* * * * * * * * * T E R R I E 'S T A K E * * * * * * *<br>A weekly roundup of news & information from Terrie Lloyd.<br>(<a href="http://www.terrie.com">http://www.terrie.com</a>)<br><br>General Edition Sunday, February 7, 2010 Issue No. 552<br>
<br>+++ INDEX<br><br>- What's new<br>- News<br>- Candidate roundup/Vacancies<br>- Upcoming events<br>- Corrections/Feedback<br>- News credits<br><br>SUBSCRIBE to, UNSUBSCRIBE from Terrie's Take at:<br><a href="http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie">http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie</a><br>
<br>BACK ISSUES<br><a href="http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take">http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take</a>, or,<br><a href="http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/">http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/</a><br>
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<br>------------- PBXL is Business Communications -------------<br><br><br>+++ WHAT'S NEW<br><br>This last week, government junior coalition member and <br>Financial Services Minister Shizuka Kamei shot down any <br>ideas about giving foreigners the right to vote in local <br>
elections. He warned in the media that doing so would cause<br>"ethnic tensions" as foreign permanent residents started <br>electing representatives who didn't represent the opinions <br>of rank and file Japanese citizens. Kamei's words repeat <br>
similar utterances from Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, <br>who has also stated he opposes suffrage for foreign <br>residents.<br><br>Media speculation is that Kamei is specifically against <br>giving any sort of leverage to the nation's many <br>
third-generation Korean "foreign" residents, whose numbers<br>make up almost half the foreigners with permanent residence<br>in Japan. Korean associations have been pushing the <br>government for many years now to bring voting rights to <br>
their members. <br><br>Whatever Kamei's opinion, while the bill should have been <br>submitted to parliament this year, its main proponent, <br>Ichiro Ozawa, the shadow-master of the DPJ, is now having <br>significant challenges to his leadership and may even <br>
have to resign from politics due to his ongoing funding <br>scandal. Thus, the legislation will probably be put on the <br>back burner for now.<br><br>That's a shame, because the bill would have marked the <br>opening shot of a series of changes that are urgently <br>
needed if Japan is to survive as an economic power. <br><br>Demographically, politically, economically, and legally <br>(think class suits against Toyota and CITES restrictions on<br>Bluefin tuna), Japan is faced in 2010 with an unprecedented<br>
flood of internationally-led challenges that will force a <br>national rethink. We're hoping that this is the year that<br>both politicians and their electorates start to realize <br>that the equivalent of another Meiji era is required to get <br>
Japan back on track. Are they up to the challenge?<br><br>We thought as a microcosm of a ground shift going on in <br>world events and the potentially damaging effects on Japan <br>if it doesn't get real about its role in the world, we'd <br>
pick up some diverse examples of where the pressures are<br>coming from.<br><br>[Continued below...]<br><br>------------ Can't Afford a Better Web Site? --------------<br><br>LINC Media's Electronic Commerce team is proud to announce<br>
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<br>1. Child Abduction in Divorces<br><br>Japanese law is buried in archaic concepts that were <br>appropriate 130 years ago but which are out of place in <br>today's society. Just look at the family court and its <br>
complete irrelevance to procedures relating to a forced but<br>equitable divorce settlement to see evidence of this. The <br>husbands don't get to see their kids because there is no <br>concept of shared custody, and in return they don't pay <br>
child maintenance. The family court has almost no power to <br>enforce judgments against these deadbeat dads and thus the <br>30% rate of divorce hitting Japan is creating a new <br>generation of single-mother families which are embittered <br>
and living below the poverty line. <br><br>Then throw foreigners and international marriages into the <br>mix and things get even more difficult. But at least with <br>foreigners they don't have any legal rights and are easily <br>
thrown out of the country if they get too noisy... <br><br>But that's about to change. Just today, Kyodo carried a <br>news piece that the U.S. government has had enough of <br>Japan's double standard on child abduction and has said <br>
firmly but politely that if the Japanese government doesn't<br>sign the Hague Convention on Child Abductions, something <br>which would prevent (mainly) Japanese women from fleeing to<br>their homeland in defiance of foreign court orders, then <br>
the U.S. would not support Japan's efforts to get its <br>citizens back from North Korea, either. Interesting <br>challenge from the U.S. and a clear warning to Japan to get<br>real. <br><br>One reason for Japan's foot dragging on signing the Hague <br>
Convention on Child Abduction is probably because in <br>signing the agreement, they would also have to make some <br>radical changes to their domestic legal system. Not only <br>would they have to make child abduction by parents <br>
criminally punishable and enforceable, and they would also <br>have to overhaul the family court and police enforcement <br>system that goes with it. This is because the signing would<br>require the police to go in and seize abducted children and<br>
return them to their country of habitual residence, to <br>allow the courts there to decide custody and subsequent <br>rights.<br><br><br>2. Ganging up on Toyota<br><br>The latest chapter in the saga of the escalating Toyota <br>
faulty accelerator recall is that the U.S. Transportation <br>Secretary, Ray LaHood, took the unusual step on Wednesday <br>of warning the owners of pretty much every type of Toyota <br>motor car to leave them parked at home unless they were <br>
driving to a repair shop, as a safety measure. He then <br>retracted part of the statement and softened it somewhat <br>-- but the damage was done. Now millions of Toyota owners <br>are concerned about whether their cars, and the brand <br>
behind them, is safe.<br><br>The problem has been in how Toyota has responded, oh so <br>slowly, to the increasing number of complaints about <br>accelerator problems. Then once the recall was finally <br>decided, the company allowed a deeper level of <br>
indecisiveness to creep in by not recalling all marques at <br>the same time, and to allow U.S. opinion leaders such as <br>Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to make Toyota look as if <br>there is a secondary (and more insidious cause) fault -- <br>
in the maker's electronic control systems.<br><br>In Woz' case, he had a Prius and found that it accelerated <br>by itself when he used the cruise control. He tried to get <br>the attention of Toyota some months ago, but they pretty <br>
much ignored him. Now that the recall is in full swing, <br>suddenly the press are all ears to the idea that there is a<br>more serious cause than just the accelerator assembly <br>itself, and indeed Toyota has offered to test Woz' Prius <br>
and its electronics for him. You have to wonder: if the <br>electronics are not the cause of the problem, why did they <br>take in Woz' car? <br><br>All this makes Toyota look like it's hiding the real reason<br>for the problems, or that it's incompetent, and it <br>
reinforces the common wisdom that the Japanese don't know <br>how to make software. <br><br>Not only is the brand getting beaten up in the marketplace <br>but there are going to be some whippings on the political <br>
podium as well. There are apparently a number of Senate and<br>House panels convening over the issue, and senior Toyota <br>executives will be expected to spend days if not weeks <br>explaining what is really going on and what they are doing <br>
about it. Any slip up language-wise or in the facts of the <br>case will only heighten peoples' suspicions that Toyota has<br>known about the problem for a long time and has hidden it. <br>This will serve to hurt Toyota badly in a number of class <br>
action law suits that are now being organized in the USA, <br>as well as law suits from the up to 19 fatalities that are <br>potentially attributable to the accelerator faults over the<br>last 10 years.<br><br>Then of course you have the U.S. coming up for mid-term <br>
elections. Unemployment and the current state of the <br>economy appear to be creating a perfect storm of populist <br>opinion against foreign companies, and since Toyota is one <br>of the most visible, we expect the company to become a <br>
potential target for foreigner bashing over the coming <br>months. Only very careful PR crisis management and a lot of<br>goodwill expensed by Toyota will avoid this happening.<br><br><br>3. Ban on Tuna?<br><br>Last in our examples is that of fish consumption. Japan <br>
eats more than half of the world's sashimi grade tuna, in <br>particular 80% of the Bluefin tuna caught in the Atlantic <br>ocean. Now, the state of Monaco has proposed to the world <br>body governing wildlife protection, the Convention on <br>
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and<br>Flora (CITES), that Bluefin fishing exports be banned <br>altogether. The vote will be held in March in Qatar, and <br>given that Bluefin tuna numbers have fallen 75% since 1957,<br>
it is possible that the proposal will be carried.<br><br>This would be disastrous for the sushi trade in Japan, and <br>the prospect of not being able to buy the best cuts of Toro<br>has many in the fish industry outraged over how foreign <br>
countries can be allowed to determine for Japan what its <br>citizens can and cannot eat. Of course, this is the same <br>quandry Japan finds itself in over whaling as well -- <br>another hot issue given the alleged ramming of a Greenpeace<br>
boat by a Japanese whaler in the Antartic last week. <br><br>Outraged they may be, the nation's delicacy consumers need<br>urgent education on the new reality of international <br>treaties, conventions, investment, and trade.<br>
<br>Anyway, the CITES listing won't actually ban fishing of <br>Bluefin, just the export of the fish to foreign countries <br>outside those bordering the Altantic. This clearly means <br>the Japanese, which is why people here feel targeted. This<br>
event reminds us of the soy bean supply disruptions back in<br>the 1970's and should serve as a stark reminder that Japan <br>is indeed seriously exposed in terms of food self <br>sufficiency. While more food factories may be part of the <br>
answer, a cheaper and easier path is for the government to<br>QUICKLY learn how to improve its international relations so<br>as to continue a stable supply of food, even if it isn't <br>gourmet sushi any longer.<br><br>
**********<br><br>It may seem to some readers that these examples are just <br>random events and that there is no real evidence of an <br>international backlash against Japan. However, we posit <br>that since the domestic economy is inevitably going to get <br>
worse over the next few years, due to higher taxes, aging <br>population, and ballooning government debts, it is easy to <br>imagine that Japan is just now passing the point of no <br>return in terms of being afford to maintain its aloofness <br>
and relative isolation vis-a-vis the rest of the world. <br><br>Instead, the nation's overall lack of understanding about <br>how the rest of the world works and views Japanese actions,<br>as well as the inflammatory rhetoric by rightists and <br>
right-leaning politicians, are very concerning. For us, <br>the writing is clearly on the wall that international life <br>lines of investment (in JGBs) and non-Japanese workers are <br>going to be needed sooner rather than later, and that the <br>
whole issue of immigration, competent handling of foreign <br>business and government policy issues, and effective <br>national PR and goodwill building are going to be just as <br>important as is the actual selling JGBs, going green, or <br>
ensuring certain cultural delicacies can still be bought <br>in Tsukiji.<br><br><br>...The information janitors/<br><br>***------------------------****-------------------------***<br><br>-------------- New CCH HR Guide in English ----------------<br>
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or 03-3265-1161 <a href="http://www.cch-japan.jp">www.cch-japan.jp</a><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>+++ NEWS<br><br>- 10% of nation lives in condo<br>- Office vacancies up to 8.25%<br>
- Foreigners shouldn't get voting rights<br>- Another medical M&A by Japanese firm<br>- Big Softbank investment<br><br><br><br>-> 10% of nation lives in condo<br><br>Fading are the days when most Japanese lived in detached <br>
homes like the ones portrayed in Sazae-san. Instead more <br>people are moving into either lower end apartments or into <br>large condominium projects. In fact, about 11.42% of all <br>families and singles around the nation now live in <br>
condominimums according to Tokyo Kantei Co. Perhaps <br>surprisingly, the city with the highest number of condo <br>dwellers is Fukuoka in Kyushu, with 29.24%, followed by <br>Tokyo with 27.49%, and Kobe with 26.97%. (Source: TT <br>
commentary from <a href="http://nikkei.co.jp">nikkei.co.jp</a>, Feb 4, 2010)<br><br><a href="http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/e/fr/tnks/Nni20100203D03JSN02.htm">http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/e/fr/tnks/Nni20100203D03JSN02.htm</a><br>
<br>-> Office vacancies up to 8.25%<br><br>The declining economy is showing up no where more <br>prominently than in the increasing number of office <br>vacancies appearing around Tokyo. The January 2010 vacancy <br>rate in central Tokyo rose 0.16% for January, over <br>
December, hitting a high of 8.25%. The company which <br>creates the vacancy survey, Miki Shoji, said that the <br>vacancy rate rose because of a number of new large office <br>buildings being completed during this period. The average <br>
rent in central Tokyo is now JPY18,904 per tsubo, 13.85% <br>less than the same month last year. Osaka's central <br>business area vacancy rate rose to 10.50% and in Nagoya it <br>rose to 12.7%. (Source: TT commentary from <a href="http://nikkei.co.jp">nikkei.co.jp</a>, <br>
Feb 4, 2010)<br><br><a href="http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/e/fr/tnks/Nni20100204D04SS492.htm">http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/e/fr/tnks/Nni20100204D04SS492.htm</a><br><br>-> Foreigners shouldn't get voting rights<br><br>
Financial services minister Shizuka Kamei created waves <br>last week with a blunt public statement that he is against <br>the DPJ plan to give foreign permanent residents the right <br>to vote in local elections. He said that doing so would <br>
create friction between nationalist elements and <br>foreigner-supported candidates. It appears he was referring<br>particularly to the possibility of Koreans being able to <br>take part in such local elections. ***Ed: The DPJ is saying<br>
permanent residents should be enfranchised to at least some<br>extent, since they pay taxes and yet have no say over how <br>those taxes are used. Hear, hear.** (Source: TT commentary <br>from Feb 4, 2010)<br><br><a href="http://tinyurl.com/y8doekp">http://tinyurl.com/y8doekp</a><br>
<br>-> Another medical M&A by Japanese firm<br><br>Japanese medical companies continue their acquisition wave,<br>with dialysis equipment maker Nipro saying that it would <br>buy diabetes test devices company Home Diagnostics for <br>
approximately US$215m. This is a 90% premium over Home <br>Diagnostics' previous closing price, and the deal involves <br>a cash buy-out. (Source: TT commentary from <a href="http://reuters.com">reuters.com</a>, <br>Feb 3, 2010) <br>
<br><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE6120GT20100203">http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE6120GT20100203</a><br><br>-> Big Softbank investment<br><br>Softbank has said that it will invest US$75m into YouTube <br>
competitor, Ustream. The video website company says that <br>it has plans to expand into Asia and will be relying on <br>Softbank to assist it to do this. Although you may have <br>never heard of Ustream, the company reckons it has 2m users<br>
and provides more than 50m views per month. Key <br>capabilities for Ustream are live broadcasts from users' <br>webcams and mobile phone broadcasts. (Source: TT commentary<br>from <a href="http://guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a>, Feb 2, 2010)<br>
<br><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/feb/02/ustream-softbank">http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/feb/02/ustream-softbank</a><br><br><br>NOTE: Broken links<br>Many online news sources remove their articles after just a<br>
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<br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br><br>***------------------------****-------------------------***<br><br>+++ UPCOMING EVENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS<br><br>---------------- Start a Company in Japan -----------------<br>
<br>Entrepreneur's Handbook Seminar 20th of Feb, 2010<br><br>If you have been considering setting up your own company,<br>find out what it takes to make it successful.<br>Terrie Lloyd, founder of over 13 start-up companies in Japan,<br>
will be giving an English-language seminar and Q and A on<br>starting up a company in Japan. This is an ideal <br>opportunity to find out what is involved, and to ask <br>specific questions that are not normally answered in <br>
business books. All materials are in English and are <br>Japan-focused. <br><br>EXTRA: If you live in Nagoya, catch our Feb 27th seminar.<br><br>For more details:<br><a href="http://www.japaninc.com/entrepreneur_handbook_seminar">http://www.japaninc.com/entrepreneur_handbook_seminar</a> or<br>
contact yumiko.tanaka at <a href="http://japaninc.com">japaninc.com</a>.<br><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>---------------- ICA Event - February 18 ------------------<br><br>Speaker: Terry Warren, President-Advantage24 K.K.<br>
Topic: Cloud Computing: Fact or Fiction?<br><br>Details: Complete event details at <a href="http://www.icajapan.jp/">http://www.icajapan.jp/</a><br>(RSVP Required)<br><br>Date: Thursday, February 18, 2010<br>Time: 6:30 Doors open, Buffet Dinner included and cash bar<br>
Cost: 4,000 yen (members), 6,000 yen (non-members)<br>Open to all. Venue is Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan<br><a href="http://www.fccj.or.jp/aboutus/map">http://www.fccj.or.jp/aboutus/map</a><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>***------------------------****-------------------------***<br><br>+++ CORRECTIONS/FEEDBACK<br><br>In this section we run comments and corrections submitted<br>by readers. We encourage you to spot our mistakes and<br>
amplify our points, by email, to <a href="mailto:editors@terrie.com">editors@terrie.com</a>.<br><br>In reference to our comments about China competition in TT550, and about the quality of Chinese R&D in particular, our reader responds:<br>
<br>*** Reader: You might be interested in the latest Science and Engineering Indicators 2010, <a href="http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/sei/">http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/sei/</a>, published by the US National Science Board. There is a one page story about this in a recent issue of Science magazine. While China may have a long way to go to bring their R&D quality up, the rapidity of their ramp-up in R&D investment is breathtaking.<br>
<br>I agree that the quality of Chinese scientific research lags far behind the Japanese and the West in quantity and quality, but I think it would be a mistake to dismiss their efforts. Consider that China basically wiped out their academic infrastructure during the cultural revolution and when they reopened, they had to start from scratch. Since then, the speed of their academic development has been unprecedented on this planet. They were still ranked 116th in citations/papers for the 10 years ending in April 2008 (<a href="http://sciencewatch.com/dr/cou/2008/08sepPRChina/">http://sciencewatch.com/dr/cou/2008/08sepPRChina/</a>), but that was a marked improvement from their rank 2 years earlier and surely this 10-year moving indicator lags.<br>
<br>Just as we saw with recent Olympic sports success, China has made it a national priority to upgrade its domestic scientific capabilities. Toward that end it has lured many overseas Chinese scientific stars back. Among them is the author of the most highly cited paper in 2009 of papers published from 2007 to 2008 (<a href="http://sciencewatch.com/ana/fea/09maraprFea/">http://sciencewatch.com/ana/fea/09maraprFea/</a>). Another Chinese researcher has the 4th most cited paper. These are only anecdotal evidence, but they are not isolated examples.<br>
<br>Take the brightest and most promising scientific candidates from a young population of 1.3 billion, and you get some really brilliant students to join in a scientific enterprise with rapidly improving leadership and equipment.<br>
<br>Sure, European, American, and Japanese research quality is much higher now. But given China's rapid investments and potential, the global reordering underway in other fields will extend to scientific research as well. Let's hope that the openness necessary for optimal research allows Chinese science to contribute to global cooperation and mutual advancement of all people.<br>
<br>***********************************************************<br>END<br><br>SUBSCRIBERS: 9,529 as of February 7, 2010<br>(We purge our list regularly.<br><br>+++ ABOUT US<br><br>STAFF<br>Written by: Terrie Lloyd (<a href="mailto:terrie.lloyd@japaninc.com">terrie.lloyd@japaninc.com</a>)<br>
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