I was told that I needed to have a shorter, punchier name, perhaps with *.ly or a sly misspelling somewhere in the title. I did seriously think about registering "Wasabi Travel" after the owners of Japantourist.com wanted the cost of a small house for that name. But somehow, "Wasabily" didn't really sound right! Then, as often happens in business, Lady Luck (aka Dumb Luck) suddenly appeared in the form of a community member who knew the owner of Japan Travel and who wanted to sell the domain. My second significant mistake was not seeing myself as a Unicorn - you know, one of those mythical companies with a market capitalization of US$1bn or more. Instead, as I visited VCs I made a pitch that said we would go public in Japan or regionally and that our target was a listing that would value the company at US$100m - a big enough number that I thought was respectable. But perhaps because of the corrupting influence of Mr. Son and his US$100bn Vision Fund, it turns out that these days if you're not a unicorn you're a pig. My third and biggest mistake was sharing with VCs that I planned to make something that I would refer to as, "A systems integration company for travel." By this I meant multiple sources of tech-leveraged business revenue that might offer us some safety from predatory competitors with much bigger pockets. That idea went over really badly. As one VC guy told me, "If you're spending all your time creating separate revenue flows, you won't have enough time to spend on the main business that will make all the money." Furthermore, the systems integration label sounded too complicated, so I shortened it to a "full-stack travel business" instead. This means I opted for a survival configuration with revenue being earned from three very specific layers. * Layer One: our media and advertising/marketing business. * Layer Two: our full-service travel agency which allows us to produce our own tours. * Layer Three: Our systems development business that connects to many sources of travel-related data in Japan. What does Full Stack" mean? Well it refers to a new generation of software developers who not only handle databases and servers, but also systems engineering and client-facing interfaces (UX). In travel, I intend the term to mean pretty much the same thing: strong back-end processes and connectivity and easy-to-use front-end applications and customer service. The only real difference between the two is that I now also throw in a healthy amount of humans instead of trying to do everything by software alone. As Expedia and other high-tech start-ups of 10 years ago have started to realize, AI bots are interesting, but for now they are not yet up to the task. I believe that full-stack, diversified travel companies will prevail over single-focus ones, if for no other reason than because supplying services across the entire travel spectrum de-risks the business, as well as spreading out income sources so as to flatten traditionally peaky revenue flows that normally occur in spring and fall. This seems to be the same reason that Expedia and other travel sites are starting to build out more and more lines to sell visitors. It's not just about hotels or activities any more. As an example of the need for de-risking, I think that after the Tokyo Olympics the travel sector media business will probably take a hit as the national and local governments ease up on their sports diplomacy investments. On the other hand, we are expecting the Rugby World Cup and the Olympics to awaken massive subsequent interest (in 2021) by well-heeled western tourists. As a result of that conviction, we are gearing up investment into the French, British, and German markets. ...The information janitors/ *********************************************************** --------- Japan Travel Corporate Travel Services ---------- Japan Travel's Type-2 licensed travel agency business is one Japan's few independent foreign-owned inbound DMCs. One of our specialties is looking after corporate groups of 10-300 people. To date we have assisted in the successful holding of training events, incentive travel, conferences, off-sites, and team bonding programs. We have looked after the full gamut of services, such as: international air travel, hotels, local travel, event logistics and venues, entertainment, micro-management of dietary needs, and special needs customers. We are highly motivated and are happy to work in a variety of roles tailored to suit your needs: as a full-fledged corporate travel agency partner, as a logistics partner for a particular issue, or as a source of innovative experiences and venues. Looking after hard-to-please high-tech groups is our specialty! For corporate travel assistance, contact us at: tours at japantravel.com. Or visit our pages at: http://japantravel.co.jp/en/about/travel-agency/ ----------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 6,075 members as of Feb 19, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Mon Feb 25 15:52:20 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2019 15:52:20 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 981 - How to Value Your Start-up Company in Japan, e-biz News from Japan Message-ID: * * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A weekly roundup of news & information from Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. (http://www.terrielloyd.com) General Edition Monday, Feb 25, 2019, Issue No. 981 - What's New -- How to Value Your Start-up Company in Japan - News -- Chinese invasion prediction from ex-military chief - Corrections/Feedback - Travel Picks -- Naked Man Festival in Niigata, Flea Market in Oi Shinagawa - News Credits SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES: http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take, or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ +++ How to Value Your Company in Japan Entrepreneurs the world over all at some point have to contend with a simple question: "What is my company worth?" In the US and other developed economies, generally this is a pretty straight forward question, answered by a plethora of valuation calculators (e.g., the DCF and Berkus methods) as well as by funding websites like Crunchbase and FounderSuite, which offer comparable deal details. But here in Japan, where fundings and M&A valuations are usually kept secret, and where smaller companies take longer to gain traction because of cautious partners and suppliers, knowing what you are worth now and in the near future can be tough to discover. So today's Take is for anyone based in Japan who is thinking of starting a new company, or who is already operating a small business and wants to bring in outside investors. The three most common times any founder or shareholder thinks about what their company's worth is when: a) they are first getting started, b) they are running out of capital, and c) they are selling the business. Of course, as the seller of shares, you will be thinking optimistically about your future numbers, especially given the emotional reinforcement you get whenever you read the latest rags-to-riches start-up exit chronicled in the media. On the opposite side of the fence are two other audiences: firstly, potential investors who are also generally optimistic about your business, or they wouldn't be talking to you, and secondly the pessimists who want to hold you back or knock you down. The pessimists here in Japan typically tend to be accountants, banks you are trying to lend money from, big suppliers you want better terms from, and partners who want to buy your firm cheaply - in other words, some of the biggest "stakeholders" in your business. Generally, none of these people could imagine paying future value for your business when they are so used to picking up bargains calculated solely on a historical basis. The idea that a company can be front-loaded and built for a hockey stick yield over 5-10 years is alien to them and indeed is the antithesis of the incremental development business model that has been espoused in Japan for generations. However, thanks to Softbank's Son, 500 Startups Japan, and other visionaries, this mindset is now breaking down. If you are getting a company started here, remember that you're in a country which is famous as the home of risk aversion, and therefore you need to ignore the pessimists and seek out a better audience - it does exist and may only be as far away as some of your close friends and acquaintances. [Article continues below...] ------- International MICE Expo Japan (IME2019) ------- In 2018, 31 million visitors came to Japan, over 3,000 international conferences were held here, and the Rugby World Cup and the Olympic and Paralympic Games are just around the corner. Holding an event in Japan is not difficult any more, as many new meeting facilities and hotels open one after the other. Working with the right partners is now the key to success in organizing a MICE in Japan. IME 2019 will be held on Thursday Feb 28 at Tokyo Int?l Forum and will help you find your right partner. Come and join as a buyer at IME 2019. http://bit.ly/2GOewrQ ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] Right now, Japan is somewhere in between the pawn shop mentality of the city banking crowd, and the giddy optimism of backers of companies like Uber (losing US$200m per month but still worth between US$76bn~US$120bn). This means that we are finally seeing some companies with US-style valuations and business plans emerging, but they are still few and far between. Perhaps the best recent example was Soracom.io, which was acquired by KDDI for about JPY20bn (approx. US$180m) late 2017. Soracom launched right out of the gate in 2015 with a JPY650m Series A funding round, then just a year later it did two more rounds in quick succession to bring the funding total to a very respectable JPY35bn. To our knowledge, Soracom was not profitable when it was sold, but it certainly did represent a huge opportunity in a space that KDDI had tried many times to fill. Kudos to KDDI for understanding that and ignoring the bean counters. But most start-ups are not Soracom, and so here are some guidelines for the rest of us. It's important to preface this guide by remembering that these numbers are for companies with in-built leverage. In other words, if you are running a stock-standard accounting or IT firm with perhaps sales increasing at 10% a year and with 10% profit margin (a respectable number in Japan, where more than 70% of companies earn no profits at all), then even though you are profitable your growth is not that really interesting to venture investors. Instead you should be talking to a bank - who will lend you 20% or more of your revenue at low interest (3% p.a. or less). If you want to excite venture investors, then you need the following factors to build intrinsic value: * Technology, licenses, brands, or processes that will vault you over the competition and disrupt an otherwise boring industry * New business in a new business sector (such as the early entrants to the mobile phone business or crowd-based FX transfers) * A stellar management team with a sprinkling of PhDs or previously successful entrepreneurs as partners * Good timing and a compelling value proposition to customers None of the above businesses need to be purely technology-based, although obviously technology is the big point of leverage these days. Indeed, the current trend is an increasing move towards investments in the personal finance, medical, transport, food, retailing, sports, and of course travel sectors. In fact, any sector big enough in Japan to provide you with JPY10bn of business by taking 1% market share in 7-10 years will do. For example, in inbound travel, a 1% market share equates to JPY40bn (US$360m) a year - the Japan market is huge. So how to value your business in Japan? Firstly, you need to understand how investors think about returns and what is normal in the marketplace currently. There are two forms of successful exits that investors look for: 1. Public Listing As a rule of thumb in Japan, companies can go public when they hit certain performance metrics and after doing compliance clean-up. Typically in the technology sector, the metrics are revenues of JPY1.5bn - JPY2.5bn, pre-tax profits of 20% or more, and at least 3 years of strong top line growth, with at least the last year being profitable. Of course there are huge variations in this formula, but if you look at typical IPOs on Mothers (Japan's main start-up market) most companies fit this profile. Providing that you can hit these numbers and you're good at telling your corporate story, the current market will probably give you a valuation of about 20x - 50x on your pre-tax profits, meaning that your JPY500m of profit on JPY2.5bn of revenues will lift your IPO valuation to around JPY10bn - JPY25bn. So now we have some end-game numbers that investors want to see. Although there are no rules about what returns for start-up investors should be, in Japan most investors expect something like the following: a) Early stage investor - 30 - 50 times return. Expected exit is 7-10 years. High risk: company will be in formative stages and not profitable. b) Mid stage investor - 10 - 20 times return. Expected exit is 3-5 years. Mid-level risk: company may have just become profitable, but is still growing significantly. c) Late stage investor - 3 - 5 times return. Expected exit is less than 3 years. Low risk: company is seeking funds for existing business lines, to increase capacity. So now you can see that depending on which part of your company life cycle you are taking on investors at, you can get some idea of what valuations you can ask for and which would be defensible. In our scenario of an early-stage business planning to do JPY2.5bn revenue and JPY500m pre-tax profit prior to a Mothers listing, an early-stage investor would want a 30x return once your business lists for JPY10bn - meaning that you could ask them for a valuation of up to JPY300m. Of course, there are many real world considerations that modify these numbers, and in the end it's all about how the investor views you and your company, and the quality of your vision and story. 2. Private Trade Sale The other form of successful exit is when you sell the company privately, usually to a larger player who recognizes the excellence of your product/team/technology and who wants to bring in those assets to catalyze its own much larger business. Usually these buyers will price the business according to one of the following: a) Conservative estimate of future cash flow based on historical performance. If you have been growing the bottom line by 15% a year for the last 12-18 months, then the buyer will probably be willing to pay for 3 - 5 years of similar growth - meaning about 2 - 3 times your last fiscal year's profit. Add English-speaking staff and exports to your business, and you can probably double your buy-out to 4 times - 6 times last year's pre-tax earnings. b) Replacement cost for your technology or systems, whereby you are saving the buyer several hundred million yen at their cost levels to replicate what you have produced. This approach is of course not percentage based, and so could represent a massive multiplier on your capital if you're selling while still small. c) Revenue impact - where the injection of your intellectual property (and team and customers) will be far more valuable inside a larger company, because they have the business network and capital to put your assets to work properly. This third scenario is the most common reason for Japanese large companies buying out smaller ones. How to get such buyers to a valuation is usually achieved by the two companies working together for a while, and for the bigger one to realize the value of the assets. With the right internal champion on the buyer side, and with some judicious assumptions to help you guess the beneficial impact your firm is having on the buyer's business, you can get a pretty decent price for your company - as Soracom did with KDDI. What are these assumptions? * For most Japanese companies 80% of their costs are personnel costs, and thanks to the uniformity of the job market, you can pretty much guesstimate how much money you can save them in terms of head count reduction. * Alternatively, you can calculate how much your product or service can magnify the buyer's existing personnel performance without increasing core costs (other than your company's buy-out of course - and which anyway goes on the Balance Sheet not the Profit & Loss) >From past deals we have seen, a trade sale to a strategic partner can yield the seller between 10 times - 50 times their pre-tax profits. This means that the net result is not that much different from a stock listing, but it is way easier and the founders and other shareholders get their money at the start, not dribbled out over years as is the case with a listed company (where of course the shareholders would panic if the founders suddenly sold all their shares). Valuations of technology companies in the USA are far above what is possible in Japan. Generally speaking we see valuations in Japan of about 20%-30% of those being made for companies at the same level in the USA. While this may sound bad, and certainly it hobbles companies from ramping up as quickly as their transpacific counterparts, the cost of skilled people in Japan is significantly cheaper and sometimes forcing a company to walk before it can run is a good thing. It does nonetheless explain why there is a recent trend for Japanese start-ups looking for better valuations to move to the USA either by themselves or under some incubator such as 500 Startups. The recently sold translation company, Gengo.com (sold to Lionbridge in January this year), followed this route and did so very successfully. We found the following table in Forbes from last year, and have compared it to similar stage companies here in Japan. 1. USA Valuations Pre-seed: raising $200K - $500K at a valuation of $1M - $3M Seed: raising $500K - $2.5M at a valuation of $2M - $6M (revenues expected by investors are $0 - $50K per month) Series A: raising $3- $12M at a valuation of $10M - $40M (revenues expected by investors are $100K - $250K per month) Series B: raising $10M - $25M at a valuation of $30 - $100M (revenues expected by investors are $350K - $800K per month) Series C: raising over $20M at valuations of over $100M (revenues expected by investors are over $1M per month) http://bit.ly/2BRbv6x [The original Forbes article.] 2. Japanese Valuations Pre-seed: raising JPY2m - JPY5m (US$18K - US$45K) at a valuation of JPY10m - JPY30m (US$110K - US$330K) Seed: raising JPY10m - JPY50m at a valuation of JPY50m - JPY300m (revenues expected by investors are JPY0m - JPY5m per month) Series A: raising JPY80m - JPY300m at a valuation of JPY500m - JPY1.5bn (revenues expected by investors are JPY10m - JPY30m per month) Series B: raising JPY500m - JPY2bn at a valuation of JPY2bn - JPY5bn (revenues expected by investors are JPY30m - JPY150m per month) [Ed: Companies usually list after this round.] Series C: Few Japanese companies remaining at this level, and those who are, are getting similar valuations to the USA. Lastly, a question that we get asked a lot by new entrepreneurs is how to get the capital of the company up to a sufficient level that allows them to sell shares without threatening control of the business. This question is understandable because most start-ups in Japan are funded purely with cash (or unpaid salaries) from the founders, and generally this first stage of funding is small - in the region of JPY1m - JPY10m. So how do you increase the capital of your business to, say, JPY100m, so that you can sell 10% of it to an investor and get some serious money in to fund the growth of your company? The simple fact is that you don't have to increase your capital. Instead, you take 10% of the shares you already have and construct a business plan that indicates even though the shares at face value are only worth JPY10m (say, JPY1,000 x 10,000 shares, the business plan shows that these shares will be worth much more in 5-10 years time, and so they can reasonably be sold at a premium. That premium explains the difference between actual paid in capital and the price you now want for them. This idea that people will pay more than the paid in capital value for shares is difficult for many Japanese start-up entrepreneurs to understand. It looks like you're making money out of thin air and surely a JPY1,000 share is only worth JPY1,000? No, what we need to remember is that you are no longer selling JPY1,000 shares, but rather 10% of your company's future. It's your job to look for investors who understand that valuation proposition, the risks involved, and who can make their own judgements on whether you can really hit those future targets. On your side, you should be willing to "open the kimono" to allow them to evaluate your leveraging factors, such as your own track record and credibility, your team, the heating up of your marketplace, your competitors, and the quality of your business plan. Once the first investor is in at that premium price, following investors will feel much more comfortable with the new pricing floor. Then you are on your way. ...The information janitors/ ***------------------------****-------------------------*** ------ German-speaking Travel Consultant Internship ------- Japan Travel KK (www.japantravel.com) is experiencing strong growth of its German desk for inbound travelers to Japan, and we are looking for a German-English speaking intern to join the team, with a view of transitioning to a full-time position and work visa in Japan. The internship will be for a minimum 3 months and a maximum of 6 months, after which there will be a management and peer review. You can be either a student who needs to do an internship to meet academic course requirements, or you can be a person in the workforce thinking to reset your life and location. Apart from German you should be able to speak basic English and/or Japanese (either is OK). The type of work you'll be doing is assisting German customers wanting to plan trips to Japan. This would include the following: * Responding to incoming leads and conversing (usually email/chat) with customers * Researching accommodation, transport, activities, diet preferences/availability, entertainment, guides, and other things that travelers require * Using our quotation and itinerary systems to produce the customer materials * Interacting with customers and consulting them on choices and areas of concern * Translation of content about destinations * Writing original content (articles) about destinations and activities * Assisting us with German social media For more details: jerome.lee at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ NEWS - Mitsubishi-UFJ Group gets knuckles rapped - India's OYO comes to Japan - Recruit is Japan's largest internet content player - Chinese invasion prediction from ex-military chief - Delivery robots likely to be first self-driving vehicles => Mitsubishi-UFJ Group gets knuckles rapped By virtue of the fact that it owns a bank in the USA, Japan's largest commercial bank, Mitsubishi-UFJ, has had its knuckles rapped by the U.S. federal banking regulator over defective internal money laundering systems and violations of international sanctions. This is the latest in an ongoing series of warnings that the bank has received and which it doesn't seem to be able to resolve. The problem seems to be with the bank's international operations, where one employee said the anti-money laundering program was like ?a dumpster fire.? So far, in the last 5 years MUFG has been fined more than US$565m for firstly doing business illegally with North Korea, then later with Iran and Myanmar. ***Ed: Bank compliance is hard to do at the best of times, and this coupled with the bank's penchant of doing business wherever its large Japanese trading house customers are found, means that they are often outliers when it comes to observing US-led sanctions.** (Source: TT commentary from nytimes.co.jp, Feb 22, 2019) https://nyti.ms/2SpaNmH => India's OYO comes to Japan The Indian rental housing company OYO is about to launch its wildly popular share house and hotel rooms business in Japan, as part of a tie-up with Yahoo Japan. The new entity, to be named OYO Life, will build and rent upmarket facilities targeting young people who don't have the savings or the will to buy their own place, but who have disposable monthly income and who want a comfortable life. OYO says that they will go full speed into the Japanese JPY12trn rental property market. Their service will offer renters a quality environment without the need for deposits, spending on appliances, or even on furniture [Ed: Wonder if this includes a house cat?]. OYO will also manage properties for existing home owners, providing a one-stop simplified service to get and manage tenants. ***Ed: It will be interesting to see if through its service standardization OYO can influence the rental market away from deposits and race discrimination. If they become big enough, we may be witnessing the birth of a genuine rental revolution. Certainly other players will pile in with even better offers if they are successful.** (Source: TT commentary from thenewsminute.com, Feb 22, 2019) http://bit.ly/2H0WH8N => Recruit is Japan's largest internet content player Very good article by Bloomberg, analyzing the business of Recruit Holdings, which Bloomberg says is Japan's largest internet content company. The company operates 200 websites and 350 apps, making it a daily content provider for most of Japan's internet-using public. The plethora of sites gives Recruit a market valuation of about JPY5.22trn (as of Feb 25, 2019), 3 times the market cap of Yahoo! Japan and 4 times that of Rakuten. Recruit is internationally a quiet player but in fact owns some major foreign brands, such as Indeed.com and Glassdoor.com. Almost every month the company announces a new foreign investment or acquisition funded from its JPY300bn war chest. ***Ed: Especially interesting in the article is Recruit's internal incubation program, which allows staff to run with their own ideas, feeding profits back into the main business. One such operation has been Study Sapri, which got kicked off with 200 staff and JPY2bn in funding. The business already has about 500,000 students paying JPY900 per month for study materials.** (Source: TT commentary from businessmirror.com, Feb 23, 2019) http://bit.ly/2XjENE4 => Chinese invasion prediction from ex-military chief The Stars & Stripes is carrying an interesting story about retired Japan Air Self-Defense Force Lt. Gen. Kunio Orita, who has controversially predicted that the Chinese will invade and annex Taiwan by 2025 then follow suit by trying the same strategy with Okinawa by 2045. Orita apparently subscribes to the Asia-Pacific island dominoes effect, whereby Japan should stand by Taiwan or else become the next target after Taiwan disappears. Orita has laid out a fairly credible process by which the Chinese would take over Taiwan, saying that it would start with a no fly zone imposed on the island, then baiting of the Taiwanese military, and finally a full naval blockade. ***Ed: Interesting to see that not just Orita but also other generals are also going on record that they think Okinawa's anti-US stance is being stoked by China.** (Source: TT commentary from stripes.com, Feb 18, 2019) http://bit.ly/2Evv8Tu => Delivery robots likely to be first self-driving vehicles While Uber and Waymo in the USA are focused on passenger transport by self-driving cars, the Japanese see last mile package delivery as a more relevant application of robotic vehicles. The Nikkei says that both Japan Post and Yamato Holdings are testing driverless vehicles in public spaces. Anticipating the significance of autonomous parcel deliveries, the government is readying some new road safety guidelines for release in March. These guidelines will move oversight/control of roads being used by testers from local jurisdictions at present to national jurisdiction in the future. This means that testers will be able to avoid having to completely close down a public road while their robotic vehicle is traveling on it. ***Ed: In other words, bureaucratic intervention at a national level to remove bureaucratic control at a local level. Ain't bureaucracy great?** (Source: TT commentary from asia.nikkei.com, Feb 21, 2019) https://s.nikkei.com/2VgfzVh NOTE: Broken links Some online news sources remove their articles after just a few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we apologize for the inconvenience. ---------- Dealgateway.com sign-up opportunity ------------ If you are a company owner, investor, biz dev person looking for international market entry, or someone on the other side of the table, you should be a member of International Deal Gateway (IDG - www.dealgateway.com). This free introduction-only investor/investee business network is built by the same team that helped create the global 12,690-member Entpreneur's Organization (EO) and the global 27,000-strong Young President's Organization (YPO). In just six months, IDG has accepted almost 1,000 members and expects to be at 5,000 by the end of 2019. These numbers mean serious deal flow for your fund and a qualified audience for your deals. What's different about IDG is that while the network is built on a blockchain base, the actual participants are all proven business people who already know each other and/or who are familiar with and abide by the ethics promoted by both the EO and YPO. This means members can have confidence putting up real deal information, and while the secretariat quality-controls the participants. Personal reputation and community visibility are cornerstones of the membership acceptance process. To apply to become a member, complete the application form at http://bit.ly/2tCM44o [IDG signup form - *Referral Code: 37BDEC*]. Your application will be evaluated by a panel of founders and local (Japan) members, and you will be advised of acceptance within 2 weeks. Thereafter, you are free to register your interests, post deals, offer services, and otherwise participate. How does IDG make money? It is volunteer at the country level, with currently no membership fees (this may change in the future). Actual deals are free to look at and respond to, and if any are processed they will attract a small service fee from the operators in Canada. More details available. For more information, visit: http://bit.ly/2U6VK2C [IDG website.] ----------------------------------------------------------- ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ UPCOMING EVENTS No upcoming events this week. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** --------- Japan Travel Corporate Travel Services ---------- Japan Travel's Type-2 licensed travel agency business is one Japan's few independent foreign-owned inbound DMCs. One of our specialties is looking after corporate groups of 10-300 people. To date we have assisted in the successful holding of training events, incentive travel, conferences, off-sites, and team bonding programs. We have looked after the full gamut of services, such as: international air travel, hotels, local travel, event logistics and venues, entertainment, micro-management of dietary needs, and special needs customers. We are highly motivated and are happy to work in a variety of roles tailored to suit your needs: as a full-fledged corporate travel agency partner, as a logistics partner for a particular issue, or as a source of innovative experiences and venues. Looking after hard-to-please high-tech groups is our specialty! For corporate travel assistance, contact us at: tours at japantravel.com. Or visit our pages at: http://japantravel.co.jp/en/about/travel-agency/ ----------------------------------------------------------- ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ CORRECTIONS/FEEDBACK => No corrections or feedback this week. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ TRAVEL DESTINATIONS PICKS => Bishamondo Naked Man Festival, Urasa, Niigata One of Japan's most bizarre winter festivals March 3rd each year sees the Naked Man Festival take place at Urasa's Bishamondo, in Niigata. It is known as one of the top three bizarre festivals in Japan and dates back hundreds of years. Semi-naked men parade through the streets leading to the local temple, accompanied by people carrying giant candles. Once they arrive, they jump into an icy pool of spring water. From there they dash into the main hall of the temple where there is a steaming mob of other men all pushing and shoving to try to squeeze through a small gap into the inner area. It is a writhing mass of men, all chanting in unison, and lit by candles in an all-wooden building on a winter night - quite an impressive sight! The streets outside the temple are lined with stalls serving food and drinks, with a BBQ fish in warm sake being a local favorite. Venue: Bishamondo When: Mar 2nd - Mar 3rd 2019 , 6:00pm - 8:00pm. http://bit.ly/2Ed4Y6R => Tokyo Shinagawa Shopping Oi Keibajo Flea Market On weekends, when Oi Keibajo, or Tokyo City Keiba, are not holding horse races, they also hold flea markets. The large-scale markets are held in the car park of the race course and the recommended time to visit is from morning to early afternoon. The markets to not specialize in anything in particular, meaning that you can discover almost anything movable for sale there. Japanese antique shopping or second-hand kimono shopping is probably one of the best market activities, with the kimonos selling for only a fraction of what they usually would in stores. There is also a food van/food stall area for you to enjoy lunch after a hard morning of shopping. The flea market typically starts at 8:30am and ends at 2:30pm. You can expect around 300 - 600 vendors, depending on the day. Entrance is free and the event is only cancelled if there is heavy rain. It's only a 3-minute walk from Oi Keibajo-mae Station on the Tokyo Monorail, and 10-minute walk from Tachiaigawa Station on the Keikyu Line. http://bit.ly/2BPjSQ6 ***------------------------****-------------------------*** *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 6,054 members as of February 25, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Sun Mar 3 23:03:41 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Sun, 3 Mar 2019 23:03:41 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 982 (Tourism Edition) - Vacation Rentals Update for Japan - Maybe Airbnb Should Buy a Ship? Message-ID: * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S (TOURISM) TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A bi-weekly focused look at the tourism sector in Japan, by Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. ( http://www.terrielloyd.com) Tourism Sector Edition Sunday, Mar 03, 2019, Issue No. 982 SUBSCRIBE to, UNSUBSCRIBE from Terrie's Take at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie +++ Vacation Rentals Update for Japan - Maybe Airbnb Should Buy a Ship? Since a blaze of publicity following the effective banning of publicly hosted home sharing services (aka vacation rentals) to foreign tourists last June (2018), I have seen very little in the news about Airbnb and the rest of the industry. Until last week that is, when suddenly the Nikkei ran an article declaring that Airbnb has clawed "its way back in Japan following the 2018 listings collapse". The article reads like an Airbnb PR department advertisement and takes at face value Airbnb's claim that it now has 41,000 listings in Japan, 70% of the volume it had before the rules changed. While most of us are too lazy to actually check whether Airbnb is being honest about their recovery, I thought I'd go and take a look at their most recent listings and count them. The reality is that within Tokyo, previously a location with almost 20,000 private listings and certainly the biggest destination for Airbnb users in Japan, I could barely find 200 listings that could be considered private listings - i.e., those places where you get to stay with the owner and make friends with them, getting their personal advice about cool places to eat, see, and do stuff. You know, the main reason people use Airbnb in the first place... Instead, among the sparse 306 so-called "home type" listings that I could find for ALL OF TOKYO, many were commercially run share houses, hostels, and pseudo-hotels. Fair enough that Airbnb is moving with the times and adapting by securing whatever rooms it can, but the fact is that what they have now in Japan is just a pale shadow of the rich human tapestry they were creating in 2017. I believe that Airbnb users know this, and although the company is saying that 2018 was an adjustment year (room bookings were down 14% on 2017 for the whole of Japan), implying that 2019 will be much better, the Nikkei article says that the occupancy rate is still 0.5%-7% down in the period July 2018 to January 2019 versus the same period a year earlier. Hmmm, only 7%? I think that with a fall from 20,000 private properties to just 200, and with the head-on-head competition from Booking.com and other competitors, probably Airbnb's real occupancy number is around 50% less than it was. Maybe worse. Although there is no way to actually know Airbnb's actual numbers, the Nikkei used a local data analytics service called Metro Engines to get that 7% number. [Article continues below...] ------ Terrie's Slow-Poke Cycling Tour - Kyushu ------- Last year we threatened to run a cycling tour for readers, but got too busy to actually do it. So this year we're making amends. The first tour, which will happen in the third or fourth week of April (just before Golden Week) will be a 5-6 day ride in Kyushu - most likely in the Nagasaki region. This tour, and a Hokkaido tour in late August or early September, will have a common format. 1. The tours are potluck, not professionally run. No complaining. Jokes and helping each other out are mandatory. 2. There will be no support cars or spare bikes or guides. Instead, we use Google maps and take the most scenic routes to arrive at our hotels each night. 3. Our bags will be relayed by couriers so you can ride light. Yes, we will have inner tubes and other basic spare parts. 4. Terrie is a slow poke, so while we will indeed be covering 80km-100km a day, it will be take 6+ hours each day, with plenty of time for lunch, photos, drinks, etc. 5. No hill climbing! Terrie is allergic to tall mountains. 6. Although the rides will run 5-6 days, people wanting to cut out at 3 days will be able to do so. 7. Our bikes will go with us on the Shinkansen. Terrie can show you how to prepare and break your's down for simple transport. 8. If you don't have a road bike, you can rent one at https://www.gsastuto.com/. [Excellent supplier, great prices.] 9. Anyone over 16, any gender, welcome. 10. There will be a JPY20,000 organizing fee per rider. 11. Other costs will all be at cost. Usually this works out to about JPY13,000/day plus Shinkansen tickets. If you're interested in a long, slow, fun, potluck cycling tour in Japan, contact Terrie today and he will work with you and the rest of the group to set the final dates and routes. For more information, email: terrie.lloyd at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] Yeah, so how did they do that? This is where the Nikkei's "stretch" reporting irritates me. I don't see anywhere on the Metro Engines site a method for them to have a direct data connection with Airbnb. Instead they appear to be getting their data from site controllers like Temairazu and TL-Lincoln, which means the data is coming from hoteliers who actually use these controllers. Certainly private renters would never use this multi-channel booking software. So the number that Nikkei is quoting is only giving the commercial side of Airbnb's business. That minus 7% has nothing to do with Airbnb's massive loss of private inventory. I think that the reality is that every year will continue to be a down year for Airbnb in Japan until it gets its mojo back. And when will that be? Not until it can reinstate in some fashion its original business model. What made Airbnb sparkle was the personal contacts and spontaneity. These values have pretty much disappeared from the business. As for the Nikkei article, I suspect it was either paid for or is a sloppy space filler created from "drive by" journalism, where a press conference by a visiting policy head has served as the "fact" source. Bottom line: don't believe everything you read in the Nikkei. Then of course there is the tsunami of competition that has hit Japan in the last 12 months. From other shared accommodation providers, to hotel chains building downmarket offerings, to large Airbnb vacation rentals owners now converting to minshuku or hotel licences, and even ship hotels. There are now at least 8 major websites competing with Airbnb who are officially in Japan. The biggest of these are China's Tujia and Zizaike, Home Away, Agoda, Hyakusenrenma, Rakuten Lifull, and others. Add to this the numerous "grey" listing sites which have high visitor traffic overseas but no legal representation in Japan and thus no fear of government retribution. For example, VRBO has almost as many Tokyo private vacation rental listings as Airbnb Japan does (a tad under 300). Flipkey and others have hundreds more. On top of the share accommodation marketplaces, we also have significant hotel building activity across the board, from JPY2,000 per night hostels to palaces with JPY1,500,000 suites. According to a CBRE Japan report, in the 4 years from 2016 to 2020 there will have been an incredible 38% increase in the number of hotel rooms across the nation's eight largest cities (including Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto), for a total of 330,000 rooms. The report reckons that Tokyo will still be slightly short of rooms while the other cities will be comfortable or in surplus. So, outside of the Olympics, we may in fact be looking at a hotel room glut in two year's time. Not that this should worry Airbnb too much, since their model is to not own anything made of bricks or mortar. http://bit.ly/2XyTl2S [CBRE 2020 report. This is a quick read.] The ship hotels thing is interesting. After it became clear that the government was going to allow the Airbnb model to be killed off, JTB scrambled in June last year to rent a huge ship, the Sun Princess, which now has the right to dock in Yokohama, presumably for the Rugby World Cup then perhaps for the 2020 Olympics later. The ship has 1,011 rooms that are expected to be priced between JPY70,000 and JPY600,000 - a steal compared to the hotel prices that have been jacked up 300% on shore. JTB is being joined by Swiss-based MSC, which is going to put a hotel ship in Tokyo Bay, near the Games village. That ship, the MSC Lirica, apparently has 992 rooms. Ironically the Olympics were the main reason that Abe's Cabinet Office supported the Airbnb model back in 2014, but now that their position has caved so badly their focus is on quick and dirty solutions to ramp up the supply of rooms. The Mizuho Research Institute reckons there will be a 14,000-room shortage for the Olympics, so the government is removing bunch of regulatory controls over ship cabins. For example, those rooms with no natural lighting (any cabin in the center of the ship - of which there are plenty) will be temporarily allowed for local occupancy. Furthermore, immigration procedures governing crew members will be modified to allow crew to disembark on a regular basis. The plans for these ship hotels are on a grand scale, with five ports along the Kanto coastline being opened up. The furthest location will be Chiba. While this is a pragmatic approach to the accommodation pinch it will also make traffic a nightmare for 6-8 weeks. If you have friends considering a ship cabin as an alternative, especially out in Chiba, you might want to tell them to think twice about it. ...The information janitors/ *********************************************************** --------- Japan Travel Corporate Travel Services ---------- Japan Travel's Type-2 licensed travel agency business is one Japan's few independent foreign-owned inbound DMCs. One of our specialties is looking after corporate groups of 10-300 people. To date we have assisted in the successful holding of training events, incentive travel, conferences, off-sites, and team bonding programs. We have looked after the full gamut of services, such as: international air travel, hotels, local travel, event logistics and venues, entertainment, micro-management of dietary needs, and special needs customers. We are highly motivated and are happy to work in a variety of roles tailored to suit your needs: as a full-fledged corporate travel agency partner, as a logistics partner for a particular issue, or as a source of innovative experiences and venues. Looking after hard-to-please high-tech groups is our specialty! For corporate travel assistance, contact us at: tours at japantravel.com. Or visit our pages at: http://japantravel.co.jp/en/about/travel-agency/ ----------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 6,075 members as of Mar 03, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Mon Mar 11 20:20:36 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2019 20:20:36 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 983 - The Real Cost of the Fukushima Daiichi Melt Down, e-biz News from Japan Message-ID: * * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A weekly roundup of news & information from Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. (http://www.terrielloyd.com) General Edition Monday, Mar 11, 2019, Issue No. 983 - What's New -- The Real Cost of the Fukushima Daiichi Melt Down - News -- U.S. to quintuple bases charges to Japan? - Corrections/Feedback -- Bureaucracy holding Japan back - Travel Picks -- Shochu in Kagoshima, Monkeys in Kyoto - News Credits SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES: http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take, or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ +++ The Real Cost of the Fukushima Daiichi Melt Down Today is the seventh anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, and some days from now for the hydrogen explosions at the Daiichi power plant in Fukushima, which spewed radioactive particles over a large swathe of Fukushima prefecture and as far away as Shizuoka and its green tea plantations. Thus we thought it appropriate to take a look at the cost of cleaning up the mess. The Japan Center for Economic Research (JCER), a Tokyo-based think tank related to the Nikkei newspaper, recently released an update report stating they think the cost of cleaning up the Fukushima Daiichi power plant has now risen to around JPY81trn, if the government persists in its current track of trying to completely remove the tons of melted down nuclear fuel at the bottom of reactors 1, 2, and 3. This is a hugely more expensive estimate than the JPY22trn put forward by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry {METI) some years ago. Why the 370% difference? It seems that the JCER team calculates that the treatment and disposal of contaminated water will be far more costly than the government estimates, to the order of JPY40trn versus JPY8trn. As can easily been seen from aerial photographs, the government cost estimate of JPY8trn for containing the 1.09m tons of contaminated water produced so far (stored in 900 tanks), let alone another 35-40 years (or 200 years, depending on who you talk to) of similar containment, then treatment, then release, does seems unreasonably low. For an overview of the main cost estimation differences between the JCER quote and the METI one: * Decommissioning reactors - JPY11trn(METI - JPY8trn) * Decontamination of site & surrounding areas - JPY20trn (METI - JPY6trn) * Compensation to victims - JPY10trn (METI - JPY8trn) * Treating and disposing contaminated water - JPY40trn (METI - JPY0) The JCER report did say that if the government simply enclosed the failed power plant with a concrete sarcophagus, as was done in Russia, then the remediation cost would probably drop to around JPY35trn. However, the government appears committed to completely remove the nuclear debris and other site contamination, as a show of solidarity with locals who otherwise would never be able to return home. As is so often true with politics, though, this is probably less a case of worrying about a few thousand people in nearby towns than it is a signal to all the other local communities around Japan who have allowed a nuclear power plant to be built nearby. If the worst happens, the government has your back. And so in return, those same local communities are expected to vote for resumption of nuclear power. The JCER report says that these clean up numbers show the true cost of nuclear power and that there needs to be a more serious debate at national level about whether Japan should continue with nuclear. The LDP as the party-of-the-status-quo is unfortunately "married" to the fiefdom structure of Japan's power utilities, who despite incompetence and in some cases criminal liability, remain incredibly powerful politically. Equally unfortunate is that only nuclear offers a sufficiently compact and energy-rich power source so as to allow these entrenched regional elites to not have to share the golden goose with other companies or worse still (in the case of alternative power sources like solar) with the public. This political reality is in addition to the fact that burning hydrocarbons that have to be imported, also makes nuclear compelling from an economic point of view. But what we find interesting is that neither JCER nor METI seem to be trying to quantify the full economic impact of the Daiichi disaster. [Article continues below...] ------ Terrie's Slow-Poke Cycling Tour - Kyushu ------- Last year we threatened to run a cycling tour for readers, but got too busy to actually do it. So this year we're making amends. The first tour, which will happen in the third or fourth week of April (just before Golden Week) will be a 5-6 day ride in Kyushu - most likely in the Nagasaki region. This tour, and a Hokkaido tour in late August or early September, will have a common format. 1. The tours are potluck, not professionally run. No complaining. Jokes and helping each other out are mandatory. 2. There will be no support cars or spare bikes or guides. Instead, we use Google maps and take the most scenic routes to arrive at our hotels each night. 3. Our bags will be relayed by couriers so you can ride light. Yes, we will have inner tubes and other basic spare parts. 4. Terrie is a slow poke, so while we will indeed be covering 80km-100km a day, it will take 6+ hours each day, with plenty of time for lunch, photos, drinks, etc. 5. No hill climbing! Terrie is allergic to tall mountains. 6. Although the rides will run 5-6 days, people wanting to cut out at 3 days will be able to do so. 7. Our bikes will go with us on the Shinkansen. Terrie can show you how to prepare and break your's down for simple transport. 8. If you don't have a road bike, you can rent one at https://www.gsastuto.com/. [Excellent supplier, great prices.] 9. Anyone over 16, any gender, welcome. 10. There will be a JPY20,000 organizing fee per rider. 11. Other costs will all be at cost. Usually this works out to about JPY13,000/day plus Shinkansen tickets. If you're interested in a long, slow, fun, potluck cycling tour in Japan, contact Terrie today and he will work with you and the rest of the group to set the final dates and routes. For more information, email: terrie.lloyd at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] For example, one of the biggest importers of primary produce from Japan is Hong Kong. It's 7.5m people consumed about JPY50bn worth of seafood exported from Japan in 2013 (most recent data we could find), second only after China as a source for product. Of this JPY50bn in sales, none is from Fukushima, because all marine produce from Fukushima is banned from import into the Territory due to radiation fears. The producers in Fukushima have been working mightily to overcome these concerns by checking radiation levels to a degree that no other country does, and for three straight years, levels were well below international limits (the max reading from 6,000 samples annually was 50 becquerels per kilo, versus the government max allowable level of 100 becquerels per kilo), and so it seemed that the marine environment along Fukushima's coastline was recovering. Then, like a bolt from the blue and certainly a reminder just how little control TEPCO has over contamination leakage, a skate fish was caught in January this year that measured 161 becquerels per kilo. Thus, it is highly unlikely that HK or Taiwan, or any of the other 6 countries and regions still banning Fukushima marine products, will relax this ban any time soon. Furthermore, it is also unlikely that urban housewives in Tokyo will want to buy Fukushima marine products for the rest of this year either. Then there is the weird and impenetrable accounting of the prefecture's financial performance. According to the government, the Tohoku Gross Regional Product (GRP) in 2013 was JPY32trn, up 3.3% from the year before, and so one can assume that the impact of the earthquake wasn't that bad. Indeed, the government stats unit offers a note saying the GRP increased "...mainly due to demand driven by reconstruction." What's concerning, though, given that a lot of the Tohoku reconstruction funding will end in 2021, is that if you deduct the spending on reconstruction, which for Fukushima Prefecture alone over the last 6 years has been JPY32trn, you can roughly calculate that by dividing the Tohoku GRP by 3, Fukushima GDP is actually down by about JPY1trn annually over its pre-earthquake performance. We don't understand why this economic impact isn't being built into the JCER/METI estimates. OK, if it's being too harsh blaming all of this fall on the Daiichi power plant, then what about just lopping off the losses for tourism? http://bit.ly/2VMZR4d [Reconstruction costs for Fukushima, as of 2017] Thanks to an awesome introduction from the Safecast.org folks, several of us visited the Fukushima Daiichi plant locale, gaining access to the exclusion zone back in February. To get there, we first had to travel through the previously excluded zones, such as Odaka, the town immediately to the north of the power plant, but which escaped the worst of the fall out in the days immediately following the explosion. We visited locals and discussed the economic situation with them and each place we visited, the story was the same. The young people have left the area with their children and have put down roots in other parts of the country. Thus, in places like Odaka, a "young" person is now someone in their 60's, and the few shops and services that have re-opened are supplied by people of these ages. The population of the area has plummeted from around 30,000 prior to the explosions to around 2,000 people now. To be sure there are some valiant attempts to breathe life back into the area. Just last week the Economist ran a story about an evacuee who returned to Odaka and recently opened up a surf shop there. He states in the article that Odaka has arguably the best waves in Japan (if you stand on the coast near the Fukushima power plant, the wave breaks are actually amazing) and that if not for the melt down at the plant, Odaka would surely have been chosen for the surfing competition for the Tokyo Olympics. Yet another economic loss among many, for the area that isn't in the JCER/METI calculations. The current exclusion area is an ellipse of about 10km x 20km that embodies the wind drift on the day of the reactor housing explosions, and although you can drive right through on Route 6 (opened up several years ago), each byroad is blocked by police and access is restricted to locals and pass holders only. We did in fact score a couple of passes and were guided to a look out right opposite the plant, where an old folks home used to be. Getting so close, you get a clear impression of just how vast the tank farm is, and how much more it is going to cost to deal with another 35-200 years of contaminated water. In Japan, according to IEEJ, the rough cost of producing power by nuclear is around JPY6 per kilowatt hour, while the cost of oil-fired electricity is about JPY9 per kilowatt hour (LNG is apparently only JPY4 but conversions are needed to run the new fuel), wind is JPY10, and solar is about JPY30. Japan consumes about 858 Terawatt (TW) hours of electricity annually, meaning that it is costing the country an extra JPY700bn (about US$6.2bn) to not be using nuclear and using oil instead. In fact, LNG is half the price of nuclear, so the case could be made to simply switch all nuclear to LNG to save money. Comparing this against the clean up, Japan could use imported oil for another 20+ years and still be cheaper than having another nuclear power station accident of this magnitude, while using LNG would be a permanently cheaper solution. So this is really the true cost of using nuclear in such a geologically unstable country as Japan. Also not included in the JCER or METI calculations is the health impact on the local population. Much has been made of the fact that there has been little increase in cancer deaths and therefore the impact on physical health appears to have been minimal. In terms of psychological health on the other hand, the mere thought of the Daiichi power plant and possible radiation contamination still induces fear in a prefectural population of 1,862,705 This fear has been strong enough to drive 115,458 people, about 6% of the population, to leave the prefecture permanently. Also, while cancer deaths have been downplayed, we had a personal reminder that even at 14.5uSv (microseiverts) per hour which we experienced within the restricted zone (500m from the plant) is still not healthy. One of us, with a previously healed skin cancer wound on the wrist coincidentally experienced a suddenly red swelling and itching of that same skin area that lasted for a week before subsiding after return to Tokyo. Maybe just a coincidence, but then again, maybe not - and we were only in the restricted zone for a couple of hours. ...The information janitors/ ***------------------------****-------------------------*** ------ German-speaking Travel Consultant Internship ------- Japan Travel KK (www.japantravel.com) is experiencing strong growth of its German desk for inbound travelers to Japan, and we are looking for a German-English speaking intern to join the team, with a view of transitioning to a full-time position and work visa in Japan. The internship will be for a minimum 3 months and a maximum of 6 months, after which there will be a management and peer review. You can be either a student who needs to do an internship to meet academic course requirements, or you can be a person in the workforce thinking to reset your life and location. Apart from German you should be able to speak basic English and/or Japanese (either is OK). The type of work you'll be doing is assisting German customers wanting to plan trips to Japan. This would include the following: * Responding to incoming leads and conversing (usually email/chat) with customers * Researching accommodation, transport, activities, diet preferences/availability, entertainment, guides, and other things that travelers require * Using our quotation and itinerary systems to produce the customer materials * Interacting with customers and consulting them on choices and areas of concern * Translation of content about destinations * Writing original content (articles) about destinations and activities * Assisting us with German social media For more details: jerome.lee at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ NEWS - Size of freelance market in Japan is surprising - Chinese government crackdown on luxury goods hurts sales in Japan - Facial recognition at pachinko parlors? - U.S. to quintuple bases charges to Japan? - Fukushima produce still feared abroad => Size of freelance market in Japan is surprising Some interesting stats coming out of one of Japan's two largest freelancer marketplaces recently. According to Lancers' here are over 1m freelancer workers in the country, up 5% on 2017, and that a further 20m people are doing freelance or moonlighting work. Officially, the number of people who pay tax on a second job is about 7m people, around 11% of the workforce. This compares to about 20% of the U.S. workforce having second jobs. ***Ed: This pretty much points to the fact that while Japanese companies are restricting salary increases for their staff, enterprising (or desperate) employees are making up for it by leaving the office early so they can check in to their after hours jobs.** (Source: TT commentary from forbes.com, Mar 09, 2019) http://bit.ly/2SVtVZB => Chinese government crackdown on luxury goods hurts sales in Japan Chinese New Year is usually a peak selling period for Japanese department stores targeting Chinese tourists looking to fill their suitcases for friends and family back home - but not this year. Instead, spending per shopper fell 8.4% to JPY63,000 as Chinese customs authorities started cracking down on luxury spending abroad. In particular, the border authorities are checking the bags of regular travelers who don't have a visible means of income matching declared goods. These shop-and-carry freelance agents for consumers back home are known as "Daigou" and account for a large portion of luxury imports made by Chinese travelers returning home. It's estimated that there are up to 200,000 amateur Daigou resident in Japan (i.e., most of the students studying here). Worldwide the Chinese spend about US$294bn while traveling, about 33% of overall tourist shopping. (Source: TT commentary from asia.nikkei.com, Mar 09, 2019) https://s.nikkei.com/2F1uduu => Facial recognition at pachinko parlors? Although it won't be law (yet) the government is going to request horse racing, boat and bicycle racing, and pachinko operators to install facial recognition systems at their entry points, to detect gambling addicts and restrict admission to them. The facial recognition systems would be connected to a central database that sets a maximum that a person can spend at each outing. In addition, the new guidelines will remove ATMs from gambling sites and require operators to modify their advertising messaging, so as to not encourage addicts. ***Ed: Sounds like it could be a good system, but apart from the Japan Racing Association (JRA), which governs horse racing and which is concerned about public image, we doubt that most pachinko parlor operators are going to do more than pay lip service to this. The LDP's coalition partner needs to push the government harder to pass a law with teeth if they really want to curb gambling addiction.** (Source: TT commentary from japantimes.co.jp, Mar 08, 2019) http://bit.ly/2EQZ4bF => U.S. to quintuple bases charges to Japan? The Trump government has come up with a new way to extract cash from its allies, in the form of charging more for maintaining armed forces in Japan, South Korea, and Germany. The new charge rate is dubbed "Cost Plus 50", and will require each host country to cover the full cost of maintaining U.S. troops in their jurisdiction PLUS a 50% premium for the privilege. Apparently the idea is mostly Trump's, who brought it up at South Korea on his visit there. His staff have tried to tamp down the idea which apparently sent ?shock waves through the departments of Defense and State.? ***Ed: While it is true that Japan and other countries receive significant confidence from the armed presence that the U.S. provides, if faced with an extra JPY2trn in fees it's likely the Japanese (and other countries) may simply ask the U.S. to reduce its presence. Rather than boots on the ground anyway, what the Japanese really want is the nuclear umbrella. If the U.S. pushes too hard it risks encouraging Japan to step up its own rearmament, as well as removing an "unsinkable air craft carrier" forward base. The same situation applies to Germany, whose Ramstein air force base serves a critically strategic role in the Middle Eastern and East European theaters.** (Source: TT commentary from stripes.com, Mar 08, 2019) http://bit.ly/2TFYXZY => Fukushima produce still feared abroad Although the government and primary produce authorities have had a thorough food quality checking process in place for years now, the mere name of Fukushima as the prefecture the products are sourced from prevents food exports to China, Hong Kong, the United States, Taiwan and South Korea and 3 other countries/regions. In particular the restrictions to distribution to Hong Kong hurt, as the territory is otherwise the largest importer of Japanese primary produce - paying top dollar for what it regards as Japanese quality. While the number of countries banning Fukushima produce is well down from the peak of 54 countries following the Daichi power plant disaster, the image that Fukushima is stuck with of being an irradiated danger zone still persists. In a recent consumer perception survey a full 77% of Chinese respondents ?actively avoided? food from Japan, 54% did so from Taiwan, 29% from the U.S. and 26% from the U.K. ***Ed: Of course it has to be said that this is not a foreign phenomenon. Most people we know still actively avoid anything grown in Fukushima, even though it's pretty clear that most if not all produce passing inspection is now safe to eat. We don't see this situation changing for at least a generation. Yet another cost caused by the Fukushima disaster.** (Source: TT commentary from the-japan-news.com, Mar 10, 2019) http://bit.ly/2IZTHMv NOTE: Broken links Some online news sources remove their articles after just a few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we apologize for the inconvenience. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ UPCOMING EVENTS No upcoming events this week. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** --------- Japan Travel Corporate Travel Services ---------- Japan Travel's Type-2 licensed travel agency business is one Japan's few independent foreign-owned inbound DMCs. One of our specialties is looking after corporate groups of 10-300 people. To date we have assisted in the successful holding of training events, incentive travel, conferences, off-sites, and team bonding programs. We have looked after the full gamut of services, such as: international air travel, hotels, local travel, event logistics and venues, entertainment, micro-management of dietary needs, and special needs customers. We are highly motivated and are happy to work in a variety of roles tailored to suit your needs: as a full-fledged corporate travel agency partner, as a logistics partner for a particular issue, or as a source of innovative experiences and venues. Looking after hard-to-please high-tech groups is our specialty! For corporate travel assistance, contact us at: tours at japantravel.com. Or visit our pages at: http://japantravel.co.jp/en/about/travel-agency/ ----------------------------------------------------------- ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ CORRECTIONS/FEEDBACK => In Terrie's Take 982 we gave an update on vacation rentals and how the government managed to kill a useful tourism sector. A reader in the tourism real estate business writes about the hopelessness of Kasumigaseki bureaucracy even in the remotest parts of the country. **** Reader: Thanks so much for your journalism and providing a viewpoint that the the mass media doesn't give us. My business experience in Japan has been good mainly because of my real estate investments. However, my Number One reason for lack of expansion and general frustration has always been the government's restrictive regulation or apathy towards any new ideas. They have one standard answer to any request out of the ordinary, which is "NO" or on a slightly more subtle level, "It's not our department." Even for stuff that isn't out of the ordinary, finding a government office that will take responsibility is almost impossible. Here are a couple of examples from my local area of Niseko, Hokkaido. Approval of a adventure-based tree tops rope course I had planned at a nearby forest was withheld 14 years ago for no particular reason. Then, as soon as another adventure company working closely with Tokyu Resort, a massive real estate developer, applied, their project was approved in record time - in the same area that I applied for, no less...! Perhaps of more importance to the community is the problem Niseko visitors have getting taxis. Every winter there is a shortage, and as a result holiday makers have to rent a car, which they naturally park on the side of the road most of the time, blocking traffic around hotels and short-term rental properties. It would make SO much more sense if Uber or Grab were allowed to operate here. Lastly, it's getting extremely difficult for property owners in Niseko to recruit local staff and/or to sponsor in foreign skilled staff - especially operations managers. As a result, I have seen so many local businesses either give up their growth plans or in some cases simply give up on opening in Niseko in the first place. Given that most of the customers here are non-Japanese, how does this restrictiveness help Japan in any way? ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ TRAVEL DESTINATIONS PICKS => Shirakane Ishigura Museum, Kagoshima Exploring a shochu distillery There are few places better to taste and learn about shochu (the Japanese alcohol typically made from rice, barley, sweet potatoes, buckwheat or brown sugar) than Kagoshima. In the southern part of Kyushu, the sweet potato is the base ingredient of choice and there are hundreds of distillers offering tours, tastings, and varieties for sale. In Aira, near Kagoshima Airport, Shirakane Shuzou Co., Ltd. has been distilling shochu at its family ishigura (stone storage house) since 1869. Steeped in history, the ishigura was declared a tangible cultural property in 2001 and today is the site of a museum offering opportunities to experience shochu culture firsthand. For residents of Kagoshima, shochu is an iconic local specialty product, and the museum?s engaging exhibits explain why. A series of displays, artifacts and models show the prefecture?s history of sweet potato imports and how this led to the practice of making and drinking shochu. It also details Shirakane Ishigura?s traditional manufacturing process. But the ishigura itself is not only famous for its shochu. It was also the resting place for local samurai who revolted against the imperial government in the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. Their leader, Saigo Takamori, bought shochu from Shirakane Shuzou Co., Ltd. to energize his soldiers and to use it as antiseptic for the wounded. http://bit.ly/2XLfBGZ => Monkey Park Iwatayama in Kyoto Feed, walk with snow monkeys year round "Don?t stare into the monkeys? eyes." This is sound advice before visiting Kyoto?s monkey park: a mountainside where I hiked among wild monkeys, merely a visitor to their home. After hearing about Monkey Park Iwatayama (sometimes it has an Arashiyama in the name), it was an attraction I knew I had to see while in Kyoto in April. The park is located in Arashiyama, one of Kyoto?s busiest tourist areas, and is easily accessible by train. It boasts about 120 snow monkeys, which are also called ?Japanese macaque.? They are native to Japan, and, yes, these are the type of monkeys seen in iconic photos bathing at hot springs in winter. While the monkeys are human-fed (even tourists have a chance to feed them), they are still wild, the park assures. The ?don?t stare? and "don?t touch" warnings should be followed, though, I witnessed the friendlier monkeys come just centimeters away from visitors. http://bit.ly/2tZXXBm ***------------------------****-------------------------*** *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 6,046 members as of March 10, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Mon Mar 18 17:26:00 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Mon, 18 Mar 2019 17:26:00 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 984 (Tourism Edition) - The Winners and Losers in the Inbound Travel Boom Message-ID: * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S (TOURISM) TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A bi-weekly focused look at the tourism sector in Japan, by Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. ( http://www.terrielloyd.com) Tourism Sector Edition Monday, Mar 18, 2019, Issue No. 984 SUBSCRIBE to, UNSUBSCRIBE from Terrie's Take at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie +++ The Winners and Losers in the Inbound Travel Boom Now that we are into the sixth year of Japan's amazing inbound tourism boom, it has become quite clear who the winners and losers are among of the nation's regional destinations. The winners are those few iconic spots that draw such lop-sided numbers of visitors they are bursting at the seams, while the losers, often towns and cities only a few kilometers away, are constantly struggling to acquire foreign visitors, no matter how much money they throw at marketing. Think of Kyoto vs. Nara, or Osaka vs. Kobe, or Kamakura vs. Odawara. What makes a winner and what are the common issues for the losers? These are fundamental questions that the government and the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) need to figure out and take action on if they are to spread the benefits of inbound tourism to the whole nation. Let's recap some human psychology basics about why people want to travel in the first place. A. Push Factors (intrinsic desires of individual travelers) * Rest and relaxation - Okinawa and islands * Escape - Immersive locations like Kyoto * Prestige - UNESCO World Heritage sites like Shiretoko and Yakushima * Social Interaction - Pretty much any place, but you need some Japanese language skills outside the major cities * Adventure - Powder skiing is a huge draw for people visiting Niseko * Health & Fitness - Winning a Japanese marathon is doable, and luckily there are many sports events around the country * Culture - Kyoto, Nara, places with events like Aomori's Nebuta festival * Learning - Pretty much any place with strong skills repository, such as Saitama for Bonsai, Arita for pottery * Religion - Mt. Koya, Ohenro in Shikoku, and other Zen Buddhism experiences * Business - Big Five: Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe B. Pull Factors (assets and tangible resources of each destination) * Affordable, safe, convenient, and value for money * Scenic beauty and eco-tourism * Events and activities with strong appeal * Infrastructure and resources to support entertainment, shopping, and nightlife * Purpose-made tourist attractions such as amusement and theme parks (Universal gets more than 2m visitors a year) * Well-preserved, well-presented, accessible history and culture * Food * Exotic atmosphere * Adventure experiences and facilities I think we can distill these even further - to give us 3 major motivators why 90% of people travel to Japan's most iconic destinations: a) They are first-time visitors and want to get a "Disneyland-eseque" potpourri of experiences that is immersive and represents their notion of what Japan should be. b) They are drawn by natural beauty and authentically preserved locations, and seek out spots that measure up on a global level. As hinted in the list, UNESCO World Heritage sites are a good guide to destination quality (or, sometimes, to the politics of that organization) c) They are drawn by consumerism, mostly in the form of food and shopping. So naturally they congregate to the locations that offer the best selections, the best bargains, and generally the greatest convenience. As our earlier list suggests, there are of course many other reasons for coming to Japan, but these are more subtle motivators that I think only kick in once the traveler has been to Japan several times and the initial shock and wonder of the place has worn off. By this time the traveler is no longer amazed by everything they see and taste, and instead they are capable of more analytical thinking. From basic necessity they will have gained some language skills which allow a deeper more meaningful interaction with the locals, and this gives them the confidence to get off the beaten track. In fact, for regional destinations outside the iconic shortlist, repeat visitors are the single biggest and most important market to target. Our three primary motivators allow us to generalize about the winners and losers as follows. a) First-time visitors have a limited number of days in the country, although this is predicated by where those people live. Asians generally have less disposable income and certainly less free holiday time, and so their trips tend to be shorter (3-5 days) and more intense - making them similar to the Japanese. That's why it's been easy so far for existing tourist operators to target Taiwanese, Koreans, and Chinese travelers. "Intense" means lots of shopping, splurging on expensive meals, and eye-candy site seeing. Kyoto counts as eye candy. So does Kamikochi. [Article continues below...] ------ Terrie's Slow-Poke Cycling Tour - Kyushu ------- Last year we threatened to run a cycling tour for readers, but got too busy to actually do it. So this year we're making amends. The first tour, which will happen in the third or fourth week of April (just before Golden Week) will be a 5-6 day ride in Kyushu - most likely in the Nagasaki region. This tour, and a Hokkaido tour in late August or early September, will have a common format. 1. The tours are potluck, not professionally run. No complaining. Jokes and helping each other out are mandatory. 2. There will be no support cars or spare bikes or guides. Instead, we use Google maps and take the most scenic routes to arrive at our hotels each night. 3. Our bags will be relayed by couriers so you can ride light. Yes, we will have inner tubes and other basic spare parts. 4. Terrie is a slow poke, so while we will indeed be covering 80km-100km a day, it will be take 6+ hours each day, with plenty of time for lunch, photos, drinks, etc. 5. No hill climbing! Terrie is allergic to tall mountains. 6. Although the rides will run 5-6 days, people wanting to cut out at 3 days will be able to do so. 7. Our bikes will go with us on the Shinkansen. Terrie can show you how to prepare and break your's down for simple transport. 8. If you don't have a road bike, you can rent one at https://www.gsastuto.com/. [Excellent supplier, great prices.] 9. Anyone over 16, any gender, welcome. 10. There will be a JPY20,000 organizing fee per rider. 11. Other costs will all be at cost. Usually this works out to about JPY13,000/day plus Shinkansen tickets. If you're interested in a long, slow, fun, potluck cycling tour in Japan, contact Terrie today and he will work with you and the rest of the group to set the final dates and routes. For more information, email: terrie.lloyd at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] Practically speaking this means that after these first-timers have put Tokyo and Kyoto on their bucket list, visitors will only have a spare couple of days to spend somewhere else - usually a destination in between or tacked on to one end. This is why Nikko, Kamakura, Osaka, and Hida-Takayama have become popular. They are either convenient add-ons or practical entry/exit points on an open-jaw trip. It is difficult for other destinations to breach this "Golden Route" and that's why I always advise secondary prefectures to forget about first-timers. That said, locations such as Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Hyogo, etc., should at least try to bleed off some of the traffic sitting at their doorstep. Why they don't start subsidizing day trip bus tours (or low-cost round-trip train tickets as Odakyu does with Hakone) is a mystery to me. b) Natural beauty is a top motivator for travelers the world over. Unfortunately, because of the intensive bombings in WWII followed by Japan's obsession with concrete, convenience, and destroy-and-rebuild urban renewal, there is very little of the country that would qualify as visually attractive or authentic any more. So it's no wonder that those parts that are still intact are now top tourist draws. The Nakasendo post towns, Hida-Takayama, Shirakawa/Gero, Kamikochi, Miyama (north of Kyoto City), Mt. Fuji, Kakunodate, Shiretoko, Yakushima, and Miyakojima all qualify as off-the-beaten track locations that are powerful enough to pull tourists away from the convenience of the Golden Route and which are all experiencing strong growth. The problem for aspiring destinations, clearly, is that they are hobbled by ugly scenery and widespread destruction of their historical places. There is no easy solution for this, as the cost of recreating a meaningful number of traditional buildings is far beyond the budget and willpower of most regional cities to bear. Instead, a national structural change has to happen. For example, the government could start channeling serious funding into at least one iconic location per prefecture around the country. Tourists expect and Japan needs to deliver a lot more picturesque narrow streets, traditional villages, thatched roofs, flowing waterways, and natural coastline and rivers. If this sounds difficult, remember that I am not suggesting a wholesale makeover for the entire country, just one iconic location per prefecture that can be used to draw visitors in. My suggestion would be a minimum government budget of JPY10bn per location, one per prefecture - this would be about 10 years worth of the new tourist tax. Or, better still, to do what Italy did in the 1990's and make agri-tourism spending by farmers as tax deductible as farming itself. In Italy over the 20 years following their legislative changes, farmers all over the country pulled down the cheap post-WWII fibro and concrete structures and replaced them with real wood and stone -- all financed at low rates. Mass national awareness of a return to "slow tourism" could be extremely powerful and even capture the imagination of young people who until now have been fleeing the countryside. c) My third distillation is "Consumerism", which is one of the biggest selling points of Japan and is led by its food culture. Just about every city around the world now has one or more Japanese restaurants, and these are now as ubiquitous as Chinese and Indian cuisine. Ironically many of these eateries are not run by Japanese people at all, but so long as guests are drawn by the menus it is still a "win" for Japan and an incremental recruitment of yet another traveler to see and taste the real thing in the future. After food, we can add anime/manga, samurai tales, automobiles, any made-in-Japan electronic gadget, clothing, and machinery. Here the challenge for smaller destinations is that Japan's major gateway cities (for air travel) are also its main shopping meccas - especially for first-time tourists who are experiencing sensory overload. Perhaps for repeat tourists, the nuances of local foods provide an attraction to go to secondary locations, such as a trek to Suruga Bay for a particular type of shrimp, but this level of subtlety is niche and is generally lost on foreigners. One shrimp tastes pretty much the same as another (sashimi afficionados excepted) and I've lost track of how many times I've had to explain to local tourism planners that while their sea food may be the "best in Japan", foreign tourists don't get it. Instead, the appeal needs to be to something very identifiable and rich in sensory value. A festival with strong visual appeal such as the Nebuta festival in Aomori is worth a hundred new season squid markets in Miyagi. So this all boils down to the need to provide tourists with what they want, not what local communities think they can do. Disney, Universal, and even Robot Restaurant understand this dynamic very well, and they focus on immersive, illusionary escape and stimulation even though they have to spend significant sums on the "software" (story line, characters, etc.) and on the physical details (castles, dungeons, etc.). Likewise, Walk Japan and Oku Japan use the Nakasendo by supplementing it with excellent copywriting, imagery, curation, and tour guiding in a similar fashion. Unfortunately, one huge blockage to offering what tourists actually want is "Omotenashi" - a cringeworthy concept that supposedly means "entertaining guests wholeheartedly". While lots of bowing and turned up toilet roll ends may appeal to Japanese travelers who love minutae, most foreign visitors would simply be happy having more places that take credit cards, being able to eat lunch after 2 pm, and getting better bread selections. Omotenashi as it is being delivered currently is rigid, formulaic, and divorced from what foreign guests actually want. **************** Lastly, many thanks to the readers who pointed out that March 11 this year was the 8th, not 7th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake. One of the problems with putting out the newsletter late at night is embarrassing slip ups... :-) ...The information janitors/ *********************************************************** --------- Japan Travel Corporate Travel Services ---------- Japan Travel's Type-2 licensed travel agency business is one Japan's few independent foreign-owned inbound DMCs. One of our specialties is looking after corporate groups of 10-300 people. To date we have assisted in the successful holding of training events, incentive travel, conferences, off-sites, and team bonding programs. We have looked after the full gamut of services, such as: international air travel, hotels, local travel, event logistics and venues, entertainment, micro-management of dietary needs, and special needs customers. We are highly motivated and are happy to work in a variety of roles tailored to suit your needs: as a full-fledged corporate travel agency partner, as a logistics partner for a particular issue, or as a source of innovative experiences and venues. Looking after hard-to-please high-tech groups is our specialty! For corporate travel assistance, contact us at: tours at japantravel.com. Or visit our pages at: http://japantravel.co.jp/en/about/travel-agency/ ----------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 6,044 members as of Mar 18, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Mon Mar 25 21:07:41 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2019 21:07:41 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 985 - More Genetic Changes in Our Food Supply, e-Biz News from Japan Message-ID: * * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A weekly roundup of news & information from Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. (http://www.terrielloyd.com) General Edition Monday, Mar 25, 2019, Issue No. 985 - What's New -- More Genetic Changes in Our Food Supply - News -- Japan Olympic head to be scapegoated? - Events -- Cybersecurity for Non-technical Managers - Corrections/Feedback -- Correction on Chinese tourist spending - Travel Picks -- Wolf spirits in Chichibu, Mukojima-Hyakkaen in Sumida - News Credits SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES: http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take, or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ +++ More Genetic Changes in Our Food Supply Last week Japan took a step closer to allowing genetically edited plants and animals into our food chain. An advisory panel to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW), decided that gene-edited foods are safe for the public to eat and are fundamentally different to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) foodstuffs that have gained so much negative publicity here. The panel met as a consequence of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) deciding this year that gene-edited foods can be reported on a voluntary basis and therefore do not need special regulation. According to the FDA, many gene-editing firms are in the process of consulting with them and those that do have a safety protocol to follow. Likewise, the Japanese have said that any gene-editing techniques used in the local food industry would also need to meet certain criteria, although they didn't say what these are. Probably because they are waiting for the FDA to issue it's own guidelines later this year...! [Ed: Do we see a tail wagging a dog somewhere?] * FDA advance policy paper: http://bit.ly/2U7vqIP [FDA website] * There is a Japanese-only draft of the report (not the final yet), here: http://bit.ly/2U7VTpB [MHLW website] Needless to say, the panel's decision hasn't been met with enthusiasm by consumer groups, that feel gene-editing is just another attempt by the same people who wanted to introduce GMO foods into Japan 20 years ago. Their concerns would be heightened by the fact that the European Union's (EU) highest court came to the exact opposite decision about gene editing in June of last year. In that landmark case, the court said that gene editing is still the artificial manipulation of genes and therefore while the risks are not yet apparent they could be just as insidious and unstoppable as GMO modified plants are perceived to be. So CRISPR-Cas9 edited food experiments need to go through the same lengthy and complex approvals process that GMO products do - essentially killing the commercial incentive for researchers and ensuring the technique won't be adopted in the EU. So what is the difference between gene modification and gene editing, that makes the Japanese science panel willing to support the technology? Fundamentally gene modification involves introducing foreign genetic material into a given gene, to give that plant (or animal) new characteristics that don't exist in nature. For example, a tomato that has a built-in pesticide. On the other hand, gene editing involves taking an existing gene and clipping (modifying) it with CRISPR so as to either remove some material or to cause it to regenerate. An example of this might be an effort to breed wheat that produces high fiber flour for gut health - which is a real U.S. product that Calyxt will be marketing in 2020. [Article continues below...] ------ Terrie's Slow-Poke Cycling Tour - Kyushu ------- Last year we threatened to run a cycling tour for readers, but got too busy to actually do it. So this year we're making amends. The first tour, which will happen in the third or fourth week of April (just before Golden Week) will be a 5-6 day ride in Kyushu - most likely in the Nagasaki region. This tour, and a Hokkaido tour in late August or early September, will have a common format. 1. The tours are potluck, not professionally run. No complaining. Jokes and helping each other out are mandatory. 2. There will be no support cars or spare bikes or guides. Instead, we use Google maps and take the most scenic routes to arrive at our hotels each night. 3. Our bags will be relayed by couriers so you can ride light. Yes, we will have inner tubes and other basic spare parts. 4. Terrie is a slow poke, so while we will indeed be covering 80km-100km a day, it will take 6+ hours each day, with plenty of time for lunch, photos, drinks, etc. 5. No hill climbing! Terrie is allergic to tall mountains. 6. Although the rides will run 5-6 days, people wanting to cut out at 3 days will be able to do so. 7. Our bikes will go with us on the Shinkansen. Terrie can show you how to prepare and break your's down for simple transport. 8. If you don't have a road bike, you can rent one at https://www.gsastuto.com/. [Excellent supplier, great prices.] 9. Anyone over 16, any gender, welcome. 10. There will be a JPY20,000 organizing fee per rider. 11. Other costs will all be at cost. Usually this works out to about JPY13,000/day plus Shinkansen tickets. If you're interested in a long, slow, fun, potluck cycling tour in Japan, contact Terrie today and he will work with you and the rest of the group to set the final dates and routes. For more information, email: terrie.lloyd at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] The issue seems to be not in the immediate safety of gene edited foods, which until now seem stable and mostly indistinguishable from the original material. In fact, gene editing scientists explain their technology for the rest of us (otherwise we couldn't have written this) by comparing gene editing results as being similar to natural or forced (but legal) mutations of plant strains that already happen in the labs and nurseries all over the world. The difference is that you don't need to wait 20 to 30 years to see if a cross breeding or forced mutation has worked. Instead with CRISPR the results come in a single season. The issue, rather, appears to be the fact that gene editing with CRISPR is new, unknown, untested across generations and communities, and could have unexpected consequences in the future. For example, a plant variety is made more resistant to a particular disease that targets it, but while the gene-edited plant itself is still safe to eat, the absence of that variation in our diets could cause a secondary change in how our immune system conditions itself. Yes, this is the same consequence as regular breeding, but the fear is that it is happening much more quickly and specifically, which somehow usurps Mother Nature. (This fear that is not very scientific, as scientists frequently point out.) So the EU has decided it's not worth the risk. It's not well known that GMO products are also legal in Japan, as approved almost 20 years ago by a similar group of scientists advising the ministry. To plant GMO a farm needs to meet the strict but not impossible requirements set out in the "Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity Through Regulations on the Use of Genetically Modified Organisms - Cartagena Act" (yeah, it's a mouthful) passed in 2003. The fact that we don't see GMO plantings here is because of the extreme negativity that Japanese consumers have towards what they view as contamination of their food supply. The one exception is ornamental flowers - GMO blue roses are legally grown in Japan. But the great irony is that even as there are almost no GMO plantings, Japan is also one of the world's largest importers of GMO food grown elsewhere. For example, in 2015, 11.8m tons of corn and 2.33m tons of soy were imported from the U.S. and over 90% is believed to have been GMO product - and that is data from the agriculture ministry. The Japanese have history of genetically modified foods with unintended consequences, and we're not referring to the highly controversial bee colony collapse disorder (CCD) - which may or may not be a catastrophe depending on whose data you use. Rather, a better facts-based case (but still debatable) was in the 1980s when chemicals conglomerate Showa Denko used a new method to produce tryptophan using genetically engineered bacteria in the fermentation process. Tryptophan is a protein-building amino acid often used as a dietary supplement and also for treating depression. After some consumers took the product there was an outbreak of eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS), a sometimes fatal flu-like condition, that was traced back to the Showa Denko product. The fact that the tryptophan was genetically modified caused public alarm and the product was quickly discontinued. Later, scientists offered up an alternative explanation that an oversupply of tryptophan itself could have been the problem, where it has been shown that large doses can create an excess of histamines in the body, which in turn can cause EMS. Whichever explanation is correct, GMO or poor assimilation, the damage was done and for the Japanese public this was the first serious finger-pointing towards the dangers of GMO. The potential of gene-edited food products is huge, both commercially and for health improvement, but just as scientists internationally are telling us to go slow and test stem cell therapies properly, we believe that Japan should err on the side of caution until extensive studies have been done on gene editing as well. While public antipathy has dealt a death knell to GMO plantings, people are happily chowing down on GMO bread and noodles, and so perhaps this is the same direction that gene editing will go. It will be allowed, and thus Japanese scientists will not be held back if there are commercial breakthroughs to be made, but the first country these new plants will call home is most likely going to be the USA, with consequent exports back to Japan. It's hard to argue that this isn't beneficial to Japanese academia, since the IP license revenues will probably be many times more profitable than actual farming here anyway. It (and the stem cells stampede going on) could also make Japan a new destination for European scientists who want a stable and unfettered environment in which to conduct research and commercialize the results. Certainly this should be a green light for Japanese academic institutions such as the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) to send their recruiters to Europe to attract gene editing scientists there who have had their efforts effectively shut down. http://bit.ly/2uuuJe4 [OIST faculty members are an excellent international mix] ...The information janitors/ ***------------------------****-------------------------*** ------ German-speaking Travel Consultant Internship ------- Japan Travel KK (www.japantravel.com) is experiencing strong growth of its German desk for inbound travelers to Japan, and we are looking for a German-English speaking intern to join the team, with a view of transitioning to a full-time position and work visa in Japan. The internship will be for a minimum 3 months and a maximum of 6 months, after which there will be a management and peer review. You can be either a student who needs to do an internship to meet academic course requirements, or you can be a person in the workforce thinking to reset your life and location. Apart from German you should be able to speak basic English and/or Japanese (either is OK). The type of work you'll be doing is assisting German customers wanting to plan trips to Japan. This would include the following: * Responding to incoming leads and conversing (usually email/chat) with customers * Researching accommodation, transport, activities, diet preferences/availability, entertainment, guides, and other things that travelers require * Using our quotation and itinerary systems to produce the customer materials * Interacting with customers and consulting them on choices and areas of concern * Translation of content about destinations * Writing original content (articles) about destinations and activities * Assisting us with German social media For more details: jerome.lee at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ NEWS - U.S. forces Japan to dump Iranian oil suppliers - First crypto court case in Japan, for hacking youth - Ichiro resigns, ANA honors him in a unique way - Japan Olympic head to be scapegoated? - Japan's Sunwolves axing a political in-fight? => U.S. forces Japan to dump Iranian oil suppliers It's been interesting to see how Japan was allowed to continue trading under the U.S. sanctions radar for years, bringing Iranian crude oil in for local consumption. However, it appears that the Trump administration is looking for reasons to smack Japan hard for non-compliance, and so the nation's major importers have said that they will cease trading oil from Iran from October. Notifications from the U.S. have apparently been at multiple levels - from the actual oil traders all the way up to the banks providing shipment financing. The effective ban on Iran won't have much effect though, as only about 5% of crude imports are from that country. ***Ed: This is a good example of how the U.S. can easily influence Japan's foreign and national trading policies. We always find it strange that the Trump administration doesn't put more pressure on Tokyo, of the same kind, to improve market access for U.S. products. Especially since diplomacy doesn't seem that important any more - take the opportunity while you can.** (Source: TT commentary from asia.nikkei.com, Mar 19, 2019) https://s.nikkei.com/2Tz6p5e => First crypto court case in Japan, for hacking youth Surprising as it may seem, given that Japan has so far had almost JPY100bn in losses through hacking of cryptocurrency exchanges, the first defendant to have been caught in a hack is appearing in court just this month. Not only had the individual managed to steal a mere JPY15m of coins (a tiny amount compared to the professional hits of the last few years) from a crypto site called Monappy, he is only 18 and therefore will be charged as a youth not an adult - meaning that the sentence is likely to be a lot lighter. The Tochigi hacker found a way to send multiple transfers of coins to his account, which he then laundered on another cryptocurrency site. ***Ed: Interesting to see this news article also mention that Mark Karpeles, who was the CEO of Mt. Gox, Japan's most famous hacked site, was found innocent of embezzlement and breach of trust, and thus escaped jail. Instead, he was accused of post-hack manipulation of Mt. Gox's data, which earned him a 2 1/2 year suspended sentence. Finally a free man.** (Source: TT commentary from coindesk.com, Mar 15, 2019) http://bit.ly/2YhLxmi => Ichiro resigns, ANA honors him in a unique way In case you haven't heard, Japan's most famous baseball players overseas, Ichiro Suzuki, retired from professional baseball last week, at the age of 51. Ichiro returned to Seattle on Friday after a stint in Japan (no doubt to assure his sponsors that he's still available), and on leaving from Narita, ANA had a nice little surprise for him. They changed the usual Seattle-bound gate number from 58b to Gate 51, in honor of the shirt number he used to wear when at the Seattle Mariners. A big crowd showed up to see him off. ***Ed: Although Ichiro should probably have retired about 5 years ago, while still at a relative peak, it's great to see such a savvy guy milk his commercial endorsements to ensure a decent retirement package. You can't go anywhere in Japan recently without seeing his face. In 2012, Forbes reported that Ichiro was No. 4 in the U.S. baseball league in terms of earnings, with US$24.5m that particular year. Back then, his Japanese endorsements were worth US$7m a year... Probably a lot more in the last couple of years.** (Source: TT commentary from japantimes.co.jp, Mar 22, 2019) http://bit.ly/2JAmurx => Japan Olympic head to be scapegoated? Japan's Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda has announced that he will resign the position in June, to take responsibility for any possible fall-out to come as French authorities probe his involvement in a payments scandal that we have reported before. At the core of the scandal are payments of about $2m made to the Singapore-based company associated with the son of a disgraced Olympic official who has separately been accused of fixing the awarding of the 2016 Olympics to Rio. Tokyo of course was awarded the 2020 summer Games. ***Ed: Takeda maintains that he is innocent, but with the possibility of the games being moved somewhere else if the allegations stick (although somewhat unlikely at this late stage), it appears he is going to take the fall for what must have been a group decision to pay the "consulting" fees. It's never been adequately explained just what the "consulting" was. FYI, the Tokyo Olympics will wind up costing US$25bn, about 3 times more than original estimates - we wonder why there isn't an investigation into that?** (Source: TT commentary from npr.org, Mar 19, 2019) https://n.pr/2Ft2KAz => Japan's Sunwolves axing a political in-fight? Interesting article in the Kyodo News about the real reason the Japanese Super Rugby team, the Sunwolves, was axed from the SANZAAR competition. We thought they were playing reasonably well even if they are dead last in the Australia conference (having won just one less game than the second last team). According to the writer, the axing of the Sunwolves is a case of politics as well as an unfair costing policy towards the Japanese, whereby they were being charged fees that none of the other teams have to pay. The article says that the main political pressure came from South Africa, which was none too happy about Japan's backing of France to host the next Rugby World Cup in 2023 over South Africa. ***Ed: Perhaps no coincidence that Dentsu is planning a locally run league involving other international teams, and run in conjunction with the big sports agency CSM?** (Source: TT commentary from kyodonews.net, Mar 23, 2019) http://bit.ly/2HFpm4p NOTE: Broken links Some online news sources remove their articles after just a few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we apologize for the inconvenience. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ UPCOMING EVENTS => Cybersecurity for Non-technical Managers Jonathan Siegel presents "Cyber self-defense: When to worry and how to stay vigilant?. If Facebook privacy, data breaches and ransomware have gotten your attention, come hear about the practical steps you can take to increase your personal and professional cyber defenses. Jonathan will share practical advice and answers for day to day cybersecurity worries that are prevalent in all of our lives. He?ll also provide a fact check on recent stories about changing your passwords, covering your laptop camera, and printing out rather than cloud-storing sensitive data. Jonathan is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP?) with a Masters in Cybersecurity from Brown University, as well as a B.A. in Physics and Computer Science from the University of California Santa Barbara. He is the Chairman and Founder of Xenon Partners, a small private equity firm. The event will be held at the Oakwood Premier Tokyo Midtown and includes light food and drinks. The entrance fee is JPY1,000, which includes a glass of wine. Seating is limited to 50 people, so please reserve at the following address if you plan to attend: siegel.cyber at gmail.com Time: 7:00pm. Date: Tuesday, April 16, 2019 Venue: Oakwood Midtown (in the Tokyo Midtown complex), resident lounge. Enter directly to Oakwood and press the reception button on the monitor. Address: 9-7-4 Akasaka, Minato-ku Phone: 03-5412- 3131 http://bit.ly/2Yim3W2 ***------------------------****-------------------------*** --------- Japan Travel Corporate Travel Services ---------- Japan Travel's Type-2 licensed travel agency business is one Japan's few independent foreign-owned inbound DMCs. One of our specialties is looking after corporate groups of 10-300 people. To date we have assisted in the successful holding of training events, incentive travel, conferences, off-sites, and team bonding programs. We have looked after the full gamut of services, such as: international air travel, hotels, local travel, event logistics and venues, entertainment, micro-management of dietary needs, and special needs customers. We are highly motivated and are happy to work in a variety of roles tailored to suit your needs: as a full-fledged corporate travel agency partner, as a logistics partner for a particular issue, or as a source of innovative experiences and venues. Looking after hard-to-please high-tech groups is our specialty! For corporate travel assistance, contact us at: tours at japantravel.com. Or visit our pages at: http://japantravel.co.jp/en/about/travel-agency/ ----------------------------------------------------------- ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ CORRECTIONS/FEEDBACK => In Terrie's Take 983 we ran commentary about how much the Chinese spend while traveling as tourists. Our reader sets us straight about one of the statistics. **** Reader: The US$294bn you cite in the Nikkei as "Chinese spend" is actually reported by them (citing Bain) as the global "personal luxury goods" market, which they highlighted to note the 1/3 share taken by Chinese shoppers. The actual total Chinese tourist spend abroad happens to be a similar if slightly smaller number... around $260bn in 2017: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201808/28/WS5b84c4e3a310add14f3882d1.html https://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/nielsenglobal/cn/docs/Outbound%20Chinese%20Tourism%20and%20Consumption%20Trends.pdf That number seems to be around 1/5 the global total. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ TRAVEL DESTINATIONS PICKS => Mitsumine Shrine in Chichibu Sacred trees, wolf spirits and opulent carvings This large and very beautiful mountain shrine is dedicated to wolf spirits (among others), and you can see a number of wolf statues around the grounds. Though they are now extinct, Japanese wolves once roamed these mountains, and people believed wolf spirits protected people's homes from fire and burglary. Because of that the Shrine was very popular with the people of Edo. Walking around the shrine grounds is a pleasure - you never know what will be around the corner. Keep your eyes open for lovely views over the surrounding mountains, an elegant red tower, ornate carvings on the main hall, a mysterious stone with a hidden dragon, and sacred trees that will renew your strength if you place your hands and forehead against their trunks. There is also a very beautiful red gate named Zuishinmon, which is one of the most beautiful gates I have seen, a statue of Yamato Takeru who founded the shrine some 1900 years ago, and a memorial to Mas Oyama who founded Kyokushin Karate. http://bit.ly/2OmnE8O => Mukojima-Hyakkaen Gardens An Edo period garden in the middle of Tokyo Surviving almost as an after thought in modern Japan, Mukojima is a blue-collar residential area of Sumida Ward in Tokyo. Rarely on the must-see places for tourists, Mukojma is actually a little delight that just finds ways of giving. The Seiko Watch Museum finds its home here, as does the Tobu Museum. But perhaps most authentic of all is the Mukojima Hyakkaen Gardens. A stunningly calm and peaceful place, these strolling gardens were created in the early 1800s, and are the only gardens in Tokyo still surviving from the Edo Period. The gardens are a treasure of botanical gold, with well over 200 different species of plants. Indebted to traditional Japanese sensibilities, Hyakkaen features what are known as the classic seven herbs of spring and the seven herbs of fall. Plum blossoms are particularly popular during spring and, with 360 trees planted, it is easy to understand why. Summer brings outs the hydrangeas which, like the plum blossoms, draw in the crowds. The traditional Japanese garden layout is certainly one of the most impressive features of Hyakkaen. The gardens are by no means large, but you would have a difficult time working that out - visitors are always surrounded by a sense of nature. http://bit.ly/2uqS5BF ***------------------------****-------------------------*** *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 6,044 members as of March 25, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Mon Apr 1 21:11:57 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2019 21:11:57 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 986 (Tourism Edition) - Creating Tourist Traffic for a Museum in Kasama Message-ID: * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S (TOURISM) TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A bi-weekly focused look at the tourism sector in Japan, by Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. ( http://www.terrielloyd.com) Tourism Sector Edition Monday, Apr 01, 2019, Issue No. 986 SUBSCRIBE to, UNSUBSCRIBE from Terrie's Take at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie +++ Creating Tourist Traffic for a Museum in Kasama Over the last couple of months I have been asked to help assess the viability of a number of remote or "not-so-accessible" prefectures looking to attract more foreign tourists. It's kind of hard to believe that with the flood of foreigners coming into Japan that there is any part of the country which is untouched by their presence - but yes, there are still some who haven't figured out how to attract outsiders. In fact in FY2018 some prefectures even experienced a fall in the number of inbound visitors... In this latest project, in early March, I headed up to northwestern Ibaraki (Kasama City) which is not far from the Prefectural capital of Mito. Ibaraki is a relatively flat coastal prefecture that has for centuries been a food supplier to Edo - and thus it has had a modest but steady flow of income resulting in some very wealthy local families. You can tell this by the art collections in the area, such as the Hasegawa family collection at the Kasama Nichido Museum of Art. This small museum has an amazing array of Monets, Renoirs, Degas, Picassos, and even an early Van Gogh - all of which you would never know were there. My guess is that these art works are worth at least JPY10bn. Hasegawa was an art collector who got started in the 1920's - obviously a good time to be buying impressionist paintings. Kasama itself got started in 1771 as a post town on the main coastal route north, but which then converted to pottery when substantial clay deposits were found nearby. Although Arita, Imari, Bizen, and other pottery towns are more famous, by virtue of its proximity to Tokyo, Kasama has been able to grow by focusing on the production of every day kitchen ceramics from the iron-rich clays. I was excited by the prospect of visiting, as I have fond memories of visiting Koishiwara in Kyushu, a cute town with over 50 pottery studios that are in easy walking distance of each other. And since Kasama is only 90 minutes by train and connecting bus from Tokyo, I was hoping that it might also become a natural destination for foreign tourists - providing sufficient marketing and transport links were made available. Alas, it's not going to be that easy. Although I discovered that set in the foothills where Ibaraki starts to turn into Tochigi, Kasama city is a nice sleepy rural town that is indeed well-populated by artists, the problem here is that the artists are hidden away from the public, working their magic in hill-top studios or behind walls and hedgerows. Instead, their works are displayed in a cavernous central facility, called Kasama Geijutsunomori Koen (called "Craft Hills" in English), which is antiseptic and run bureaucratically in a way that for westerners at least is far removed from the passion or spontaneity you want to get from the artists themselves. Now, I'm not saying that these people working at the park are not professional nor that they are not dedicated to their job - I'm sure that they are - but it is pretty obvious that they are a skeleton team run on a skeleton budget, and that the main investment has been the buildings and not the "software" to make it work. This is such a common problem in Japan, not just Kasama, that there are museums everywhere, where no one really understands how to make those facilities perform properly. In fact, I often wonder why the central government doesn't have a "museum assets utilization improvement" team whose job it would be to travel the country analyzing under-performing cultural assets and diagnosing how to get them fired up again. In the Craft Hills facility, I'm going to guess that the main buildings probably cost around JPY5bn-JPY10bn, and the operating budget is around JPY1bn a year. While the original mission of the facility was probably to provide a focal point for the Kasama heritage and sales for the current-day ceramics industry, what appears to have happened in the intervening 30 years is that the facility has atrophied into survival mode. Again, surmising just from what I could see, there are really only two main audiences for the facility, apart from the ceramics university elsewhere in the park and which I didn't get to. These audiences are retired people wanting to get their hands on some cheap clay and create pots, and school kids who will go there once then forget the experience - in other words, neither audience is conducive to making profits that can be reinvested for the future. It is only natural, therefore, that the local bureaucrats would want to cut costs to the bone and spend almost nothing on content, program management, marketing, project development, attractive decor, landscaping, a decent restaurant menu, etc. I feel this is an age-old trap for Japanese museums - splurge on the hardware then cut all the software - which is the exact opposite of the spending patterns that are actually needed to attract visitors - as Disneyland and Universal Studios well know. So how to fix this bad circulation? [Article continues below...] *********************************************************** ------ Terrie's Slow-Poke Cycling Tour - Kyushu ------- Last year we threatened to run a cycling tour for readers, but got too busy to actually do it. So this year we're making amends. The first tour, which will happen in the third or fourth week of April (just before Golden Week) will be a 5-6 day ride in Kyushu - most likely in the Nagasaki region. This tour, and a Hokkaido tour in late August or early September, will have a common format. 1. The tours are potluck, not professionally run. No complaining. Jokes and helping each other out are mandatory. 2. There will be no support cars or spare bikes or guides. Instead, we use Google maps and take the most scenic routes to arrive at our hotels each night. 3. Our bags will be relayed by couriers so you can ride light. Yes, we will have inner tubes and other basic spare parts. 4. Terrie is a slow poke, so while we will indeed be covering 80km-100km a day, it will be take 6+ hours each day, with plenty of time for lunch, photos, drinks, etc. 5. No hill climbing! Terrie is allergic to tall mountains. 6. Although the rides will run 5-6 days, people wanting to cut out at 3 days will be able to do so. 7. Our bikes will go with us on the Shinkansen. Terrie can show you how to prepare and break your's down for simple transport. 8. If you don't have a road bike, you can rent one at https://www.gsastuto.com/. [Excellent supplier, great prices.] 9. Anyone over 16, any gender, welcome. 10. There will be a JPY20,000 organizing fee per rider. 11. Other costs will all be at cost. Usually this works out to about JPY13,000/day plus Shinkansen tickets. If you're interested in a long, slow, fun, potluck cycling tour in Japan, contact Terrie today and he will work with you and the rest of the group to set the final dates and routes. For those readers who have already responded, we will be in touch shortly with the proposed travel arrangements. For more information, email: terrie.lloyd at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] Firstly there needs to be a clear mandate from the people paying the bills that they want the museum to be invigorated and made profitable again (assuming as I am, that it isn't profitable now). In making that decision, there also needs to be investment made in marketing management and actual marketing, along with work done on access and "content". What a visitor wants with a place like this is an immersive experience, with activity and energy, plenty of variety in the things to see and do, thoughtful high-quality amenities (yes, the cafe needs to be privately run), and access to the pottery masters who are creating the works of art. In short, the same sort of "software" that makes a theme park like Disney run. This of course is not cheap to do, so investment and courage are required, while the staff will probably need training so as to refocus on the needs of their newly empowered paying audience, while of course still satisfying their current core visitor group. That paying audience will probably include foreign tourists and moneyed visitors from Tokyo. How to do this? Here are some action points that I noted to myself as I toured the facility: * Hire a theme park specialist, but mandate them to not do cute and instead focus on heritage and sophistication - for the audience that will actually spend money here. Kids and young females can already get "cute" in a thousand places closer to Tokyo. * Hire a marketing professional who knows what audience to target and give him/her a budget for at least 2 years to get to the agreed KPIs. * Do the actual marketing, particularly targeting Experience ("Taiken") sites by selling tickets to events - meaning of course that the Marketer needs to step up the creation of attractive events and shows. * Use all parts of the facility, leaving no part vacant and empty, and turn the place into a hive of activity. Empty spaces in a public facility create a dark vibe that puts people off. * Get the nearby university ceramics students who are internationals to act as tour guides for the facility. Give them a trade-off for cheap rent and courses. Train them, give them credits for the work, and ensure there is at least one "tour guide" on duty all the time. * Make the greater township around the museum part of the exhibit area. Solicit artists to open their front porches and be more accessible. Map out the cooperating studios and let them keep any profits from any street sales made. Give them free credit card terminals. * Make budget available to improve the frequency of buses, organize self-drive rental vehicles, and even provide some electric bicycles for tourists to get around on. * Make the facility come alive by having a continuous roster of working artists on site. Surely active marketing of a potter's goods could be traded against their showing up a couple of days a month? There are over 300 potters active in Kasama, so it should be easy enough to man the facility every day of the week. * Invite international potters to take up residence at Craft Hills, for 3-month and 1-year study assignments. The requirement in return for study, food, and board being that they act as representatives for visitors a couple of days a week, and explain the site and its art. * Work with Airbnb and do monthly rentals for visiting foreign artists (e.g., create mini-internships of 1 month), staying at such iconic places as this: http://bit.ly/2U7VBjr [Ed: Very nice Airbnb listing in Kasama.] * Hold international fairs where visitors are hosted in local homes or given cheap passes to travel around the area. Once they discover Kasama, especially the artist suburbs, the word-of-mouth recommendations will spread rapidly. * Upgrade the restaurant at the site, to serve traditional or modern, healthy dishes, with gourmet lunch/dinner options. * Open up the facility at night and hold soirees and other functions there. * Free WiFi everywhere. Maps and signage in 5 languages. Credit card payments. Well, you get the idea. The problem is that even knowing what the problem is, how do I submit my evaluation in such a way that it doesn't insult the people working there? Yes, this is tricky and is probably a matter of timing, targeting, and perhaps dumb luck. Essentially I need to have the recommendation read by someone international enough to listen, senior enough to take action, and mature enough to realize that my intent is to help, not to create mayhem. Of course, that influential person also has to feel the need to change, and so it's important that I try to find a "receiver" and "champion" who is already activated. Hopefully there won't require too many late nights drinking! It would certainly help if the local community is under fiscal pressure, but not so much so that they are one step away from closing down. Further, what kind of political quicksand will my team be walking into? What local sensibilities and sensitivities are at play? Note here that I'm not saying that any of these conditions necessarily exist in Ibaraki, just that in the past I've stumbled across many of these challenges - with the emphasis on "stumbled". **************** Lastly, thanks to those people pointing out last week that Ichiro is 45 years old, not 51. The number "51" was his shirt number. Silly me. ...The information janitors/ *********************************************************** --------- Japan Travel Corporate Travel Services ---------- Japan Travel's Type-2 licensed travel agency business is one Japan's few independent foreign-owned inbound DMCs. One of our specialties is looking after corporate groups of 10-300 people. To date we have assisted in the successful holding of training events, incentive travel, conferences, off-sites, and team bonding programs. We have looked after the full gamut of services, such as: international air travel, hotels, local travel, event logistics and venues, entertainment, micro-management of dietary needs, and special needs customers. We are highly motivated and are happy to work in a variety of roles tailored to suit your needs: as a full-fledged corporate travel agency partner, as a logistics partner for a particular issue, or as a source of innovative experiences and venues. Looking after hard-to-please high-tech groups is our specialty! For corporate travel assistance, contact us at: tours at japantravel.com. Or visit our pages at: http://japantravel.co.jp/en/about/travel-agency/ ----------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 6,041 members as of Apr 01, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Tue Apr 9 10:13:34 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2019 10:13:34 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 987 - The Unlikely Survival of Print - Just Not for Media, e-Biz News from Japan Message-ID: * * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A weekly roundup of news & information from Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. (http://www.terrielloyd.com) General Edition Tuesday, Apr 09, 2019, Issue No. 987 - What's New -- The Unlikely Survival of Print - Just Not for Media - News -- Mt. Gox Karpeles gains (some) redemption - Events -- New "Friends of Carlos Ghosn" group - Corrections/Feedback -- Reader's trip to Fukushima disaster area - Travel Picks -- Benten Temple in Chiba, TeNQ Space Museum in Tokyo - News Credits SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES: http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take, or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ +++ The Unlikely Survival of Print - Just Not for Media Over the last few decades, the world has seen the extinction of many professional job roles. Gone are road toll collectors, telephone operators, typesetters, even gas meter readers - as technology automates and sweeps over our lives. One sector in particular that has been hard hit and many have predicted will disappear all together is the printing industry - a sector worth about JPY1.36trn (and still slowly rising) in Japan. We (your humble writers) are deeply embedded in digital, but we still love the smell and feel of printed material, and we often think about what the direction of the print sector will be in the future. What we already know is that the print industry has lost the war as a medium for conveying mass media. Printed newspapers and magazines around the world are disappearing, including here in Japan, as it becomes more and more difficult for print publishers to compete with the response levels and measurement capabilities of digital. Think about it. The more successful you are as a digital media company by going "viral", the more reach you have at very little additional cost. With paper, having the same viral effect may in fact kill the company with the incremental costs that the extra paper and distribution entail. And yet, there are still people who will pay for print. Some of these last bastions in Japan are students (surprisingly, more later), old people, and most importantly for the future of the medium, marketers targeting consumers with short attention-getting messages. Students have been proven in studies to do better when their text books are studied in print. According to the Scientific American this is partly attributed to books being a "3-dimensional" [Ed: our term] medium and when students read texts they have better recall of prior material through the tactile experience of page turning, subconsciously remembering where in the depth of the book they read it. This use of spatial and motor memory gives rise to the idea that a book is like a topographical map - with multiple senses stimulating one's memory. There has also been work done on the direct comparison of learning new material on digital devices versus paper. Studies show that scrolling on a digital device disorients the spatial memorization of facts, due to there being no physical reference, and when given time to study a new subject, students scored 10% higher with paper versus a digital device. If you're a B2C marketer, this is very interesting, and in fact according to a study by Canada Post several years ago, the same cognitive effort needed to absorb new information from a digital device led researchers to declare that printed direct mail requires 21% less cognitive effort, and that recall rates for printed direct mail are about 75% versus 44% for digital ads. Further, a study at the Temple University in India found that print plays a bigger role in stimulating the ventral striatum area of the brain than digital. This is the part of the brain that is supposed to indicate desire and self-valuation. The second audience we mentioned is old people. We assume this audience likes print because it's familiar, and particularly this applies to newspapers. And Japan is very much the land of old people and newspapers. [Article continues below...] ------ Terrie's Slow-Poke Cycling Tour - Kyushu ------- Last Call for this cycling trip. Last year we threatened to run a cycling tour for readers, but got too busy to actually do it. So this year we're making amends. The first tour, which will happen in the third or fourth week of April (just before Golden Week) will be a 5-6 day ride in Kyushu - most likely in the Nagasaki region. This tour, and a Hokkaido tour in late August or early September, will have a common format. 1. The tours are potluck, not professionally run. No complaining. Jokes and helping each other out are mandatory. 2. There will be no support cars or spare bikes or guides. Instead, we use Google maps and take the most scenic routes to arrive at our hotels each night. 3. Our bags will be relayed by couriers so you can ride light. Yes, we will have inner tubes and other basic spare parts. 4. Terrie is a slow poke, so while we will indeed be covering 80km-100km a day, it will take 6+ hours each day, with plenty of time for lunch, photos, drinks, etc. 5. No hill climbing! Terrie is allergic to tall mountains. 6. Although the rides will run 5-6 days, people wanting to cut out at 3 days will be able to do so. 7. Our bikes will go with us on the Shinkansen. Terrie can show you how to prepare and break your's down for simple transport. 8. If you don't have a road bike, you can rent one at https://www.gsastuto.com/. [Excellent supplier, great prices.] 9. Anyone over 16, any gender, welcome. 10. There will be a JPY20,000 organizing fee per rider. 11. Other costs will all be at cost. Usually this works out to about JPY13,000/day plus Shinkansen tickets. If you're interested in a long, slow, fun, potluck cycling tour in Japan, contact Terrie today and he will work with you and the rest of the group to set the final dates and routes. For more information, email: terrie.lloyd at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] In fact, the number of newspaper readers in Japan is by far the highest in the world, although it's slowly falling. In 2018 the number of Japanese using digital devices to get their news exceeded those getting it from print for the first time. A Nikkei random 5,000-person poll in 2008 found that 90% of consumers were getting their news from print, whereas last year, 2018, the number was just 68.5%. Interestingly, although the number of readers went down, the percentage of people stating printed news was more credible went up, to 68.7%. In case you're wondering, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) in 20187, the top newspaper in world is still the mildly right wing Yomiuri, followed by the equally mildly left wing Asahi. Yomiuri: Morning - 8,732,514, Evening - 2,534,292 Asahi: Morning - 6,113,315, Evening - 1,892,138 Nikkei: Morning - 2,625,471, Evening - 1,245,456 But even among these top 3, the mighty Yomiuri has seen its combined readership drop 20% from 14,323,781 people in 2002 to 11,266,806 today. OK, so we're not breaking any news here by telling you that print is declining. Why this article? What we believe is that while print media has fallen off a cliff, the printing industry may nonetheless be saved by the physicality of our own bodies. Cognitive scientist Maryanne Wolf of Tufts University says that, the skill of reading is one in which, "the brain improvises a brand-new circuit (from childhood) by weaving together various regions of neural tissue devoted to other abilities, such as spoken language, motor coordination and vision". This motor coordination aspect of reading is accentuated by print and it's the edge that allows marketers to more effectively attract the attention of random passersby. Unlike an ad on your cell phone, a brochure or even a packet of pocket tissue thrust in your hand provides enough physical interruption to create an automatic (and subconscious) need to focus on the media and either accept or reject the object and information in front of you. This physicality, as the studies show, is more memorable. Of course Japanese signage, flyer, and pocket tissue marketers have known this for ages, and the formats, designs, and colors they use are great examples of how to get attention. Then there is the matter of standing out from marketing "noise". With digital advertising there is a tremendous amount of commercial competition for a tiny piece of viewable real estate on a potential customer's cell phone screen. As a result, unless you have an incredibly niche product, only by appearing on the biggest sites will get you daily and hourly love. Remember that 90% of Japanese web users still access Yahoo via their cell phones every day - so most corporate marketing budgets go there or to Google and Line/Facebook. If you're a small business and you want digital attention, the costs may simply be out of reach and furthermore much of your precious budget is being wasted on readers physically far from where you actually sell your goods. So what is a small B2C marketer to do? So we ran a little hypothetical case study of a restaurant in Harajuku trying to reach customers among 1,000 people. Here's what we came up with: PAPER FLYERS OK, let's print off 1,000 flyers at 15,000 yen, then hire a student at JPY1k/hr to distribute the flyers to foreign tourists for 2 days = JPY16,000. Your incentive is to give a flyer with a coupon offering a 10% discount - hardly an issue for most restaurants. With a total investment of JPY31,000, your likely yield with strangers accepting printed flyers is about 20%, with a conversion rate of perhaps 1%-2%, giving you 2-4 customers at an acquisition cost is JPY8,000-JPY16,000/person. Negatives of this approach are that not everyone receiving the flyer is hungry, and not everyone will like your menu. That's why the conversion rate is low. DIGITAL Here we start off with 1,000 hungry people (otherwise they wouldn't be searching online) who have 100 cuisine preferences - there are over 30 Japanese cuisine types alone. In fact, there are 162,000 restaurants in Tokyo and while Trip Advisor shows just 200 in Harajuku, Yelp shows 2,649 in the same location, so probably it's safe to say there are at least 1,000 restaurants in Harajuku. This means that you might get 1 person per restaurant from them finding that restaurant by search. OK, so free listings online are not enough. Instead, to increase your chances of landing a customer, you need to run Google ads, at say, JPY200/click. Now you still have 10 competing restaurants in your cuisine class, and at JPY200/click x 1,000 visits to get 10 guests - assuming that you get a 100% conversion rate - which works out to be JPY20,000/person. So in the case of the restaurant targeting a local area, it may actually be cheaper to do print. Another and perhaps more compelling example is at a trade show. In this case, all the attendees in your area of the hall are already self-selecting, or they wouldn't be there. So the issue is not in separating out interested visitors, but rather how you can breach their boredom threshold and leave an actionable memory. Most trade show visitors glaze over after the first hour and are probably thinking about having a beer for lunch by the time they pass your booth. This is where physical media, something you can't easily ignore, coupled with creativity, can really penetrate. For example, exhibitors at Japanese trade shows in summer give out printed fans. These are cheap to print and yet hugely popular, and of course guests are waving them in front of both their and everyone else's noses as they walk along. Talk about great exposure. Much the same way, in western trade shows (and supermarkets), the go-to print product is jute cloth bags that the customer can recycle and reuse later, even when it has your logo written on it. If you make that logo sound exotic, as in supporting a cause or coming from a foreign country or prestigious institution, you will have an higher chance of the recipient continuing to use the bag. Japan is probably still about 5-10 years ago from banning the use of plastic bags in its supermarkets and thus the appearance of jute reusable shopping bags is delayed, but the time is coming. In fact, for a hint of the future, just go down to Ginza and witness all the little old ladies proudly strolling around with their real (or fake) green Harrod's reusable vinyl shopping bags. As these examples show, probably the real potential of print in the future will be to create functional products that physically but not intrusively invade the bubble of the consumer. ...The information janitors/ ***------------------------****-------------------------*** ------ German-speaking Travel Consultant Internship ------- Japan Travel KK (www.japantravel.com) is experiencing strong growth of its German desk for inbound travelers to Japan, and we are looking for a German-English speaking intern to join the team, with a view of transitioning to a full-time position and work visa in Japan. The internship will be for a minimum 3 months and a maximum of 6 months, after which there will be a management and peer review. You can be either a student who needs to do an internship to meet academic course requirements, or you can be a person in the workforce thinking to reset your life and location. Apart from German you should be able to speak basic English and/or Japanese (either is OK). The type of work you'll be doing is assisting German customers wanting to plan trips to Japan. This would include the following: * Responding to incoming leads and conversing (usually email/chat) with customers * Researching accommodation, transport, activities, diet preferences/availability, entertainment, guides, and other things that travelers require * Using our quotation and itinerary systems to produce the customer materials * Interacting with customers and consulting them on choices and areas of concern * Translation of content about destinations * Writing original content (articles) about destinations and activities * Assisting us with German social media For more details: jerome.lee at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ NEWS - Time for dinner Lulu, not you Fifi - Mt. Gox Karpeles gains (some) redemption - Liquid is first Japanese crypto unicorn - Uh-oh, wages fell last month - Personal information law about to change? => Time for dinner Lulu, not you Fifi Got two or more cats? Well now it seems that there is scientific proof that they (kind of) recognize their names, even if they are still fighting over the left-over salmon. A Japanese research team at Sophia University has run experiments showing that regular house cats react when their names are called, even if it's by other people, and can distinguish those names from other words of similar length and phonics. In contrast, though, highly socialized cats such as at cat cafes are not so discriminating and pay no attention. ***Ed: Cute article, but sorry to tell you that the reality is that your favorite feline doesn't actually recognize their name as a name. Instead, the study shows that cats learn to associate a particular word or words with rewards and regular events (a bath, for example). Needless to say, the one consistent word you use every time you talk to your puss - is their name.** (Source: TT commentary from japantimes.co.jp, Apr 06, 2019) http://bit.ly/2IimbPI => Mt. Gox Karpeles gains (some) redemption Nice potted account from Fortune about the Mt. Gox affair and who really stole the money. After being villainized and jailed for months in 2014, and probably unemployable here in Japan for many years to come, Mark Karpeles, the CEO of the Mt. Gox crypto exchange, has had some recent redemption that is only just now coming to light. It seems there really was an outsider in the online heist of US$473m worth of Bitcoins. The arrest last year in Greece and recent arraignment in the USA of Alexander Vinnik, a 38-year old Russian IT specialist, identifies him as the thief. Vinnik has now been charged by U.S. federal prosecutors with laundering 530,000 of the stolen Mt. Gox coins. ***Ed: This is real egg on the face of the Japanese police and prosecutors office who tried so hard to break Karpeles duing his months of detention and jail. Coming on top of the Carlos Ghosn case, it would seem that the Japanese legal system is being exposed as harsh, one-sided, and ignoring human rights of people it has decided are guilty. Of course, as a face-saving measure, they did pin another charge on him, and he's appealing that one as well.** (Source: TT commentary from fortune.com, Apr 19, 2019) http://bit.ly/2G6YUyM => Liquid is first Japanese crypto unicorn A small JPY1bn investment by IDG Capital as the lead on Liquid's Series C values the crypto trading company at more than JPY1trn. Other firms are expected to join the round. This is good news for the Series B investors (JAFCO, SBI, and others), who plopped down JPY2.2bn late last year. Liquid is a subsidiary of Quoine, also based in Japan, and is licenced to operate here by the FSA. The company has had an interesting capitalization ride, including the raising of JPY10bn by issuing an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) round that was blessed by the FSA. ***Ed: Clearly some very financially savvy folks running Liquid (founders are ex-Softbank and Credit Suisse) - especially given that it has sold very little of its equity and yet has managed such a humongous valuation. The ICO in particular is a smart move, and came before such funding methods fell out of favor.** (Source: TT commentary from cointelegraph.com, Apr 03, 2019) http://bit.ly/2G5IkPR http://bit.ly/2YUUxyk [Quoine website - interesting] => Uh-oh, wages fell last month Maybe the statistics are wrong, or maybe it's a one-off, but the consumer data coming out from the government on Friday indicate that inflation-adjusted real wages fell in February, when compared to the same month last year. Real wages were down 1.1%, the biggest drop since June 2015. The biggest contributor to the fall in income was the cutting of annual bonuses at many companies (the survey covers 33,000 companies, so it's pretty complete). ***Ed: This blows a hole in Abe's claims that incomes are trending up, and instead points to the fact that many domestic companies are still under significant financial pressure.** (Source: TT commentary from reuters.com, Apr 05, 2019) https://reut.rs/2WKBJjk => Personal information law about to change? In a move that will make it much harder for B2C companies to manage their client data, discussions are apparently underway to give individuals the right to demand companies to stop using their personal data. The current law allows individuals to demand their data to be deleted only if they can prove that the information was improperly obtained or is being misused - both virtually impossible to prove if the company knows what it's doing. The new standard being considered will allow consumers to simply contact a company and require them to remove their personal information. ***Ed: It appears that Japan is following the Europeans with their General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws, which is interesting, because after this first step forward, it is easy to see other aspects of recent EU lawmaking about personal privacy coming into play as well.** (Source: TT commentary from asia.nikkei.com, Apr 03, 2019) https://s.nikkei.com/2U4divs NOTE: Broken links Some online news sources remove their articles after just a few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we apologize for the inconvenience. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ UPCOMING EVENTS => A group of concerned citizens from the international community has formed a support group called the "Friends of Carlos Ghosn". The group points out that Ghosn was a member of TAC and his children grew up in Japan. With the seemingly arbitrary nature of the Japanese legal system, what has happened to him could happen to anyone in the community. So if you would like to help, please contact housinginjapan at yahoo.com for more information. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** --------- Japan Travel Corporate Travel Services ---------- Japan Travel's Type-2 licensed travel agency business is one Japan's few independent foreign-owned inbound DMCs. One of our specialties is looking after corporate groups of 10-300 people. To date we have assisted in the successful holding of training events, incentive travel, conferences, off-sites, and team bonding programs. We have looked after the full gamut of services, such as: international air travel, hotels, local travel, event logistics and venues, entertainment, micro-management of dietary needs, and special needs customers. We are highly motivated and are happy to work in a variety of roles tailored to suit your needs: as a full-fledged corporate travel agency partner, as a logistics partner for a particular issue, or as a source of innovative experiences and venues. Looking after hard-to-please high-tech groups is our specialty! For corporate travel assistance, contact us at: tours at japantravel.com. Or visit our pages at: http://japantravel.co.jp/en/about/travel-agency/ ----------------------------------------------------------- ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ CORRECTIONS/FEEDBACK => In TT-983 we wrote about the Fukushima Daiichi powerplant aftermath and what the true cost is likely to be. At the end of the article we shared that we had traveled to view the plant and were taken inside the current exclusion zone. A reader kindly shares his own experience in the area. ***Reader says: My trip to Fukushima was as expected, an eye opener. On December 16th I boarded a bus with 37 people for an all-day tour of the area affected by the 3/11/11 earthquake, tsunami, and powerplant meltdown. The group consisted of a PHD student in Disaster Recovery; a German who wanted to know if his country had overreacted by shutting down all nuclear plants; a Russian from an island north of Hokkaido, where the residents are wondering if radiation from Japan will affect them; an environmental scientist, who was interested in how the recovery had progressed; a post disaster discourse artist; and a large group of international exchange students. Besides the coordinators there were only two other Japanese in the group, an MD from Tokyo and a tourism lady whose husband was on the management team for reconstruction. Each attendee had their reasons for taking this tour. As for myself, I wanted to see first hand how much progress was made over the past seven years and to meet a few of the residents. Several of us were issued hand-held Geiger counters to track radiation throughout our tour route, and I can say that all but one No-Go zone indicated normal radiation ranges for daily life. We managed to get within 6 kilometers of the TEPCO plant. Fukushima is the fourth largest prefecture in Japan. The area covered by the disaster only makes up 2.7% of the prefecture. The guides, one of whom who was from Fukushima wanted to show us how safe it is even near the No-Go zones. This part of Japan still suffers the stigma of the disaster. Farmers who have perfectly safe crops cannot sell them because of the overall fear of contamination. As part of the clean-up, 50 centimeters of top soil have been removed and placed in secure bags for storage. Along the major highways within the prefecture are digital signs showing the current radiation count. Our tour locations included Namie, Futaba, and Tomioka. Each town had partially reopened for residents, but with large sections that will never be livable again. The pre-disaster populations ranged from 21,000 to 8,000 and now after reopening can only muster about 800 per town, which are mainly made up of the elderly. Even With all the government assistance, this area has huge challenges ahead to make a comeback. After seven years the area is still struggling and most likely will continue to do so. In my opinion there are three reasons that stand out. Firstly, the young people moved to other areas of Japan after evacuation and have no incentive to come back. Secondly, once the major towns started opening up, real estate taxes were also back, forcing former residents to pay for an unlivable house. What I observed in all neighborhoods were empty lots because the residents had their homes demolished to avoid the taxes - especially if they had no intention of resettling. Thirdly, no matter how safe it really is, the continuous negative press, whether true or not, has former residents very concerned about their personal health. We were able to meet some residents, one an anti-government activist who refused to kill off his cattle when ordered to do so days after the reactor meltdown. He maintains around 300 head that cannot be sold, and he survives through charitable gifts. A large pineapple canning company sends him the skins they do not use in their process, for feed. He proudly calls the cows his pineapple cattle. The mixture of the pineapple and cow dung makes for a very strong nasty smell...! The second person was a lady who lost everything even though her home and business were declared safe to return. Her family operated a large jewelry store and after evacuation, when supposedly no one was permitted in the area, robbers took every valuable they owned. She gave us a passionate tour of the various neighborhoods of the once very vibrant Tomioka, explaining the government?s revitalization plans. What I saw were several brand new structures that will take years to be occupied if at all. Another resident stopped some people from our group and was eager to tell his story. He had only just returned to check out his large bonsai collection, which was completely destroyed, and was heading for a town meeting to determine if a major lawsuit should proceed. In summary, the effects of 3/11 live on and despite the massive amounts of money being poured into the area, along with government good intentions, it will take a miracle for this area to ever recover to what it once was. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ TRAVEL DESTINATIONS PICKS => Fuse Benten Temple, Chiba Flow and beauty at a goddess? temple Perhaps you have visited the Bentendo at Shinobazu Pond in Ueno, or Enoshima, the island in Kanagawa Prefecture dedicated to Benzaiten. Fuse Benten, also known as Tokaiji Temple, is one more Benzaiten temple to see this goddess. This temple, properly called Koryuzan Fuse Benten Tokai-ji, is popularly known as Fuse Benten. It is celebrated as one of the Kanto Three Benzaiten temples. It is said that the Buddhist scholar Kukai was ordered by the emperor in 807 to build a temple on this site. At this Shingon Buddhist sect temple, Benzaiten, the only female member of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune, is enshrined. She is the personification of the flow of water and words. Fuse Benten is a popular pilgrim destination in spring when visitors can see cherry trees laden with blossoms, and as a place to welcome the new year. Make a day trip of your visit by strolling through Akebonoyama Agricultural Park. https://en.japantravel.com/chiba/fuse-benten-temple/58394 => TeNQ Space Museum, Tokyo Launch into space at Tokyo Dome City TeNQ Space Museum, located within Tokyo Dome City, offers a range of experiences from educational to interactive and also visually arresting spectacles. With a total of nine distinct space-themed areas, there is plenty to explore. Step into the museum and be amazed by an introductory space show, telling a story of how science has progressed thus far with space exploration being the next stage. Beamed onto a multi-dimensional wall of large square tiles, the Starting Room?s 3D projection-mapping movie is resplendent and eye-catching. Around the corner, get ready to be floored as you huddle around Theater Sora, an 11-meter wide screen beneath the floor that almost resembles a spaceship?s observation deck. Gain a new perspective on space from above thanks to the ultra sharp 4K resolution movie that explores the solar system and beyond, which also includes actual video of Earth as shot from the ISS (International Space Station). ***------------------------****-------------------------*** *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 6,071 members as of April 9, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Mon Apr 15 08:59:31 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2019 08:59:31 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 988 (Tourism Edition) - An Ugly Move by the FTC in the OTA Sector Message-ID: * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S (TOURISM) TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A bi-weekly focused look at the tourism sector in Japan, by Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. ( http://www.terrielloyd.com) Tourism Sector Edition Monday, Apr 14, 2019, Issue No. 988 SUBSCRIBE to, UNSUBSCRIBE from Terrie's Take at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie +++ An Ugly Move by the FTC in the OTA Sector It was rather shocking to read in the news last week that the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has raided the offices of Booking.com, Expedia, and Rakuten, on the back of charges by hotel operators that the 3 companies are taking advantage of their market dominance to arm-twist hotels into unfair contracts. >From what I can see, this FTC action is not really legitimate and more like bulling by the state. Yes, hotels may not like the OTA's commission rates and terms and conditions, but given that there are three targets for this raid, we can easily surmise from simple math that none of these firms is individually a monopoly on its own. Although I'm not aware of how "monopoly" is measured in Japan, in the EU, a comparable market and often a reference for the FTC, the rule is that the company must have more than 50% market share to be considered a monopoly, with some borderline cases lowering that market share to 40%. But unless the FTC considers the Inbound traveler segment a standalone market, in fact the dominant player in the market by far is JTB (with about half the hotel rooms market). Even in the online hotel sales channel, the three companies are unlikely to be doing more than 90% of internet bookings - and so if you divide that 90% by 3, you don't get a monopoly. Instead, at the heart of the probe, according to the Nikkei, is the Most Favored Nation (MFN) clause of most online travel sites (not just Booking.com and Expedia), which says that if you list with Booking.com then you can't give a cheaper room price to another site. Some how the FTC interprets this as hurting consumers because hotels are scared to offer lower prices on a third site as that would mean they would have to offer the same lower price on Booking.com (and anyone else it has signed MFN contracts with). I don't understand this logic. Firstly, if a hotel is prepared to give a discount on one site, why would it not be prepared to give consumers the same pricing on other sites? Wouldn't that be BETTER for consumers? OK, maybe if the hotel commissions at Booking.com et al were higher than the third sites, which they used to be, then that would be one reason. But then that would mean this situation is no longer about fairness to consumers but rather the minimum profits enjoyed by the hotels. Why should the FTC be protecting hotel profits? [Article continues below...] ----------- Bilingual Sales Manager Wanted ---------------- Japan Travel is a "full stack" travel business, consisting of a large contributor community, one of Japan's top inbound travel portals, a custom travel agency, and a technology team. We are looking for an accomplished bilingual (Japanese/English) person, male or female, to lead our Media sales team. The right person will be someone with a proven personal network in Japan, and a solid track record in business development, sales, and team development. We are a fast-growing company at the top of our game, and the sales manager will be helping sales team members move up from smaller projects to larger, more bold ones that are pitched at senior management in our customer base. Fluent business Japanese is a must. The company is currently at 35 staff, with 2/3 working in Japan and the remainder in various locations abroad. We are growing at a rate of 50% or more a year, and expect to go public by 2023. Are you able to help us get there? For more information, email: terrie.lloyd at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] The answer appears to be two-fold. Firstly the foreign OTAs are killing JTB in the online marketplace, and my guess is that "someone" in the sector has asked the government to reel the foreigners back in. This all smells remarkably similar to the way the hotel lobby was able to kill off the Airbnb threat last year. Secondly, the FTC conveniently has a foreign precedent to follow (although 4 years late) in the EU, where the German antitrust authority in 2015 found that Booking.com's MFN clause was inhibiting price competition by hotels and thus was hurting the consumer. However, in Germany at that time Booking.com probably was (in the legal definition) the dominant player in hotel bookings, and so there would have been a basis for this action. The same situation doesn't exist here. I also find it strange that Booking.com and Expedia have been singled out, when you have Ctrip (almost all Chinese use this firm) and of course JTB (monopolistic positions in rugby and the Olympics anyone?) are engaging in similar or worse practices in their own segments. My take on the supposed dominance of Booking.com, Expedia, and for that matter CTrip and many others, is that these companies don't just have a gigantic market share because they are engaging in unfair monopolistic practices, but rather because their Japanese competitors are so terrible at marketing to foreigners. The Japanese incumbents have been sitting on their laurels for decades, not investing in their systems, and not thinking twice about how to screw the consumer. I remember very clearly visiting the country manager of Booking.com Japan back in 2014 and being amazed that the company was spending millions of dollars to manually "acquire" Japanese hotel partners across the country, rather than simply buying the data from an incumbent. They did this because they wanted to significantly improve the hotel booking experience for the customer - and have since taken consumer convenience to a whole new level. Painstakingly, they picked up about 1,500 new hotels a year while there wasn't a single new Japanese competitor trying to do anything remotely similar. And each hotel they did acquire suddenly enjoyed a huge increase in foreign guests - who stayed longer and stayed during normally vacant week days. No one was complaining about Booking.com contracts back then, AND that's when they were charging 25% commission. Now competition (yes, they really are competing) with Expedia, Rakuten, and others has kicked in, Booking.com's commissions are down to a much more reasonable 12%. I think the FTC should be happy about this. Instead, in the "happy old days" hoteliers dealt with an even more monopolistic trader, named JTB. I have had personal experience dealing with both JTB's hotel reselling arm and Booking.com, and hands down the consumer wins with Booking.com, while with the JTB channels they get higher pricing, antiquated services, and punitive terms and conditions. Yes, Booking.com is pressing hotels to change in ways they don't like, for example allowing customers to cancel their bookings at any time, which is fantastic for the consumer but bothersome for the hotel if they don't have automated systems to handled the ever-changing data flows. I thought the FTC was established to protect the consumer? I personally find it very suspicious that the FTC had to wait until the foreigners were well ahead in the market before launching their probe of these two foreign companies. BTW, Japanese big business doesn't like Rakuten, so they are happy to give that company a black eye as well. Notably, Recruit's Jalan wasn't caught up in this net, even though they impose restrictive terms and conditions on their online resellers. If I was the US trade representative, on the behalf of Expedia, I would reveal the hypocrisy at work here by asking the Japanese FTC to launch a probe into the pricing practices of Japan Rail (JR), which sets a uniform price on its tourist passes for all ticket resellers, under pain of cutting supply if any reseller tries to discount those tickets. I'm not saying JR isn't a well run company nor that its services are not reasonably priced - but rather what's good for the goose is good for the gander as well. In fact, the JR argument should have more force because the company has taken advantage of state assets that it inherited when it privatized - assets that were paid for by the tax payer. Much like NTT, JR should be forced to allow access to its infrastructure and its products by competitors. Anyway, as for the FTC action, unless they do something outrageous like suspend the operating licenses of Booking.com and Expedia, it's likely that the outcome will be similar to that in the EU, where both these and other OTA companies will be forced to dispense with their MFN clauses. Will that make a difference to anyone? Probably not at all. Because without the protection of being undercut by hotel dealing with other sites, they will simply find another way of rewarding good behavior. This is the way of natural market forces and if the FTC really wants to curb such behavior, it should start with a review of the entire market and a look at ALL the consumer benefits enjoyed over the last 5 years. In that lens, the raided companies may actually be seen to be benefiting the market, not hurting it. ...The information janitors/ *********************************************************** --------- Japan Travel Corporate Travel Services ---------- Japan Travel's Type-2 licensed travel agency business is one Japan's few independent foreign-owned inbound DMCs. One of our specialties is looking after corporate groups of 10-300 people. To date we have assisted in the successful holding of training events, incentive travel, conferences, off-sites, and team bonding programs. We have looked after the full gamut of services, such as: international air travel, hotels, local travel, event logistics and venues, entertainment, micro-management of dietary needs, and special needs customers. We are highly motivated and are happy to work in a variety of roles tailored to suit your needs: as a full-fledged corporate travel agency partner, as a logistics partner for a particular issue, or as a source of innovative experiences and venues. Looking after hard-to-please high-tech groups is our specialty! For corporate travel assistance, contact us at: tours at japantravel.com. Or visit our pages at: http://japantravel.co.jp/en/about/travel-agency/ ----------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 6,044 members as of Apr 14, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Tue Apr 30 01:04:56 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2019 01:04:56 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 989 - Psychological Challenges of Being a New Mother in Japan, e-Biz News from Japan Message-ID: * * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A weekly roundup of news & information from Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. (http://www.terrielloyd.com) General Edition Monday, Apr 29, 2019, Issue No. 989 - What's New -- Psychological Challenges of Being a New Mother in Japan - News -- So will there be a consumption tax increase or not? - Events -- New "Friends of Carlos Ghosn" group - Corrections/Feedback - Travel Picks -- Yagiri Crossing on Edogawa, Tokyo Some Monogatari Museum - News Credits SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES: http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take, or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ +++ Psychological Challenges of Being a New Mother in Japan On December 26th, 2012, in his inaugural speech as the newly elected Prime Minister, Shintaro Abe announced that his administration would create a country in which women are dynamically engaged and in which it is easy for them to raise children. He even announced a new position in his cabinet, being the Minister in Charge of Support for Women's Empowerment and Child-Rearing. Although the government has had 7 years to fulfill this promise, the reality is that having a baby is just as difficult now as it always was for aspiring career-minded mothers. Indeed, in some ways it feels as if we are going backwards, because promoting women in the workforce appears to have taken a back seat to the country's many other threats, from extreme weather and earthquakes to Trump trade wars and possible real (territorial) wars with China. While it's understandable that the public's attention is drawn by existential threats, the very existence of Japan itself will in any case be threatened if there are no Japanese left to populate it. Therefore, there is no more appropriate time to do what needs to be done than now, and which is to allocate sufficient budget, resources, and the leadership necessary to give young women the confidence to start having babies again. Not just budget for more buildings and helpers, but also psychological support for women isolated by the demands of modern society, and who are cut off from their extended families and other support networks. We also need core changes in the attitudes of the nation's law makers - those mostly cynical old men who run the country, spouting fine speeches while giving very little of substance. Today we thought we'd take a look at some of the psychological pressures that young mothers are up against, and why so few moms are willing to have kids these days. The following material comes from interviews with new moms sharing their challenges and concerns. The challenges start well before child birth, when a pregnant woman is forced to confront the costs of having a baby. Japan has a policy of supporting new mothers-to-be with check-ups, and each local government issues "Nimpu Kenko Shinsa Jushin-hyo" (prenatal health care) tickets that are supposed to cover the primary costs of pregnancy. However, in reality there are surcharges up to about JPY8,000 per visit (if you have shakai hoken). Since most pregnant moms go to see the doctor once a month until the second trimester, then late in the second trimester every two weeks, and when almost at full term (the last month) every week, that's about 20 visits at around JPY200,000... plus transport, plus babysitter fees if you have another young child at home. In contrast, mothers in the USA will usually have health insurance and a co-pay of just US$20. Even the health insurance cost/coverage in the USA is cheaper and better for pregnancy. In one interviewee's case, in Hawaii her health insurance was just US$200/month and this covered all eye, dental, pharmacy, and of course having the baby. Japan's much vaunted shakai hoken on the other hand costs the average wage earner about US$500/month, and comes with many exceptions and gaps on what is covered (such as the actual birth cost). Let's not forget, either, that what you are buying for your JPY8,000/visit out of pocket is pretty pitiful. Whereas in most western countries you can expect your doctor to take time and do a proper consultation, lasting maybe up to an hour, in Japan you're part of a medical factory line. You don't get to ask questions, the clinics are packed, and waiting with little kids is a nightmare (which is why you need a babysitter). Basically the patient is dehumanized. Back to the costs. The government munificently provides a subsidy ("josei-kin") to offset actual birthing costs. Currently the amount is JPY420K, which sounds generous until you consider that while indeed at a countryside hospital if you share a room you can get a birth done for this amount or even slightly less, in Shibuya if you want a single room, you're looking at JPY800K or more. The problem with the countryside equation is that most working moms with careers live "downtown", and a shared room isn't going to work if you want your partner to be with you after the birth. So, again, you're made to feel part of a factory line - which may have been appropriate 50 years ago, but Japan is supposedly far beyond the militaristic society it used to be. [Article continues below...] ---------- Talented Polyglot MBA Seeks Internship --------- Talented German MBA student in her first year seeks internship in Japan, running from 10th June till the 15th of August, 2019. She has studied the sciences, math and economics, and now business management, and has practical experience administrating a student-led association. Other working experience includes tutoring young underprivileged children in the south of France and temping at a digital marketing company. Language proficiency includes: German (native), English (fluent, TOEIC: 975/990), Chinese (lower intermediate, HSK3), and Japanese (intermediate, 3 years). Practical skills that may be of interest to a Japan-based employer include social media proficiency, content creation, business planning including financials, and general sales and marketing. Confident, outgoing but not overwhelming personality. Ready to take on a challenge and responsibility. Honest and hard-working. She originally applied to Japan Travel, and although she passed our interviews she came late to the process, so our quota for interns during this period was filled in the interim. We have since offered her a slot in next year's intake. Interested employers can contact her directly (quoting this ad in Terrie's Take) at: elenore.sabirbehier at audencia.com ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] Oh, and these costs only apply if you can actually find a hospital that will take you. Competition for hospital rooms in central Tokyo is severe enough that most women start looking for a hospital as soon as they find out that they are pregnant. And of course you have to show up in person at the hospital to make your application - nothing is done online yet - so you can throw in the cost of a few cab rides and more babysitting as well. Next, we get to the childbirth process itself and the psychology behind it. Generally speaking, there are 3 options for having a baby. Do it the conventional way at a larger hospital, opt for an alternative birth at a mid-wife's facility or a water birth, or "cheat" and do a (relatively) painless epidural birth. There are also C-sections, although in Japan these are generally performed when a medical condition threatens the health of mother and/or baby and not because it's a personal option. First-time Japanese moms are avid readers of everything that can go wrong in birth and the fear factor is high - so for this reason most opt for the relative safety of a major hospital. But while a clinical environment does get you sophisticated help if you suddenly need it, there are also plenty of downsides. Among these are: the cost - especially in inner city hospitals; the "habits" of Japanese doctors who worry more about their schedules and convenience than patient pain and discomfort - for example, the prevalent use of episiotomies instead of allowing the mother more time to stretch fully. Then there is the authoritarian attitude of the staff, which can prevent the Dad from being at the birth, the sharing of hospital recovery rooms and thus a lack of peace and quiet for a recuperating mom and baby, and, speaking of lack of privacy, the tendency to invite interns and non-medical staff to view the show when the mom is delivering (OK, she might have the top half blocked off by a curtain). Anyway, you get the idea, some aspects of Japanese maternity hospitals can be rather primitive. Alternative births such as using a mid-wife or doing a water birth are becoming rarer these days, even though both are cost-effective and much kinder to the mother. Giving birth with an experienced mid-wife is a revelation in knowledge and patient-care. Generally the partner is allowed to stay with the mother both before, during, and after child birth, making the event a family experience and giving the partner a deeper appreciation of what the mother is going through. This sharing of preparation, pain, and jubilation is remarkably lacking in Japanese families and in our opinion is one of the contributing factors to the breakdown of familial relationships a few years later. Mid-wives are more likely to offer practical advice to get the mom ready for the big event, ranging from how to do yoga poses to orient a baby which is upside down, through to walking up and down stairs to get the fetus to drop down and speed up a slow delivery. This is in contrast to hospitals, where busy doctors quickly resort to surgery to get things straightened out. The downside to a midwife is when there is an emergency and sudden action is required. This is probably the biggest reason these low-cost providers are disappearing, although most still in business are likely to have a hospital on standby just down the street. As mentioned, a second alternative birth is the water birth, something that is not popular in Japan but is entirely do-able. The benefit of water birth is two-fold, to soften the mother's skin tissue, to reduce the likelihood of tearing, and to give the newborn a less invasive entry to the world, given that the water is as warm as amniotic fluid. If you've ever witnessed a water birth (we've seen 3), you will be amazed how calm the baby is and the lack of physical "violence". The third major option (and very much an "alternative" birth in Japan) is to stick with a major hospital but opt for an epidural. The upside is that the procedure, while still painful, is that the mom experiences just a shade of the intense pain of regular childbirth, and so it has become popular overseas. The reason that epidurals are not popular in Japan are three-fold. Firstly there is the physical risk of an incorrectly administered needle, which are huge and very invasive, especially in Japan where such procedures are not common. In fact, the risk is high enough that some mothers we know who decided on epidurals, opted to have their babies abroad where at least they can be sure of doctors who have done the procedure many times before. Secondly there is the cost. There is exactly one doctor in Japan who specializes in epidural births. Of course there are others who know and are licensed to do the procedure, but why would you use an amateur? For the top guy, his services will set you back about JPY1.2MM-JPY2MM - about 3-5 times the cost of having a baby in a regular hospital. Considering the cost of flying and accommodation, you could hit the same budget by taking a holiday and giving birth overseas. The third downside to doing an alternative birth is the main reason we decided to write this article - psychological pressure from friends and family. For young Japanese raised in Japan's group-think schooling system, this pressure is probably the biggest disincentive. So let's be straight here. Japan is psychologically harsh on its own citizens. Pain and suffering are considered purifying acts, and no where is this more true than in childbirth. To escape that pain is considered an act of cowardice and is despised by the older generation in particular. There are two digital sources of information that almost all new Japanese moms visit, being the Mamari app, and the mamastar.jp website. Visiting these sites is an interesting peek into the subculture of birthing in Japan and reveals a lot about the moral code. Both sites have many pages of comments from young mothers deploring the fact that they are shamed (usually by the mother-in-law and sometimes by the husband) into so-called "natural" births, when in fact they badly wanted to have an epidural, or for medical reasons they had to have a C-section. In particular, women on both sites relate experiences where they went through a C-section and were made to feel that they somehow cheated and didn't birth "properly". The medieval attitudes are pretty shocking and the comments heartless, as illustrated by the following examples: "My mother-in-law had some cruel words for me. She said, 'Although the doctor chose [a C-section] for you, you took the easy way out so you didn't have to suffer, didn't you?!" [Ed: In this case, the Mother-in-law was unhappy because the doctor had chosen the birth date for baby instead of it happening naturally.] "My mother-in-law repeatedly and right in front of me as I was recuperating kept saying, 'Poor baby, you came out so quickly [by C-section], you're so small, and you wanted to stay in your mother's tummy longer didn't you? Poor thing...'" "My sister commented, 'Oh, you got a C-section, you couldn't deal with the pain could you?'" "My husband muttered at me, 'Why did you get a C-section?! You're a failure as a mother...!'" There are dozens of similar examples. So while Japan has one of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world, this is off-set by the country having one of the highest rates of postpartum depression and suicide (according to the Japan Times). Yeah, with family members like the ones just quoted, it's no wonder...! In fact, a survey by the National Center for Child Health and Development found that in 2015, 102 women committed suicide before and after childbirth, making it the leading cause of maternal death. Of these, 92 committed suicide within a year of giving birth and 65% of them had given birth for the first time. Notably, many of these women lacked close support networks and belonged to households with no regular source of income. This is sad state of affairs, and given that we are now moving into a new era for the whole country, we think it's time for PM Abe to make good on his promise and allocate some serious resources, public education, and top-down support to help the very people who are bringing into existence the nation's future generation. The more depressed and oppressed our moms are, the more likely it is that it will affect the kids and thus weaken society in the long term. It's not difficult to see this connection. Unfortunately, if you're power-obsessed old men making policy rules and you look down at women as baby-making machines (in 2007, the LDP Health Minister health minister, Hakuo Yanagisawa, actually said this), then thinking about the future with kindness is not something that comes naturally. Instead, harsh feudal values are so much easier to maintain. **************** Lastly, we will be off for the next 3 weeks, for both the extended Golden Week and a long bike tour during that time. We will be back on board around May 19th. Perhaps some readers noticed there was no scheduled Take last week. This is only the second time in 22 years that we failed to meet our publishing schedule, and is a reflection of the fact that the travel business is doing well enough that it is impinging on our other activities. It's quite likely the rapid growth will continue for the next 18 months, so publication could become more random than in the past - we seek your support and understanding in advance, thanks so much. ...The information janitors/ ***------------------------****-------------------------*** --------- Japan Travel Corporate Travel Services ---------- Japan Travel's Type-2 licensed travel agency business is one Japan's few independent foreign-owned inbound DMCs. One of our specialties is looking after corporate groups of 10-300 people. To date we have assisted in the successful holding of training events, incentive travel, conferences, off-sites, and team bonding programs. We have looked after the full gamut of services, such as: international air travel, hotels, local travel, event logistics and venues, entertainment, micro-management of dietary needs, and special needs customers. We are highly motivated and are happy to work in a variety of roles tailored to suit your needs: as a full-fledged corporate travel agency partner, as a logistics partner for a particular issue, or as a source of innovative experiences and venues. Looking after hard-to-please high-tech groups is our specialty! For corporate travel assistance, contact us at: tours at japantravel.com. Or visit our pages at: http://japantravel.co.jp/en/about/travel-agency/ ----------------------------------------------------------- ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ NEWS - So will there be a consumption tax increase or not? - Ballot-based Olympic tickets available from May 9th - Year-round hiring to be allowed - Chickens come home to roost at Nissan - 13% of homes are empty => So will there be a consumption tax increase or not? The government's top cabinet ministers were in damage-control mode last week after a close aide to PM Abe hinted that he might delay for a third time the planned increase in consumption tax from 8% to 10%. The increase, which is supposed to happen in October this year, is now becoming increasingly risky, after the most recent economic data show that the economy contracted for the last quarter - most likely due to a slow down in China (and thus Japanese exports to that country). Business confidence is ebbing and given the huge impact of the last increase in consumption tax, the government is worried about a similar setback this time around as well. ***Ed: Obviously a lot depends on Trump and what kind of concessions he is going to try to extract from both China and Japan by the end of May.** (Source: TT commentary from mainichi.jp, Apr 19, 2019) http://bit.ly/2UMJFz5 => Ballot-based Olympic tickets available from May 9th The Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games has announced that a ballot will be set up to sell Olympic Games tickets to Japan residents starting May 9th and ending May 28th. The results of the ballot will be announced on June 20th. Applications can only be made through the official Tokyo 2020 website, which is now available in English. If readers miss out on the ballot, they can still buy tickets to specific events on a first-come, first-served basis in the fall of this year. There will also be further ticket sales made in the spring of 2020. The tickets website is: http://bit.ly/2V3hzo5 There will be 339 events in 33 sports, and tickets will be priced starting from JPY2,500, with about 50% of all tickets priced at JPY 8,000 or less. (Source: TT commentary from tokyo2020.org, Apr 18, 2019) http://bit.ly/2DD7S5c => Year-round hiring to be allowed The gloves are off in the race for finding new staff for the major businesses in Japan. Whereas for 50+ years companies had a "gentleman's agreement" not to solicit university graduates out of hiring season (spring each year), so as to make it fairer for all concerned, the top business organization in Japan, Keidanren, has just announced that it will allow company members to start soliciting and hiring new graduates year round. Those companies likely to take advantage of the relaxed rules will be fast-growing tech firms like Softbank and others, who hire year-round already from the open market. A Recruit survey shows that about 10.7% of Japanese firms plan to start year-round hiring from next year. ***Ed: What the fuss is about here is that many universities have agreed to allow companies to reach out to their students earlier. So now we have an alignment with what already happens overseas - e.g., that the best third-year students start getting competitive offers well before graduation, which is a great way to increase their starting salaries.** (Source: TT commentary from japantimes.co.jp, Apr 20, 2019) http://bit.ly/2WczJR3 => Chickens come home to roost at Nissan Nissan Motor has slashed its profit forecast for the current fiscal year to the lowest in nine years, saying that there will be a 45% drop in profit, from JPY450bn to JPY318bn. The reason? Apparently "the king" Saikawa has decided that the company should stop aggressive pricing on its U.S. models and instead focus on improving profit margins. Unfortunately for him and the company, he doesn't seem to understand that discounting is what drives the U.S. markets, and if Nissan wants a share it needs to play the game - as Mr. Ghosn well knew. ***Ed: This is a classic case of the Japanese government [Ed: rumored to be behind this whole sorry tale] cutting off its nose to spite its face. Ghosn may or may not have misused US$5m of company money, but how does that in any way compare to the destruction of shareholder value of US$2.5bn going on in Nissan right now? This whole thing most certainly should have been handled internally, quietly, and without wrecking the business.** (Source: TT commentary from the-japan-news.com, Apr 24, 2019) http://bit.ly/2IPZbZI => 13% of homes are empty In an update on the "akiya" (empty house) crisis, the Nikkei says there is a record 8.46m homes vacant even as the population fell another 299,118 people from 2017 to 2018. The once-every-five-years survey found that the number of unoccupied homes jumped by 260,000 units, which is 13.6% of all housing in Japan. Of course many homes will be recycled back into the economy, but over 3.47m will remain vacant and eventually will be demolished or taken over by local governments as part of the 2015 tax legislation deal to remove permanently unoccupied dwellings. ***Ed: BTW, that death rate of almost 300,000 is important, because it represents roughly 200,000 home owners who are no longer around.** (Source: TT commentary from bloomberg.com, Apr 29, 2019) https://bloom.bg/2UPYKQk NOTE: Broken links Some online news sources remove their articles after just a few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we apologize for the inconvenience. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ UPCOMING EVENTS => A group of concerned citizens from the international community has formed a support group called the "Friends of Carlos Ghosn". The group points out that Ghosn was a member of TAC and his children grew up in Japan. With the seemingly arbitrary nature of the Japanese legal system, what has happened to him could happen to anyone in the community. So if you would like to help, please contact housinginjapan at yahoo.com for more information. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** ----------- Bilingual Sales Manager Wanted ---------------- Japan Travel is a "full stack" travel business, consisting of a large contributor community, one of Japan's top inbound travel portals, a custom travel agency, and a technology team. We are looking for an accomplished bilingual (Japanese/English) person, male or female, to lead our Media sales team. The right person will be someone with a proven personal network in Japan, and a solid track record in business development, sales, and team development. We are a fast-growing company at the top of our game, and the sales manager will be helping sales team members move up from smaller projects to larger, more bold ones that are pitched at senior management in our customer base. Fluent business Japanese is a must. The company is currently at 35 staff, with 2/3 working in Japan and the remainder in various locations abroad. We are growing at a rate of 50% or more a year, and expect to go public by 2023. Are you able to help us get there? For more information, email: terrie.lloyd at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ CORRECTIONS/FEEDBACK => None this week ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ TRAVEL DESTINATIONS PICKS => Yagiri Crossing on the Edo River Take a trip back in time on the Edo River Tokyo is renowned for its fast and punctual train systems. If you are brave and have time, riding the buses is a great way to get around dense parts of the city. The extensive road and bridge crossings are convenient and relatively safe to walk on. But there is one antiquated mode of transport in the big city that won?t get you anywhere fast except back in time ? the Yagiri ferry crossing. The Yagiri crossing was instituted during the shogunate to serve the farmers who came from what was then the outskirts of the capital, now Katsushika Ward, to work the fields on the eastern side of the Edo River. Today, the ferry lands at the dock in the Yagiri area of Matsudo City in Chiba Prefecture. Rides on the wooden hulled ferry, cost JPY200 yen for adults, and JPY100 for children. The ferry doesn?t run when the weather is stormy, and there is no schedule. The boatman simply waits for passengers to gather, and pushes off when he is satisfied with the number of passengers. The crossing no longer carries farmers, and is now a living heritage and a pleasant side excursion from Shibamata. You may wonder what draws visitors to this little boat. Yagiri no Watashi was immortalized in an enka song of the same name. It also appears as a setting for a couple?s elopement in the novel Nogiku no Haka, Grave of the Wild Chrysanthemum, by Itoh Sachiro. But there is another charming reason for the preservation of this little ferry. Yagiri crossing is distinctive for the waves of the river slapping the sides of the boat, the breeze blowing the river grass, and the birds flying above. In 1996, the ministry of tourism began a program to designate and protect soundscapes throughout the country, preserving this last vestige of non-motorized transport on the Edo River. You can combine a ride on the Yagiri ferry with a visit to Shibamata Taishakuten, Yoshida Tei tea house, and the Tora-san Museum on the Katsushika side. Note that on the Matsudo side of the river, there is a monument indicating the site?s literary and cultural significance, a little shop that sells snacks and drinks, but little else. Visitors can catch a bus into central Matsudo, which has great architectural heritage and delicious ramen shops. https://en.japantravel.com/tokyo/yagiri-crossing-on-the-edo-river/45171 => Tokyo Some Monogatari Museum Glimpse into the exclusive world of kimono craftsmanship These days, museums are common everywhere but many can feel highly sanitized with areas cordoned off, exhibits out of reach and numerous "do not's". If you're craving an authentic experience, you may be left feeling disappointed. However, at the Tokyo Some Monogatari Museum, not only can you get a hands-on craft session and immersive workshop tour, you'll also get to peek into the exclusive world of kimono silk dyeing. What a rare chance that is! Those interested in traditional Japanese arts or kimonos are in for a treat. Located in the Shinjuku ward by the Kanda River, Tomita Some Kogei, or Tomita Dye Craft, has a long history as a kimono dye workshop that specializes in Edo Sarasa and Tokyo Some Komon. Edo Sarasa is a dyeing technique imported from the Middle East, India, Thailand and Java that produces exotic, vividly-covered and richly-patterned kimonos. In contrast, Tokyo Some Komon is a style of finely-patterned kimonos with a simple understated beauty. The family business started by the Asakusa River in 1882, and Tomita Some Kogei moved to its current location by the Kanda River in 1914 after the water in the Asakusa River receded, leaving a level that?s too low to be ideal for washing kimonos. Washing kimonos in the Kanda River would have continued had it not been prohibited in 1963. As Japan prepared for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the local government called for a citywide cleanup of streets and rivers. Therefore, these days, Tomita Some Kogei dyes kimono silk by a combination of traditional and modern means. https://en.japantravel.com/tokyo/tokyo-some-monogatari-museum-tomita-some-komon/57683 ***------------------------****-------------------------*** *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 5,703 members as of April 29, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Mon May 20 21:25:45 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Mon, 20 May 2019 21:25:45 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 990 (Tourism Edition) - Three Ways to Control the Flood of Tourists in Kyoto Message-ID: * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S (TOURISM) TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A bi-weekly focused look at the tourism sector in Japan, by Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. ( http://www.terrielloyd.com) Tourism Sector Edition Sunday, May 20, 2019, Issue No. 990 SUBSCRIBE to, UNSUBSCRIBE from Terrie's Take at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie +++ Three Ways to Control the Flood of Tourists in Kyoto Two and a half years ago, in August 2016, I wrote an article ( https://www.japaninc.com/tt871_coming-backlash-of-intolerance-to-tourists) about the swarming crowds in Tokyo and Kyoto, and a probable backlash against foreign tourists in coming years. Now in 2019, the media is thick with reports on the problems that too many tourists cause to the local goodwill and infrastructure of those destinations. Usually, this is in the context of too many Chinese tourists in Kyoto, but it is also increasingly being applied to the swarming of regional festivals (e.g., Nebuta in Aomori) and events, overloading of urban services (transport, trash, and parks seating space), and even the proliferation of Japanese-owned snack shops that sell and encourage visitors to stroll and eat yummy but accident-prone, sticky food. In 2017 there were something like 3.53m overnight stay foreign visitors to Kyoto - the most desirable type of tourist - and some portion, probably about 10m (our guess based on Kansai Airport arrivals), of day trippers. So about 14m foreign visitors a year. While this sounds like a lot, in fact, other medieval cities in Europe, with equally narrow streets and unplanned city layouts, seem to cope. Holland's Amsterdam gets 19m tourists a year. London gets about 20m (2018). And Paris, the big kahuna, about 40m (2017). So Kyoto in some respects should consider itself lucky. The most obvious way to deal with the over-tourism of key Japanese cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto would seem to be to move tourists away from them and out to the regions, where they are actually still wanted and needed. The government has certainly made more marketing money available to such locations, and starting from next year, we believe there will be a major escalation of funds as the authorities finally decide how much of the exit tax they are really going to apply to inbound promotion. But honestly, all the marketing in the world won't do much if the regions don't start first doing something about accommodating the extra tourists they are wishing for. Everything ranging from better access for international LCC airlines so that tourists don't all have to land in Osaka and Tokyo, through to providing better accommodation, activities, and payment options across the prefecture. In the meantime, tourists would rather go where they know they will be entertained - Kyoto, Tokyo, and Osaka. [Continued below...] ----------- Bilingual Sales Manager Wanted ---------------- Japan Travel is a "full stack" travel business, consisting of a large contributor community, one of Japan's top inbound travel portals, a custom travel agency, and a technology team. We are looking for an accomplished bilingual (Japanese/English) person, male or female, to lead our Media sales team. The right person will be someone with a proven personal network in Japan, and a solid track record in business development, sales, and team development. We are a fast-growing company at the top of our game, and the sales manager will be helping sales team members move up from smaller projects to larger, more bold ones that are pitched at senior management in our customer base. Fluent business Japanese is a must. The company is currently at 35 staff, with 2/3 working in Japan and the remainder in various locations abroad. We are growing at a rate of 50% or more a year, and expect to go public by 2023. Are you able to help us get there? For more information, email: terrie.lloyd at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] In Holland, they are following the softly-softly approach. The city there with the biggest tourism overflow problem is Amsterdam - and local residents have been getting increasingly vociferous about their desire the rein the tourist numbers back in. The Dutch tourism authorities don't want to kill the golden goose - much the same as the Japanese seem to be thinking - so their strategy is to make Amsterdam less attractive and less accessible than in the past, while simultaneously stepping up the visibility, desirability, and access to secondary towns and cities across the country. For example, last year they took down the famed "I Love Amsterdam" sign (Ed: shame, my kids loved taking photos there.) They are also started posting signs every where as part of the "Enjoy and Respect" campaign to educate visiting tourists how to behave and get along with the locals - things like not treating Amsterdam as a party zone and not urinating or vomiting in the streets - under punishment of drastically increased instant fines. Of course, this may not work in Japan, where locals love to vomit and pee just about anywhere, especially after 10pm at night... Oops. Anyway, the Dutch call their worst type of tourist, "Liam." In profile, "Liam" comes from the UK, is aged 18 to 24 years old, and wants to party outrageously in Amsterdam every weekend. The "Enjoy and Respect" campaign is targeted at him, so it is primarily in English and posters are plastered all over the airport and public transport centers helping "Liam" understand that he is being watched. Along similar lines, the Japanese problem is with "Zhang Wei" - although the age profile is somewhat older and the basic problems are more cultural than aged related. In a reasonably well-defined tourist magnet city like Kyoto, maybe the answer is to be found in a more draconian approach as is being tried out in Venice, another iconic city that draws a huge number of both day visitors and cruise ships every year. In September this year, Venice will introduce a 10 Euros visit fee targeting the 15m day trippers (versus people who actually stay at hotels in the city). In particular, this fee will be applied to the roughly 12m cruise ship passengers (6,000 ships a year!) who do little more than buy a gelato or a cheap souvenir and who otherwise spend most of their budgets onboard. Venice has some even more radical ideas in mind, and plans to regulate tourist numbers by selling tickets (not just fees) to visit - offering people who didn't win the ballot to enter on their preferred dates an option to travel to the city in less busy months. Another solution example, moving from the scope of an entire city to just the major attractions (think Kinkakuji and Kiyomizudera in Kyoto), we can look at the Gaudi-inspired Park Guell in Barcelona. In 2013 over 9m people visited the park and reduced it from being a quiet green space to becoming something reminiscent of Shinjuku station at 11pm at night. Local residents were up in arms over the noise and inability to take their kids to the park, and the council decided to close off access and sell tickets for tourists to visit. Although this meant fencing off a formerly public space, the result was remarkable, and the number of visitors fell to a much more manageable 2.3m people annually, with a much better spread of visitors outside the peak months. Then of course there was the 23m Euros flowing into local coffers to pay for park upkeep and wardens. While these solutions are simple and would be based on precedent overseas, I fear that they could also inspire a wave of greed by lesser locations that suddenly see ticket selling as a way to top up their own coffers. We have seen similar herd mentality with DMOs, precious few of whom will actually deliver any results for the vast sums being spent. So once the we-can-make-money herd starts moving, how can Japan control it and not kill the Golden Goose? One answer could be to require the ticket selling to be licensed by one of the Ministries in Kasumigaseki: either the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport & Tourism (MLIT), which is the parent ministry to the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA), or the Ministry of Finance, which has power as the controller of the nation's finances. Either way, I feel it's not unreasonable to ask tourists to pay for access to the best (but not all) locations that the country has to offer. In fact, I often tell people that Japan is the "world's biggest Disneyland" - in that everywhere you look, there is some visual or taste stimulation going on that is both compelling and a strong reminder that this is a unique place. Given that, and if the Japanese government does get a taste for ticket sales of public spaces, then the next step must surely be season passes, books of tickets, and my own favorite - fast passes. This would be a lucrative aggregation business for the JTA, who would become a kind of ticketing, reservations, and payments clearing house, a sort of public utility that controls and regulates the monetization and access to Japan's public tourism resources. BTW, Tokyo Disneyland had 30.1m visitors in 2017, in a space far smaller than Kyoto. Just a wild idea, but why doesn't the government look at putting Oriental Land and Disney's expertise in crowd management, to work in Kyoto? ...The information janitors/ *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 5,705 members as of May 20, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Wed May 29 00:25:47 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Wed, 29 May 2019 00:25:47 +0900 Subject: Terrie's Take 991 - JMEC - Awakening the Genie, and e-Biz News from Japan Message-ID: * * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A weekly roundup of news & information from Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. (http://www.terrielloyd.com) General Edition Tuesday, May 28, 2019, Issue No. 991 - What's New -- JMEC - Awakening the Genie - News -- Cameras getting closer to human eye resolution - Events - Corrections/Feedback - Travel Picks -- Headless Samurai shrine in Otemachi, Hunter's Bar in Shinjuku - News Credits SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES: http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take, or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ +++ JMEC - Awakening the Genie Sometimes the best good works happen right under your nose. Within the foreigners-in-Japan business world, one such "improver" is the Japan Market Entry Competition, otherwise known as JMEC. This program and associated organization is funded and supported by 18 foreign chambers of commerce in Japan. The program's surprisingly high, and consistent, level of official support is testimony to its effectiveness. I have been involved in JMEC ever since it was first discussed as a "crazy idea" in the Australia New Zealand Chamber of Commerce (ANZCCJ) some time in the early 1990's and thereafter from when the first competition took place in 1993. From memory, those early years had intakes of about 50 people, whereas today the numbers are closer to 80, which means that up until JMEC 25 this year, at least 1,200 people and likely more have been through it. So what does JMEC actually do? Fundamentally it teaches volunteer participants how to take the first step in creating new businesses or fixing old ones - by doing deep-dive research and thereafter building credible business plans. The skills learned include ideating, market and technical research, product/service design, business pricing and planning, negotiation (with clients and other team members), documentation, presentation, and last but not least - perseverance - perhaps the most important habit of a successful person. JMEC participants are usually employees of companies whose senior management value creativity, independent thinking, and personal growth of their staff - even at the risk of losing them later if those same staff have an epiphany as a result of their JMEC experience. Originally most participants came from foreign multinationals, but recently it's interesting to see a lot more Japanese firms who are trying to internationalize encouraging their staff to join the program - companies like Rakuten, Fuji Xerox, and various Japanese banks. JMEC is a tough business boot camp and it's not for the faint of heart. Teams are given a project (versus choosing one) and are expected to make the best of that client. The 4- to 6-person teams work together for a grueling 7 months, and team members are challenged to solve problems that are frequently well outside their skill set and comfort zone. Marketing people suddenly have to learn about engineering and technology, technical people need to learn market research and making customer presentations, and modest administration staff suddenly need to be seen and heard. All participants are expected to be able to speak English (although not necessarily fluently) and to have graduated from a 4-year college. In fact, about 20% of participants this current year (JMEC 25) have Masters or PhD degrees. Why JMEC is top of mind for me at the moment is that I was contacted a few weeks ago with the invitation to become a replacement judge, after one of the regular members suddenly couldn't make the dates set. Although I have been involved with JMEC as a presenter/lecturer and so I knew that the judges play an important role, I didn't realize just what an intense and sometimes emotionally conflicting (you naturally find yourself wanting to support the underdogs) role it is... So perhaps naively, I said "yes" and duly received the orientation and a 10cm high pile of business plans to review...! [Article continues below...] ----------- Mt. Fuji One-day Fun Ride (Not a Race) -------- This is THE iconic annual Mount Fuji Long Ride cycling event. Take in the scenic Fuji Five Lakes area on your bike, sample local flavors, make new friends and meet old ones. Choose one of the three cycling courses that fits you best, get geared up, and head out to the event on your own. Or better still, join our rental bike-and-gear all-inclusive day tour by bus from Tokyo. Register for the event here. http://bit.ly/2XgXdVO Join the tour here. http://bit.ly/2XgXdVO ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] The judging took place this last weekend and although I can't say who won, that will be announced later, I can share some insights about how JMEC tests the limits of people who are suddenly thrust into the chaos and desperation of a (simulated) start-up. In fact it has been quite eye-opening to realize what a large gap there is between what is taught in schools (as mentioned, there are some MBAs) and what thought processes are actually needed to create a successful business. Just like an aircraft simulator, JMEC somehow creates the same highs and lows, tensions and desires, as would be felt in a real start-up. As a presenter/lecturer I have always shared with the participants my viewpoint of the mental and emotional stresses involved, but until now I have never "felt" the participants' own journey. As a judge, though, you really get to see the process at a much more personal level, and so my respect for each participant has gone up dramatically. So what are the common gaps between knowledge and practice that otherwise well-educated people make when creating a new business plan under pressure? I was able to identify three points from the JMEC teams and, btw, these points apply equally well to real first-time entrepreneurs as they do to JMEC contestants. 1. Realistic Budgeting It was fascinating to see people who are already employed show a basic trait in their budgeting process - the trait of over-optimism and trying to please. Of course when we create a business plan, we necessarily have to be optimistic that our business will succeed or otherwise why even bother to start? Furthermore, our investors need to be incentivized by optimistically strong returns or we won't be able to find the capital needed to get off the ground. I'm all for optimism, but what I found at JMEC was a pattern where some (but not all) teams did not want "ugly" red ink to show up on their projections. So even in the first or second year they had plans showing black ink (profit). As an entrepreneur I know it's possible to run a company like this (if I have perhaps only one employee), but in doing so I also know that I'm limiting myself in two ways: i) a profit in Year One either means I'm very lucky/smart, or more likely it means I'm not working my capital hard enough and I have not made sufficient investment in growth, and ii) maintaining profit at the beginning means I'm probably the slow, cautious type who will be aiming for a 30-year exit for the business - which is certainly the bane of potential investors - versus a more normal 5- or 10-year one. Providing you have sufficient capital, I don't think it's a sin to have red ink on your P&L for the first 1-3 years. In fact it's normal. I also found that some teams were following client expectations (in a real start-up, the "client" might be an investor) to the detriment of commonsense. If a client says that they want to be in profit in 18 months, yet with meaningful revenues, you'd better be reflecting the need for a huge amount of capital investment upfront to get there. Or, if a client doesn't want to hire staff (support for a software company, say), then perhaps you will have to tell them straight up that you don't think it's possible. Or if the client wants the Japanese partner to put up all the capital for a new joint venture, then point out in your business plan that they won't get much local ownership let alone control, because the Japan partner/distributor taking all the financial risk will want a big chunk of the local equity - in my experience as much as 50%-70%. 2. Impactful Marketing The common pattern in teams' approach to marketing was to either ignore it, by letting a distributor take care of it, or by throwing money at the task. In real life, when you let a distributor take control of your marketing it's only natural they will want to do it under their own brand, and so you lose one of the biggest value-creation opportunities of being in the Japan market - which is strong local brand equity and thus stable revenue for years to come. OK, it is true that if your brand is already known globally, your distributor will probably push your brand, but for most companies who are just regular mid-tier players or start-ups, you will have little to no leverage with the distributor, who over time is anyway going to view you as just another supplier. Furthermore, if that distributor is major, your product and brand will gradually be lost in a huge lineup of similar products. Throwing money at building a brand was the second common response to marketing. This actually connects to the first point I was making, which is that it is naive for a new entrant to the market to think it can simply ramp up its messaging to compete with successful local incumbents. Instead, there needs to be a clear value proposition that the incumbents don't have, or a very unique creative hook that consumers naturally respond to. When I start a company I always ask myself, "What are the natural advantages I have over my competitors?" long before I consider the marketing budget. If my product/service advantages are not outstandingly clear, I'm not ready for the market. 3. The Big Idea Tying in to this last point about natural advantages of your product or service, is the "Big Idea". A big idea can be a product feature that no one ever thought of before, like Post-it notes; or a business model that completely disrupts a major business sector, like Airbnb; or an inspirational leader who dreams of world peace, like Gandhi. All are inspiring, all cause consumers in their excitement to overlook the normal flaws and fears, and all act as a magnet for recruits and investors. No one wants to invest their future or their money in an uninspiring company. The prizes for the winners of the JMEC competition are HP computer gear and a bunch of Finnair return airfares to Europe, which are highly appealing, but I think the real prize for participants is their new awareness of what's possible if you think out of the box. Do I recommend JMEC? Unequivocally, "yes". But be prepared for the work involved and the outcomes. ...The information janitors/ ***------------------------****-------------------------*** ------------ Live Tohoku Soccer at the Hub ---------------- View the first-ever live football (soccer) broadcast of Tohoku?s Fukushima vs Iwate on June 22nd at HUB in Akasaka. The two J.League teams - each holding 3 wins and 3 draws against each other - have many supporters in Tokyo who finally have the chance to meet, drink, and enjoy the game on TV together. The broadcast is such an important event for the clubs that their staff and management will come to Tokyo to take part in the Hub event here - even though their teams will be duking it out in Fukushima! Join the GMs, staff, and other fans in Tokyo for the kickoff at 3.00pm on Saturday June 22nd! ----------------------------------------------------------- ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ NEWS - Highest May temperature on record - Cameras getting closer to human eye resolution - Stuck for a tourism idea? Start a pillow fight - New emperor, new coinage, but not until 2021 - Poor prospects for almost 1m workers from 1990s => Highest May temperature on record Anyone in doubt about global warming only needs to read the news to see that something major is going on. On Sunday May 26th, Hokkaido was the unlikely location of Japan's highest ever recorded May temperature, of 39.5 degrees, in Saroma on the northeastern side of the island. Why Hokkaido and not Kyushu? The Japan Met Agency simply said that there was a "heat mass that settled over all of Japan", but our guess is that the heat is a combination of the warming of the Arctic (Alasaka has also been running record temperatures recently) coupled with a strengthening El Nino pushing warm air much further north - and Saroma was a confluence point. ***Ed: Even though Saroma was hottest, Kyushu wasn't far behind with temperatures well exceeding 35 degrees. These days there is no place to escape the summer heat.** (Source: TT commentary from asahi.com, May 26, 2019) http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201905260049.html => Cameras getting closer to human eye resolution Fujifilm has just announced a semi-pro camera with a resolution of 102m pixels, 3-5 times better than other high-end cameras on the market. The new GFX mirrorless camera has an image sensor that is 1.7 times larger than its 35mm offerings. The camera will sell for around JPY1.32m, a bit more than one yen per pixel. ***Ed: In case you're wondering (as we were), the human eye has the equivalent resolution of 576m pixels for a given field of view. This was calculated as the point at which actual pixelation is undiscernible to the eye of someone with perfect (human) vision. In actual fact, though, the human eye is flawed, with the brain supplying compensation for blind spots and imperfections. Furthermore, a single "snapshot length" glance by the eye has an equivalent pixel level of about 5-15m pixels... In other words, about where Fujifilm's regular cameras are now.** (Source: TT commentary from the-japan-news.com, May 24, 2019) http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0005764037 => Stuck for a tourism idea? Start a pillow fight The small fishing village of Ito, down on the Izu peninsular, has a great idea for attracting tourists each February (last week's competition was a qualifier round). They hold a national pillow fighting competition. The idea started with a group of high schoolers in 2013 and has grown to 16 teams of 4 players each. The rules are that everyone pretends to sleep on futons, a referee blows the whistle, then the players dash for the pillow stack to war on their competitors. One person in each team is the "king" and is protected by the other team members. Play is in intense 2-minute sets. ***Ed: This is a great idea, basically harmless fun, although it must be terrible to clean up afterwards! Its not hard to see this going viral internationally.** (Source: TT commentary from euronews.com, May 25, 2019) https://www.euronews.com/2019/05/25/japanese-compete-to-qualify-in-national-pillow-fighting-tournament => New emperor, new coinage, but not until 2021 Making new money is obviously a tough business, given that the government has announced that even though it is designing new low-end notes and 500 yen coins for the ascension of the new emperor, the new coins won't be available until 2021 and the notes not until 2024 (one hopes the new emperor remains in good health until then!). Apparently the Japanese mint has a 20 year upgrade cycle anyway, as part of its fight against counterfeiters, so the new coinage is actually right on schedule. ***Ed: One interesting point about the new JPY500 coins is that they have had their metallurgical composition altered, so as to avoid people using the close-fitting Korean 500 won coin (which is 10 times cheaper in value) as a replacement in vending machines. Traditionally vending machines confirmed authenticity by weight, but as cheats were drilling small holes in the Korean coins, new vending machines were needed that can sense the actual metal composition. (Source: TT commentary from numismaticnews.net, May 24, 2019) https://www.numismaticnews.net/article/japan-plans-new-coins-and-banknotes => Poor prospects for almost 1m workers from 1990s Research by the Mizuho Research Institute has found that about 900,000 workers who graduated from college or high school in the period 1993 and 2004, are still unable to find stable jobs. The group were part of Japan's so-called "lost generation" who upon graduating were faced with a shortage of full-time job opportunities and who were forced into part-time or contract work that deprived them of job security and regular wages. The pessimism they faced in 2000 seems to have dogged this group throughout their working lives, and according to a Todai professor, of those graduates who were unemployed in 2002, 40% were still unemployed in 2015. Of the 900,000, in 2018 about 520,000 are part-timers and 400,000 are still unemployed. The government reckons it will cost about JPY20trn to support these underemployed people once they start to retire. ***Ed: When the going gets tough in the Japanese economy, Japanese society appears willing to throw certain segments of the population under the bus. Our guess is that next time around, it will be the many foreign laborers being employed on blue collar visas.** (Source: TT commentary from asia.nikkei.com, May 23, 2019) https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Nearly-a-million-in-Japan-s-lost-generation-face-old-age-poverty NOTE: Broken links Some online news sources remove their articles after just a few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we apologize for the inconvenience. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** ------ German-speaking Travel Consultant Internship ------- Japan Travel KK (www.japantravel.com) is experiencing strong growth of its German desk for inbound travelers to Japan, and we are looking for a German-English speaking intern to join the team, with a view of transitioning to a full-time position and work visa in Japan. The internship will be for a minimum 3 months and a maximum of 6 months, after which there will be a management and peer review. You can be either a student who needs to do an internship to meet academic course requirements, or you can be a person in the workforce thinking to reset your life and location. Apart from German you should be able to speak basic English and/or Japanese (either is OK). The type of work you'll be doing is assisting German customers wanting to plan trips to Japan. This would include the following: * Responding to incoming leads and conversing (usually email/chat) with customers * Researching accommodation, transport, activities, diet preferences/availability, entertainment, guides, and other things that travelers require * Using our quotation and itinerary systems to produce the customer materials * Interacting with customers and consulting them on choices and areas of concern * Translation of content about destinations * Writing original content (articles) about destinations and activities * Assisting us with German social media For more details: jerome.lee at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- +++ UPCOMING EVENTS => No additional events. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** --------- Japan Travel Corporate Travel Services ---------- Japan Travel's Type-2 licensed travel agency business is one Japan's few independent foreign-owned inbound DMCs. One of our specialties is looking after corporate groups of 10-300 people. To date we have assisted in the successful holding of training events, incentive travel, conferences, off-sites, and team bonding programs. We have looked after the full gamut of services, such as: international air travel, hotels, local travel, event logistics and venues, entertainment, micro-management of dietary needs, and special needs customers. We are highly motivated and are happy to work in a variety of roles tailored to suit your needs: as a full-fledged corporate travel agency partner, as a logistics partner for a particular issue, or as a source of innovative experiences and venues. Looking after hard-to-please high-tech groups is our specialty! For corporate travel assistance, contact us at: tours at japantravel.com. Or visit our pages at: http://japantravel.co.jp/en/about/travel-agency/ ----------------------------------------------------------- ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ CORRECTIONS/FEEDBACK => No feedback this week. ***------------------------****-------------------------*** +++ TRAVEL DESTINATIONS PICKS => Taira no Masakado, Otemachi The shrine of Tokyo's most famous samurai head Japan has no shortage of ghost stories but perhaps the most surreal of them all is that of Taira no Masakado and his headless exploits across the nation. A warrior from Kanto, Masakado led a rebellion in the 10th century against the government in Kyoto. He managed to conquer a few local provinces in the process and flushed with some success, proclaimed himself the new emperor and had his uncle executed. The government in Kyoto responded to this by placing a bounty on Masakado's head that was too good to refuse. And sure enough, it was taken - by his cousin, son of the man whom Masakado had killed... Taira no Masakado's head was now on its way to the capital. But then a strange thing happened. The now dead Masakado decided that his head ought to stop by a fishing village in what would now be Tokyo. For centuries afterwards, reports grew from concerned villagers and superstitious fisherman of a head that would fly through the streets at night. Masakado may have earned a grudging respect for taking it to a central government but a vengeful spirit was not something that anyone could take lightly. Slowly but surely, the resting place of Masakado's separated dome became a place of nervous supplication and worship. http://bit.ly/2I1pUQ1 => Hunters Bar, Shinjuku Step into the world of Monster Hunter Located in Tokyo's Shinjuku district, Hunters Bar invites Monster Hunter fans into the fantasy world of the hunting action game franchise. A collaboration between Capcom and Pasela Resorts, both fans and newcomers alike can experience the fantasy video game in a new light thanks to this authentic inn setting! Fans of the series can also marvel at the themed decor, food and drink line-up, Guild Card collection system and game merchandise available here. The bar originally opened in March 2018, and was also followed by a pop-up location in Osaka's Tennoji area last summer. Just as the game-world inns provide a rest stop for weary hunters and travelers, Hunter's Bar aims to provide a social hub in Shinjuku for people to refuel and enjoy their night out thanks to the themed interior and incredible menu line-up inspired by the series. Enter inside and cross over from the virtual world to the physical one in this warmly lit, wooden interior reminiscent of a tavern from the game. Studded bar stools fill the bar interior, while replicas of weapons, banners and foliage hang from the ceiling, adorn the walls and fill the corners. http://bit.ly/2MbkOpH ***------------------------****-------------------------*** *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 5,705 members as of May 28, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. SUBSCRIBE Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up, or go straight to Mailman at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie BACK ISSUES http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take or, http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/ Copyright 2019 Japan Inc. Communications Inc. ----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ---------------- J at pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in the world's third largest economy. Visit www.japaninc.com for the best business insight on Japan available. ----------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From terrie at mailman.japaninc.com Mon Jul 8 16:55:30 2019 From: terrie at mailman.japaninc.com (Terrie's Take) Date: Mon, 8 Jul 2019 15:55:30 +0800 Subject: Terrie's Take 992 (Tourism Edition) - Iya-Otoyo: One of the 3 Most Famous, Least Visited Places in Japa Message-ID: * * * * * * * * TERRIE'S (TOURISM) TAKE - BY TERRIE LLOYD * * * * * * A bi-weekly focused look at the tourism sector in Japan, by Terrie Lloyd, a long-term technology and media entrepreneur living in Japan. ( http://www.terrielloyd.com) Tourism Sector Edition Sunday, July 08, 2019, Issue No. 992 SUBSCRIBE to, UNSUBSCRIBE from Terrie's Take at: http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie +++ Iya-Otoyo: One of the 3 Most Famous, Least Visited Places in Japan Four years ago, an Australian friend and I decided to do a cycling road trip together that would culminate with our participating in the Shimanami Kaido "Cycling Taikai" out of Imabari, Ehime, in Shikoku. The Shimanami of course being an amazing string of suspension bridges that island-hop the Seto Inland Sea between Honshu and Shikoku, and which was engineered to have a cycling lane all the way across. Whomever thought of appending that cycling lane was a genius, because now the Shimanami Kaido route is probably the most famous Japanese cycling course for foreigners (Lake Biwa is the busiest course for Japanese) and it attracts tens of thousands of inbound riders every year. Those riders are injecting millions of dollars into local economies that otherwise would never see them stop, because the impulse when you're in a car is to keep driving. Anyway, for no particular reason other than that Jetstar had a cheap flight from Narita to Takamatsu, we decided to ride from Takamatsu airport, and to add some miles to the week of riding, we'd take a left turn at Miyoshi and go down into a valley called Iya, in Tokushima. As it turns out, this was an amazing ride to an amazing part of the country, and among other things we discovered an onsen hotel (Hotel Kazurabashi) where you take a funicular from the hotel up to the baths (fantastic view from the ofuro); a Japanese version of Brussels' Mannekin Pis - a "Pissing Boy" statue - that pees out over a vertigo-inducing chasm; and best of all, meeting and having tea with Aya-no-tsukimi (her adopted name), who has since become famous for sewing life-size scare crows to repopulate her dwindling village of Nagoro. http://bit.ly/2JiNOZ2 [Kazurabashi Hotel] http://bit.ly/2JnmdGp (Pissing boy] http://bit.ly/2JP7t14 [Nagoro, home town of Aya-no-tsukimi] Although this was only four years ago, there whole region was quite bereft of tourists and an old man local to the area told me that Iya was one of the three most famous, least visited places in Japan. My, how things change. Now that the Nakasendo has become so crowded with foreign tourists trying to connect with their inner samurai, repeat travelers to Japan are looking for the next uncharted destination, and in so doing they are creating new human traffic jams in even more remote spots around the country. One of those spots is the Iya valley, where there are now bus loads of wide-eyed visitors walking the vine bridges and marveling at the traditional homes perched up on the steep hillsides. So how did Iya get discovered so suddenly? My personal opinion is that the search for remaining genuine historical locations around the country has been pushed by major foreign (mostly UK) tour operators over the last 5 years, and this coupled with the recent coverage in major international media such as the UK's Telegraph, the Washington Post, and Bloomberg, about Alex Kerr's wonderfully renovated "Chiiori" farm house in the Iya valley, has spurred a fascination with this remote part of the country. http://bit.ly/2FZ5qHA [Kerr's Chiiori NPO site] [Continued below...] ----------- One-time Unique Noh Performance --------------- Admit it now. How many years have you been in Japan and never been to a Noh performance...? Well, now is your chance! The National Noh Theater in Sendagaya is ramping up for the Tokyo Olympics by preparing a Noh "potpourri" for foreign audiences in Japan. As part of their preparation, they are doing a full dress performance (far more than a rehearsal) next month and are offering group discounts to any foreign residents and friends interested in attending. Work groups and families are particularly welcome. The National Noh Theater is just a couple of minutes walk from the main Olympic stadium now being built. Title: Noh and Kyogen Performance - "Essence Noh" Time/Date: 04 Aug 2019 (Sun), 16:30-18:20; Theater opens at 15:45 Program: Kyogen FUKURO (Owl)/Noh TSUCHIGUMO (Spider), * With multilingual subtitles (Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean) Venue: The National Noh Theater (3-5 minutes walk from JR Sendagaya Station, Chuo-Sobu Line) Admission: All seats reserved but still available on request: 3,500yen. For groups: - Groups of 10-19 people - JPY3,000/person (JPY500 discount/ticket) - Groups of 20-29 people - JPY2,500/person (JPY1,000 discount/ticket) - Groups of 30+ people - JPY1,500/person (JPY2,000 discount/ticket) Ticket Purchase: - https://ticketstoday.jp/lineup/en/G1446W [Tickets Today] - https://www.confetti-web.com/en/detail.php?tid=52031& [Confetti] - https://t.pia.jp/pia/ticketInformation.do?eventCd=1915497&rlsCd=001&lotRlsCd= [Pia] Or, for groups over 10 people, contact Japan Travel directly at info at japantravel.com For further inquiries, contact the The Nohgaku Performers' Association at e-mail: toiawase at nohgaku.or.jp ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] After that bike trip, Andrew and I have gone on to cover other parts of the country, and I thought I might not get back to Iya again. But as fate would have it, in April this year I became Kochi Prefecture's official inbound travel advisor and have started visiting the prefecture every month. My job is to try to understand Kochi's natural resources and see how these can be matched to foreign tourists. Until now the Kochi marketing effort has been the same "we have nature and delicious seafood" patter as many other more conveniently located (to major airports) prefectures and this has relegated them to a humbling 46th place out of 47 prefectures, in terms of visiting foreign tourists. One of the things I have discovered about Kochi is that while the Iya valley is more famous and sits in Tokushima, the rift that becomes the Oboke Gorge and which merges with Iya valley, actually starts at the headwaters of the Yoshino River in the highlands of Kochi, at a place called Otoyo. And if there is one place in Shikoku that is "more Iya than Iya" it's Otoyo. As you drive up into the Kochi highlands the same dramatic terrain that Iya (and Kerr's Chiiori) is so famous for, starts to open up. Plunging, forest-clad mountains, joining at a white-capped Yoshino river far below. An area previously impenetrable to ordinary travelers but which is now semi-tamed by public roads on both sides of the river. I say "semi-tamed" because landslides are a common occurrence in the area. At the top of the spectacular mountains are old-world farm houses just visible through the mist. The local communities are private but welcoming of outsiders contributing to their economy. It is here in this mountainous refuge that it is rumored the Taira Clan retainers fled with one of the surviving family members after their defeat by the Minamoto in the Genpei War of 1180-1185. Apparently Otoyo was chosen because of a cunning plot to fool Minamoto spies at Kochi port. It is said that they first boarded ships and set sail for the east, ostensibly bound for Wakayama or Ise where they could meet up with local sympathizers. But in fact, the ships re-landed and the clan members and retainers trekked inland to Otoyo and disappeared forever. A local drove me recently around the back roads of Otoyo, and pointed out one of the houses that is said to have been the home of one of the original clan members. It's amazing to see how those ancients managed to seek out and establish villages on the safest, most stable areas of a region that otherwise sees regular land slides and erosion. Otoyo has for the last fifty years been depopulating as young people have left for the cities, and locals reckon the average age of farmers there is 80+. This of course is nothing unusual in rural Japan, where as many as 300 municipalities around the country are so de-populated they can't even field enough candidates to run their town assemblies. Okawa Town just 10km to the West is one of these. Instead, what is saving Otoyo from a similar fate is foreigners and tourism. The Yoshino river is particularly well suited for rafting and similar water sports, and about 20 years ago a pair of Australian and Japanese mates decided to start Happy Raft, today one of the leading operators on the river. The Australian is happily settled with a "almost local" girl (nearby city) and their off-spring have melted the hearts of the local community and have created a base for other foreigners to do the same. In fact, Otoyo has become a fascinating example of tradition-meets-intermarriage, and today there is a Canadian carpenter helping locals with their home maintenance projects while learning Japanese traditional building techniques; an Indian fellow who has started the first authentic Indian restaurant (perched up in the hills) for at least 50km in any direction; and a number of foreign rafting hands who have decided to buy places in the area. http://bit.ly/2S0fFjv [Happy Raft website - great rafting experience] [Continued below...] ----------- Bilingual Sales Manager Wanted ---------------- Japan Travel is a "full stack" travel business, consisting of a large contributor community, one of Japan's top inbound travel portals, a custom travel agency, and a technology team. We are looking for an accomplished bilingual (Japanese/English) person, male or female, to lead our Media sales team. The right person will be someone with a proven personal network in Japan, and a solid track record in business development, sales, and team development. We are a fast-growing company at the top of our game, and the sales manager will be helping sales team members move up from smaller projects to larger, more bold ones that are pitched at senior management in our customer base. Fluent business Japanese is a must. The company is currently at 35 staff, with 2/3 working in Japan and the remainder in various locations abroad. We are growing at a rate of 50% or more a year, and expect to go public by 2023. Are you able to help us get there? For more information, email: terrie.lloyd at japantravel.com ----------------------------------------------------------- [...Article continues] So here, among the mists and the history, a second outsider "invasion" is taking place which will change the area forever. Half kids are now a common sight and the locals are embracing them as the future of Otoyo. Getting to Otoyo is not so convenient by public transport, although there are buses and trains. The easiest way, and certainly the best if you want to explore, is to get a rental car at either Tokushima or Kochi airport. Or, if you have the energy, go by bike - but be warned that there are some serious hills in the area, as I can testify! Once there, you can get Airbnb-type accommodation with local landlords, some of whom are the foreign arrivals that I mentioned earlier. Apart from rafting, canyoning, and driving on tiny roads with sheer cliffs and amazing river valley views, the Otoya area is also famous for its flowers and teas. The carpenter in particular, is also taking up tea-growing as a new income stream, and this remote mountainous area is renowned among tea aficionados for its double-fermented Goishi-cha tea - the one that is produced in mats that look like seaweed laver and which is then cut into squares and sold for probably 5-10 times the cost of regular sencha. ************** SPECIAL NOTE: BTW, many thanks to those readers who emailed me wondering if everything was OK. After 22 years of religiously putting out the Terrie's Take newsletter, they were concerned that I'd suddenly gone quiet. Was I sick? Actually, no. Pressure of work, thanks to a thriving travel business, has been part of my slow-down. But the other part has been the arrival of my second grandchild and having mother (my daughter) and her daughter (my granddaughter) living with us at home. They are both headed off to Africa shortly as my daughter has taken up a two-year JICA posting, and I realized that I wanted to be part of their lives during the short time they are with us. All quite unexpected but an extremely welcome interlude. So, the "Take" will be back, but probably a bit less frequently as we head for the big "one thousandth" issue. ...The information janitors/ *********************************************************** END SUBSCRIBERS: 5,711 members as of July 08, 2019 (We purge our list regularly.) +++ ABOUT US STAFF Written by: Terrie Lloyd (terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com) HELP: E-mail Terrie-request at mailman.japaninc.com with the word 'help'in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. FEEDBACK Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to terrie.lloyd at japaninc.com. ADVERTISING INFORMATION For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact ads at japaninc.com. 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