* * * * * * * * * 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, April 11, 2010 Issue No. 561<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>Last week the Nikkei instituted a new policy regarding its <br>online content. Like Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and other <br>
leading news publishers abroad, the Nikkei has come to the <br>conclusion that to make money, any online content other <br>than teasers will basically be behind a pay wall. In this <br>respect, the announcement was not particularly noteworthy, <br>
as those of us who have been subscribers for years are used<br>to paying for the Nikkei's content. It's cheap enough that <br>paying for it is better than trying to troll for articles on the <br>Web.<br><br>No, it's not the pay walls that have drawn public reaction,<br>
but rather the fact that the Nikkei has proclaimed that it <br>doesn't want bloggers linking to its articles. <br><br>Given that a lot of Web content revolves around bloggers <br>(including this newsletter) commenting on articles which <br>
appear on various mainstream news websites, we think<br>the Nikkei's stance in banning blogger links is <br>short-sighted to say the least.<br><br>For a start, it is by now well established that so long as <br>a blogger is not blatantly copying content and does indeed<br>
add their own analysis, and that they link back to the <br>originator of the news article, then the publisher of that<br>news is generally happy with the situation, as the link<br>serves as free advertising and drives readers to that<br>
content. Web site operators know that new visitors are more<br>likely to subscribe to a pay walled website when a <br>respected and trusted blogger is telling them that <br>excellent content lies there waiting for them.<br>
<br>But the Nikkei now says that any linking to its articles <br>will be henceforth banned and that the company may take <br>to court those people who do. This is a surprising folly for <br>a media company whose online subscribers are <br>
rising rapidly, and yet somehow it wants to blame falling <br>paper ad revenues on bloggers and the Web. <br><br>What the Nikkei's leadership is thinking no one knows, but <br>it seems that the company is either going to have to sue <br>
some bloggers to find out the hard way how uncomfortable it<br>can be to be pilloried on the web. And/or, the negative media<br>coverage will cause casual readers of news to instead switch <br>to more accommodating competitors such as Yahoo Japan, <br>
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<br>As we have mentioned, the irony is that the Nikkei is in <br>fact doing well online, with subscriptions climbing <br>steadily. We know this because in the recent past senior <br>staff from the Nikkei web group have told us so. Not only <br>
that, but they also know the value of bloggers sending <br>readers back to their pay walled articles. The fact is <br>that once a reader is stimulated by a favorite blogger's <br>commentary, they often want to read the original article. <br>
Although they may be blocked by a pay wall on the first <br>visit and thus give up in disappointment, repeated strong <br>content from the blogger will sooner or later drive readers<br>to overcome their reluctance to pay for the original <br>
content. <br><br>Indeed, several years ago, while cleaning up some of our <br>internal corporate governance, we decided to contact the <br>Nikkei to ask them if would be OK to continue our 10-year <br>tradition here at Terrie's Take of commenting and linking <br>
to several English-language articles (out of 5 TT articles <br>a week) on the Nikkei website. They responded by saying <br>that they couldn't enter into a legal agreement but that <br>they recognized that our mentions of them had indeed <br>
helped them gain subscribers, so they were tentatively OK <br>with it. We've been following that formula ever since. <br><br>Above all, we wonder why the Nikkei gave such lame excuses <br>for its new policy. They tried to say that links from blogs<br>
might compromise its pay wall and that reference to their <br>articles might be misused by non-Journalists. Our <br>experience so far is that their pay wall is very stout and <br>that any attempt to link to a page on the site brings up a <br>
notice saying that the visitor needs to subscribe. So <br>what's the problem actually? <br><br>Then the red herring about articles being misused by <br>non-Journalists is especially amusing, given that the <br>Nikkei itself regularly serves up pure speculation as news. <br>
One such case that we have first-hand experience over <br>came up about two years ago when the Nikkei ran one <br>of its "exclusive insider" news items saying that a <br>certain major UAE sovereign fund was going to invest in <br>
a new hospital complex in Kobe. We ran a commentary <br>about the Nikkei piece, saying that we couldn't <br>understand why that fund would consider the project <br>when Japan's hospital system is in such a financial <br>
mess. if they really wanted a stake here. Well, to our <br>surprise, the fund itself contacted us and said that the <br>story was a fabrication and that no such investment was <br>being considered. Oops...<br><br>We note with interest, also, that the Nikkei is requiring<br>
anyone wanting to link to its site to write a justification<br>to the company. Besides putting most people off due to the<br>extra workload involved, we suspect that the Nikkei is <br>trying to identify easy targets and will issue them <br>
warnings, surely the first step in a deeper legal process. <br>Further, if it actually does allow any linking, you can be <br>certain it will be by way of a contract, which of course <br>would help them overcome their otherwise weak legal stance <br>
(in our humble opinion) if they go to court.<br><br>Now it is of course absolutely true that print publishers <br>are fighting a difficult battle over dropping revenues. <br>Not only is there a flood of increasingly good quality free<br>
content online and consequently 59% of Japanese in their <br>twenties and 47% of those in their thirties getting their <br>news from the Web, but also due to the recession there is a <br>lower ad revenue yield. Dentsu reckons that publishers ad <br>
revenues fell 18% in 2009 in Japan over the year before. <br><br>So are we going to stop carrying references to the Nikkei <br>site? Not unless we are specifically challenged by them. <br>Our reasoning is: i) we have been carrying references to <br>
the Nikkei and links for over 13 years now and it was <br>never a problem for them in the past, so why the sudden <br>change, ii) there is no proof that our referencing them <br>causes them any damage (indeed, we have proof to the <br>
contrary) -- so it would be difficult for them to get a <br>judgment for damages that would make it worth their while <br>suing us, iii) the rest of the Japanese Internet <br>establishes certain allowable usage of news content by <br>
bloggers, and so the Nikkei's stance doesn't follow <br>societal standards and nore does it serve the common good.<br><br>More likely, if the Nikkei doesn't like us referencing <br>their articles, they will ban us from subscribing. If this <br>
was to happen, perhaps we'd be forced to join up with other<br>bloggers and go to Kyodo to buy a news feed. Japan Today <br>already does this, and they make the news free in return<br>for traffic that they can monetize in other ways. The <br>
size of the investment for a Kyodo feed is not huge, <br>being around JPY250,000/month. As bloggers we would quickly<br>make our money back on selling other content or services <br>alongside the news.<br><br>Either way it's a bad outcome for the Nikkei and for <br>
the web and bloggers in general. We hope they reconsider<br>their stance.<br><br>***************<br><br>Lastly, readers may have noticed that Terrie Lloyd (the <br>main writer of this newsletter) is collaborating with CCH <br>
to provide a seminar entitled "What Non-Japanese Directors <br>Should Know" [about running Japanese companies]. Unlike <br>preceding seminars by CCH, whereby it tied the seminar <br>content much more closely to their legal texts for foreign <br>
managers, this seminar will do away with the lawyers and be<br>more about the practical aspects of running a business in <br>Japan.<br><br>Lloyd will discuss at length practical issues and how to <br>deal with them in a way that complies with the law and yet <br>
takes care of the problem efficiently. Examples of the <br>challenges that he will discuss include structuring a <br>company at establishment so as to avoid business problems <br>later, handling employee firings, dealing with debtors and <br>
law suits, and protecting yourself from the same as an <br>employee of a multinational company. <br><br>CCH is a company committed to demystifying Japan and the <br>Japanese legal system for non-Japanese managers, by virtue <br>
of its ongoing publishing of English-language text books <br>on Employment, Tax, and Corporate law. Some of their <br>content can be a bit academic, but it's all indispensible <br>knowledge if you're taking on legal responsibility for your<br>
company in one of these areas. <br><br>For more information on the seminar, go to <br><a href="https://www.cch-japan.jp/contents/register/form">https://www.cch-japan.jp/contents/register/form</a>.<br><br><br>...The information janitors/<br>
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-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br><br>+++ NEWS<br><br>- 25% surge in web stock trades<br>- Office vacancy rates at record high<br>- Unison buys majority of Usen's fiber business<br>- Graduates want escapist, safe jobs<br>
- Japanese investors in Australia eclipse China<br><br><br><br>-> 25% surge in web stock trades<br><br>Individuals trading stocks are sensing that the markets may<br>have turned upwards for a prolonged period, and are now <br>
re-entering the market enmasse. The Nikkei says that <br>trading values at the top five web brokers has surged 25% <br>to JPY8.5trn in March over February. Apparently this is <br>part of an overall steady recovery from a 5-year low last <br>
November. ***Ed: The fact is that as government stimulus <br>spending works its way through the system, there is indeed <br>a recovery underway that will last at least while the <br>stimulis spending does -- maybe for the rest of this year?<br>
This appears to be providing individual investors with <br>enough time to consider playing the market again. What <br>happens next year once the stimulus spending ends and <br>interest rates head upwards is of course anyone's guess. <br>
Overall the markets will continue to be jittery as people <br>keep that in the back of their minds.** (Source: TT <br>commentary from <a href="http://nikkei.com">nikkei.com</a>, Apr 6, 2010)<br><br><a href="http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20100405D05JFN06.htm">http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20100405D05JFN06.htm</a><br>
<br>-> Office vacancy rates at record high<br><br>Realtor Miki Shoji issued its monthly office vacancies <br>report last week and said that companies are still <br>retrenching and cutting costs, thus causing a slump in <br>
office space demand. According to Miki, the average vacancy<br>rate for Chiyoda-ku, Chuo-ku, Minato-ku, Shinjuku-ku, and <br>Shibuya-ku was 8.75% in February, the highest since Miki <br>started recording office vacancy levels in 1989. Those <br>
companies that are doing well are moving upmarket without <br>spending extra cash. This is apparently the case behind <br>Google's move from the Shibuya Cerulean Tower to Mori's <br>Roppongi Hills, where they are reportedly paying similar <br>
rent. (Source: TT commentary from <a href="http://businessweek.com">businessweek.com</a>, Mar 29,<br>2010)<br><br><a href="http://tinyurl.com/ybgjj9s">http://tinyurl.com/ybgjj9s</a><br><br>-> Unison buys majority of Usen's fiber business<br>
<br>Over-expansion during the boom years of the late 1990's and<br>lack of a clear business plan have meant tough times for <br>cable media company Usen Corporation. This has caused the <br>company to start divesting itself of assets, one of which <br>
appears to be a core one, its Ucom Corporation fiber <br>carrier operation. Usen is selling an additional 38.99% of <br>Ucom to Unison for JPY5bn, providing Unison with 77% of the<br>company and a plan to eventually buy up the rest over time.<br>
Unison says it is looking to consolidate operations and <br>turn Ucom around financially. (Source: TT commentary from <br><a href="http://nikkei.com">nikkei.com</a>, Apr 8, 2010)<br><br><a href="http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20100407D07JFA05.htm">http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20100407D07JFA05.htm</a><br>
<br>-> Graduates want escapist, safe jobs<br><br>Recruit has released its annual survey of the most popular <br>companies for college graduates to work for. In the survey, <br>leisure and entertainment companies scored highly, with <br>
travel agency JTB coming out on top. The operator of Tokyo<br>Disneyland, Oriental Land was 6th, and toy maker Bandai was<br>8th. Apart from escapist industries, highly stable <br>companies were also popular, with Central Japan Railway and<br>
East Japan Railway coming in at 2nd and 3rd respectively. <br>***Ed: It's interesting to see how the commercial <br>environment so influences college graduates choices of <br>employers. One would think they would be more idealistic <br>
since they're still able to aim high and have nothing to <br>lose.** (Source: TT commentary from <a href="http://nikkei.com">nikkei.com</a>, Apr 8, 2010)<br><br><a href="http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20100407D07JFA23.htm">http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20100407D07JFA23.htm</a><br>
<br>-> Japanese investors in Australia eclipse China<br><br>While all the focus is on China and impending takeovers of <br>Australian resources and food companies, in fact the real <br>M&A wave for Down Under is coming from Japan, accordingly <br>
to a report in The Australian newspaper. Japanese direct <br>investment during 2008 amounted to Au$36bn, far outweighing<br>the Au$3.05bn in direct investment by the Chinese. A review<br>of investments would include Kirin's takeover of Lion <br>
Nathan (Au$3.3bn) and National Foods (Au$2.9bn), Asahi's <br>takeover of Schweppes Australia, Suntory's takeover of <br>Frucor, and numerous significant stakes in uranium, gas, <br>coal, oil, utilities, and paper. ***Ed: This of course <br>
confirms what we speculated on last year, that Japanese <br>companies are seen at least in part by most Australian <br>firms as being more desirable partners/owners than are the <br>Chinese. While this may not be fair, it certainly gives<br>
Japanese firms safe haven to grow abroad, not that their <br>home markets are stagnant.** (Source: TT commentary from <br><a href="http://theaustralian.com.au">theaustralian.com.au</a>, Apr 8 2010)<br><br><a href="http://tinyurl.com/yds8dqu">http://tinyurl.com/yds8dqu</a><br>
<br>NOTE: Broken links<br>Many online news sources remove their articles after just a<br>few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we<br>apologize for the inconvenience.<br><br>***------------------------****-------------------------***<br>
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***------------------------****-------------------------***<br><br>+++ CANDIDATE ROUND UP/VACANCIES<br><br>=> BiOS, a Division of the LINC Media group, is actively <br>marketing the following positions for customers setting up <br>
or expanding in Japan, as well as other employers of <br>bilinguals.<br><br>** HIGHLIGHTED POSITION(S)<br><br>BiOS is currently looking for skilled helpdesk staff to <br>work on-site at a number of exciting and growing customers.<br>
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<br>** BiOS Job Mail<br><br>Every 2 weeks BiOS sends out a regular communication to its<br>job seeking candidates, called BiOS Job Mail. Every edition<br>carries a list of BiOS's current and most up-to-date<br>vacancies, with each entry featuring a short job<br>
description and a direct link to the main entry on the BiOS<br>home page. Regardless of whether you are unemployed and<br>searching, thinking about a career change, or just curious<br>to know if there is something out there that might suit you<br>
better, the BiOS Job Mail newsletter is an easy and<br>convenient way for you to stay informed. If you would like<br>to register for the BiOS Job Mail, or to find out more,<br>please email <a href="mailto:stuart.gibson@biosjp.com">stuart.gibson@biosjp.com</a>.<br>
<br>Interested individuals may e-mail resumes to:<br><a href="mailto:stuart.gibson@biosjp.com">stuart.gibson@biosjp.com</a><br><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>***------------------------****-------------------------***<br>
<br>+++ UPCOMING EVENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS<br><br>---- CCH Japan Seminar: Directorship Responsibilities -----<br><br>CCH is proud to present its latest seminar, entitled:<br>'What Non-Japanese Directors Should Know'<br>
<br>- Establishing Companies in Japan - Challenges & Solutions<br>- Managing a Company in Japan - Challenges & Solutions<br>- What are the Pros and Cons of a Branch versus <br>establishing a Kabusiki Kaisha?<br>- What is the most efficient way to understand and handle<br>
Japanese registration documents?<br>- How to manage HR issues as a director<br>- Major differences between Japan and Western countries <br>when operating a company<br>- Case Studies from consulting experience<br><br>Date: Monday, April 19, 2010 1:30PM-5:00PM<br>
Venue: Happo-en (5F, Linden) 1-1-1 Shirokanedai Minato-ku<br>Fee: JPY 20,000+Tax<br>Register at: <a href="https://www.cch-japan.jp/contents/register/form">https://www.cch-japan.jp/contents/register/form</a><br>Number of seats: 50 seats, Language: English<br>
Speakers: Terrie Lloyd, CEO, LINC Media Inc., Japan Inc <br>Holdings, and, Steve Hoffman, Senior Consultant, Japan <br>Intercultural Consulting<br><br>For more details, please contact us at: <a href="mailto:support@cch.co.jp">support@cch.co.jp</a>,<br>
or 03-6234-3980.<br><br><a href="http://www.cch-japan.jp">www.cch-japan.jp</a><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>------------------ ICA Event - April 15 -------------------<br><br>Speaker:<br>
Jean-Luc Creppy General Manager-Quint Wellington Redwood<br><br>Topic:<br>Reevaluating & Refocusing IT<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, April 15, 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, at The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan<br><br>
<a href="http://www.fccj.or.jp/aboutus/map">http://www.fccj.or.jp/aboutus/map</a><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>------------ Entrepreneur's Handbook Seminar --------------<br><br>
Start a Company in Japan<br><br>Entrepreneur's Handbook Seminar 22nd of May, 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. Over 300 people have <br>attended this seminar over the last 8 years.<br><br>This is an ideal opportunity to find out what is involved,<br>
and to ask specific questions that are not normally answered<br>in business books. All materials are in English and are <br>Japan-focused.<br><br>For more details:<br><a href="http://www.japaninc.com/entrepreneur_handbook_seminar">http://www.japaninc.com/entrepreneur_handbook_seminar</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>=> We had some interesting responses to our TT559 -- Flip <br>
Side of Metabolic Syndrome, where we discussed the <br>spreading fad of excessive weight loss amongst Japanese <br>women. Two such comments follow:<br><br>Reader A: As always an interesting article, which prompts a<br>comment. I think that there are likely many other health <br>
consequences of being too thin, beyond the extreme cases of <br>eating disorders. For example, it is well-known that being <br>underweight adversely affects a woman? fertility. So <br>perhaps this passion for thinness is one of the <br>
contributing factors to Japan's low birthrate.<br><br>Our Response: Indeed, doing research on that article, the <br>issue of lowered fertility did come up, as does overall <br>lowered life span. Drawing the connection to a lowered <br>
birthrate could well be a good one. We do know already that <br>another big reason for low fertility in Japan is the <br>prevalence of untreated venereal diseases. We were told <br>this by a Japanese female gynecologist some years ago, and <br>
at that time she told us it was an epidemic amongst <br>teenagers in particular. <br><br>Reader B: Most interesting article on Eating Disorders! You<br>might be interested to know that one of the contributing <br>factors could well be zinc deficiency – now recognised as <br>
the most widespread mineral deficiency in the Western world<br>– 2 billion worldwide at last estimate... Have a look at:<br><a href="http://www.betterbabies.well4life.com.au/research/articles/well4life_zinc/index.html">http://www.betterbabies.well4life.com.au/research/articles/well4life_zinc/index.html</a><br>
<br>Our Response: Denatured food is almost a Japanese invention<br>(think rice crackers and ramen), but in the past has been <br>eaten in moderation. However, what with a depressed economy<br>and lack of nutritional education, more and more people are<br>
turning to convenience at the cost of their health. It <br>would be interesting to see a goernment-level study done <br>which connects fast food with depression and eating <br>disorders. It would be even more interesting if, in the <br>
name of economizing on future hospital bills, the <br>government did something to regulate what fast food <br>companies are allowed to serve.<br><br>***********************************************************<br>END<br><br>
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