* * * * * * * * * 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, May 22, 2011, Issue No. 614<br>
<br>+++ INDEX<br><br>- What's New -- Rebuilding the Foreigner Population in Japan<br>- News -- Horie to do jail time<br>- Candidate Roundup/Vacancies<br>- Upcoming Events -- ICA meeting<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><br><br>------------ PBXL IP TELEPHONY AND CLOUD BCP --------------<br><br>Since PBXL started in 2006, we have consistently focused on<br>
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and ensuing challenges.<br><br>Additionally, due to PBXL’s flexible system design, PBXL<br>was able to continue providing call center services and<br>other enterprise connectivity to both offices and remote<br>workers. With summer coming, and with it likely power<br>
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<br>------------ PBXL is BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS --------------<br><br><br>+++ WHAT'S NEW<br><br>For us, one of the most memorable scenes post-earthquake<br>was the long lines of foreigners waiting at Narita airport<br>
for the first plane out to "anywhere but here". The near<br>panic created by various embassies, aftershocks, and the<br>worsening reports from the Fukushima nuclear power plant,<br>created a lasting negative impression of conditions in<br>
Tokyo for TV viewers around the world. Indeed, after seeing<br>images of the crowds at the airport, calls from friends and<br>family noticeably increased for us personally.<br><br>As we have reported in earlier Terrie's Takes, the barrage<br>
of negative reporting certainly took its toll on the<br>"gaijin" (foreigner) population in Japan, and according to<br>the Justice Ministry overall more than 470,000 foreigners<br>left the country at least temporarily between March 12th<br>
and April 1st. The main demographic groups to be noticed as<br>leaving by the Japanese press were foreign expats,<br>students, Chinese workers, and of course tourists.<br><br>Now here we are two months later and Tokyo is almost back<br>
to normal -- there are people back in cafes, shops, and on<br>urban transport, and stores are fully stocked with food and<br>goods that temporarily disappeared in March/April. Up in<br>Fukushima TEPCO workers have entered a number of reactor<br>
buildings to start the long, slow process of shutting down<br>the plant and removing the nuclear threat to Tokyo.<br><br>And yet, apart from the return of the more committed<br>(typically longer-term) foreign residents, there is still a<br>
noticeable shortage of foreigners on the streets of Tokyo.<br>As a result, the media is full of dire reports about what<br>this is doing to the inbound tourism industry and farming<br>and factory sectors. Ask any upmarket foreign hotel chain<br>
or clothing factory owner employing Chinese laborers (uh,<br>sorry, "trainees") and while they may put on a brave face,<br>things are really, really difficult.<br><br>[Continued below...]<br><br>--------- Seeking Partners for Tourist Web Project --------<br>
<br>Metropolis is rapidly establishing a name for itself on the<br>web, extending its paper and brand. The company is now<br>engaged in a new nationwide project serving tourists we<br>believe will start returning to Japan in the second half of<br>
2011.<br><br>We are seeking business partners, one per prefecture, who<br>are interested in participating in a nationwide consortium.<br>You do not need to be a company, but you do need sales and<br>content development capabilities, and have demonstrated<br>
commitment. Metropolis is supplying the software and<br>marketing, so other than your time and effort, no other<br>investment required. Revenue-sharing returns are clear-cut<br>and directly connected to results.<br><br>To make enquiries, contact: <a href="mailto:terrie@metropolis.co.jp">terrie@metropolis.co.jp</a><br>
------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>[...Article continues]<br><br>So how to get more foreign travelers, students, and foreign<br>labor to come back to Japan?<br><br>Obviously the biggest hurdle to recovery of inbound<br>
foreigners is to fix the Fukushima power plant situation.<br>Unfortunately, the time frame for that to happen ranges from<br>between the "year-end" for cooling systems to be fully<br>reinstated, and 30 years hence, once the reactors are fully<br>
decommissioned and entombed in concrete. So we don't think<br>there will be any major tourism recovery at least for<br>another six months.<br><br>However, things can be helped along by ensuring that as the<br>plant does become safer again, that the world is told about<br>
it. A marketing campaign on plant safety is not going to<br>work, because it puts focus back on the risks and would<br>lack credibility. But if the government took a chance on<br>having independent foreign nuclear experts prognosticate on<br>
safety levels, and accepted whatever criticisms that might<br>come forth and make good on fixing the problems, then this<br>would provide highly believable information for overseas<br>audiences. It might be ego-deflating for local scientists<br>
and the technocratic establishment, but it would have the<br>desired effect.<br><br>Another approach as nuclear fears recede is to use<br>foreigners who are still in Japan, and therefore who are<br>obviously committed to the place, to tell the message that<br>
things are getting back to normal. The government is<br>already doing this, engaging in a program with JTB to<br>recruit more than 1,000 international students to<br>disseminate Twitter, Facebook, and other social media<br>
postings about the fact that Japan is safe (see the news<br>item in NEWS below on this).<br><br>The problem, though, is that there are billions of<br>messages posted on social media every day, and the output<br>of 1,100 people is not going to go far, nor will it be<br>
cohesive. Instead, these postings need to be aggregated<br>into a credible third party site (which isn't viewed as<br>government propaganda) with proper search, booking links,<br>and other functionality. In other words, there should be<br>
an effort to produce a full-on kuchi-komi site<br>interconnected into the major travel search engines.<br><br>Another point is to get past the obsession Japan has with<br>Chinese tourists and start working on the many other Asian<br>
(and European) populations who might want to come to Japan<br>for its service, food, sightseeing, snow, and other unique<br>experiences. The cash that Chinese tourists are spending<br>has of course been addictive, and so far has been easy to<br>
come by, but the fact is that even before the earthquake<br>the wealth levels of Chinese tourists were starting to<br>fall, and tourism authorities have had to dig deeper to<br>keep the numbers going up. Now that Chinese tourists are<br>
so averse to the Fukushima situation, this should be a<br>signal to the government that diversity is the key to<br>survival.<br><br>Next, foreign students. In the last ten years, an<br>overwhelming percentage of foreign students have also come<br>
from China. According to the Immigration Bureau, of the<br>nation's approximately 140,000 foreign students, 86,000 of<br>them are from China and since many of them are<br>only-children, a product of the One Child policy, the<br>
pressure on them by their parents to stay out of Japan has<br>been great. As a result, out of the 70,000 students left<br>after the earthquake 22,000 have not returned. This is<br>causing significant concern among Japanese universities who<br>
have no other real source of students as the country ages.<br><br>The key here, too, is diversity. If the government wants<br>foreign students, which we agree creates a tremendous<br>amount of future goodwill as well as future foreign<br>
residents/workers, then it needs to expand its assistance<br>to universities recruiting elsewhere in Asia. Economic<br>circumstances will ensure a strong flow from most<br>countries, but there needs to be a cohesive and deliberate<br>
policy to turn the taps on. As yet, while small steps are<br>being taken, we don't see that happening.<br><br>Lastly, foreign workers. Um, need we say it again? The<br>country needs diversity. For some reason recruiters are<br>
heavily focused on China, but the fact is that wages there<br>are rising rapidly and in 20-30 years time they will also<br>have a worse aging problem than Japan does. Until now,<br>China has provided a cheap source of labor through the<br>
intern/trainee program. The Japan Textile Federation says<br>that there are roughly 40,000 foreign trainees in Japan and<br>99% are from China.<br><br>Since the earthquake there are plenty of stories in the<br>local press about factory owners complaining how their<br>
Chinese workers fled the country and have not come back.<br>Usually the story ends with the owner saying that they will<br>hire local Japanese from now on. Hmmm, good luck to them in<br>finding a skilled machinist for JPY120,000/month. A jobless<br>
person in Sendai would make more on the dole.<br><br>If factories have to continue running in Japan, then<br>recruiters need to head for more promising sources of<br>people. Bangladesh, Indonesia, and possibly Vietnam or Laos<br>
come to mind. It will be hard work to source workers to<br>begin with, because the road between Japan and China is so<br>well traveled, but staying ahead of the curve requires<br>continuing innovation and risk taking. This is an ideal<br>
time to start forging new relationships and balancing out<br>the nation's foreign population.<br><br><br>...The information janitors/<br><br>***------------------------****-------------------------***<br><br>--------- BIOS - Bilingual IT Systems and Support ---------<br>
<br>BiOS full-service IT solutions has a new service.<br><br>Working with our fully licenced temporary dispatch group,<br>we are now able to provide Japan in-country workers<br>for companies not yet registered in Japan.<br>
<br>This innovative service is available for companies needing<br>to hire staff for Japanese customers, but who are unable<br>to commit to the expense and infrastructure of maintaining<br>an office in Japan. We take care of all aspects of the<br>
employment, contracting, and dispatch -- including<br>management of the employee.<br><br>Also, if you're thinking of Cloud office solutions, take a<br>look at Microsoft's new Business Productivity Online<br>Standard Suite. Terrie mentions Exchange Online in TT602,<br>
and we can do the implementations for you.<br><br>For more information on this and other SI and IT services,<br>in English or Japanese:<br><br>Phone: (03) 4588-2220, Email: <a href="mailto:solutions@biosjp.com">solutions@biosjp.com</a><br>
Web: <a href="http://www.biosjp.com">www.biosjp.com</a><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>+++ NEWS<br><br>- Students to help produce tourist content<br>- Horie to do jail time<br>- New family law legislation floated<br>
- Takeda to buy Nycomed<br>- New M&A legislation passes<br><br><br><br>-> Students to help produce tourist content<br><br>Although it's a good idea, we wonder whether the execution<br>will be sufficient. The Tourism Agency is working with JTB<br>
Corporation to send up to 1,100 students to various tourist<br>sites around Japan, and as payment for receiving the trip<br>have to write up their experiences on various international<br>social media. The government is going to target Tohoku,<br>
Hakone, and Kyoto. ***Ed: The problem here is in imagining<br>that students can write materials in a way that will<br>attract new tourists and furthermore that the information<br>will actually be found and read. Someone should point out<br>
to the Tourism Agency that there are billions of postings<br>on the Internet every day, and 1,100 reports is not going<br>to make much difference unless they are located in an<br>easy-to-find website and are ordered in a way to be useful<br>
during a prospective tourist's research. (Source: TT<br>commentary from <a href="http://e.nikkei.com">e.nikkei.com</a>, May 20, 2011)<br><br><a href="http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20110520D20EE249.htm">http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20110520D20EE249.htm</a><br>
<br>-> Horie to do jail time<br><br>We suppose that with all the nose thumbing that Horie did<br>with the institution, that it was only a matter of time<br>before the institution bit back. That happened with a<br>vengeance this week when the Supreme Court handed down a<br>
sentence of 30 months for Horie's window dressing scandal<br>in 2004. ***Ed: Now, as we have said in the past, there<br>was another more damaging shareholder scandal that took<br>place at roughly the same time, involving one of the<br>
Seibu-related Tsutsumi brothers (Yoshiaki), and he only<br>got a suspended sentence. But then he took his lumps at<br>the time and certainly didn't run around making adult<br>movies and making public statements that would incense<br>
the judiciary.** (Source: TT commentary from <a href="http://e.nikkei.com">e.nikkei.com</a>,<br>May 21, 2011)<br><br><a href="http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20110521D21JF460.htm">http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20110521D21JF460.htm</a><br>
<br>-> New family law legislation floated<br><br>The Japanese government is taking another step closer to<br>signing the Hague Convention and therefore imposing<br>international child custody laws by announcing Friday<br>
that the country's family law system would be changed.<br>Still just a plan that needs to be voted into law, the<br>changes call for the Foreign Ministry to get involved in<br>international child custody disputes. The Foreign Ministry<br>
would have the power to find abducted children, action<br>child abuse situations, and advising parents on voluntary<br>return of kids to another country. ***Ed: This is the very<br>first step on a long and tortuous path, where we worry that<br>
the temptation will be to patch rather than overhaul the<br>family law system and cause more problems than it will<br>fix.**(Source: TT commentary from <a href="http://cnn.com">cnn.com</a>, May 20, 2011)<br><br><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/20/japan.child.custody.law/">http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/20/japan.child.custody.law/</a><br>
<br>-> Takeda to buy Nycomed<br><br>As an acknowledgment by Japan's best and brightest that<br>the domestic economy is headed nowhere but down,<br>pharmaceutical giant Takeda is reportedly shelling out<br>US$9.1bn for Europe-based Nycomed so as to buy new revenue<br>
and profits. The purchase price comprises the largest M&A<br>for a Japanese pharma company ever. Takeda is paying about<br>3.4 times Nycomed's annual sales, less than other<br>comparable M&As of billion-dollar-plus takeovers, but still<br>
a rich price, and is counting on the 80m person "smoker's<br>cough" market to build the revenues further. (Source: TT<br>commentary from <a href="http://bloomberg.com">bloomberg.com</a>, May 19, 2011)<br><br>
<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-19/takeda-to-buy-nycomed-for-9-6-billion-euros.html">http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-19/takeda-to-buy-nycomed-for-9-6-billion-euros.html</a><br><br>-> New M&A legislation passes<br>
<br>M&As just got easier to do in Japan, with the passage of a<br>new revitalization law that allows amongst other things:<br>1) for acquiring firms to have their screenings by the<br>various government authorities (such as the Fair Trade<br>
Commission) to be sped up; 2) for acquisitions to be done<br>in stock rather than just cash; and 3) a new "super<br>majority" level of 90% so that the final 10% can be brought<br>up without having to call a General Shareholders Meeting.<br>
(Source: TT commentary from <a href="http://e.nikkei.com">e.nikkei.com</a>, May 19, 2011)<br><br><a href="http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20110518D18JFA08.htm">http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20110518D18JFA08.htm</a><br>
<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><a href="http://www.cch-japan.jp">www.cch-japan.jp</a><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<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<br><br>BiOS is urgently looking for a IT Infrastructure Engineer<br>
with experience providing level 2 desktop and level 3<br>(office server/network administration) at our multinational<br>office in Minato-Ku area. The candidate will be responsible<br>for providing both physical (on-site at client) and remote<br>
support of office IT infrastructure environment setup, as<br>well as end-user support, office application installation,<br>IT asset management, and any other related tasks when asked<br>by the client. You will also be responsible for frequently<br>
coordinating with our account managers, who is directly<br>discussing with the client, to understand client’s needs<br>and demands about our service clearly.<br><br>Due to the technical nature and demanding work environment,<br>
this position is suitable for someone with solid experience<br>providing level 2 (desktop) end-user support with quick<br>response to clients’ requests regarding overall office IT<br>environment to end-users who are bilingual in Japanese and<br>
English. In addition, since this role requires direct<br>communication with on-site managers as well as our IT<br>managers regards to technical topics, business-level<br>communications skills in English and native-level<br>
communications skills in Japanese will be required.<br><br>Remuneration is JPY4.0m – JPY5.5m depending on your<br>experience and skill level.<br><br>** POSITIONS VACANT<br><br>- Service Desk Engineer, BiOS, JPY3.5m – JPY4.5m<br>
- Data Center Engineer, global IT co, JPY3.5m – JPY4.5m<br>- Junior Biz Dev/Account Manager, BiOS, JPY4m – JPY4.5m<br>- Bilingual Helpdesk Engr, marketing co, JPY3.5m – JPY4.5m<br>- Move Add Change Engineer, global ibank, JPY4m – JPY5m<br>
<br>Interested individuals may e-mail resumes to:<br><a href="mailto:kenji.sakota@biosjp.com">kenji.sakota@biosjp.com</a><br><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:kenji.sakota@biosjp.com">kenji.sakota@biosjp.com</a>.<br><br>Interested individuals may e-mail resumes to:<br><a href="mailto:kenji.sakota@biosjp.com">kenji.sakota@biosjp.com</a>.<br>
<br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>***------------------------****-------------------------***<br><br>+++ UPCOMING EVENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS<br><br>------------------ ICA Event - May 26 ---------------------<br>
<br>Speaker: Mark Beresford, Program Director - Globalinx<br>Title: 'Kanban' for IT Project Management<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, May 26, 2011<br><br>Time: 6:30 Doors open, Buffet Dinner included and cash bar<br>Cost: 4,000 yen (members), 6,000 yen (non-members) Open to<br>all. Venue is 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><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>*** No feedback or corrections this week.<br><br><br>***********************************************************<br>END<br><br>SUBSCRIBERS: 8,832 members as of May 22, 2011<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><br>HELP: E-mail <a href="mailto:Terrie-request@mailman.japaninc.com">Terrie-request@mailman.japaninc.com</a><br>
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editor to <a href="mailto:terrie.lloyd@japaninc.com">terrie.lloyd@japaninc.com</a>.<br><br>ADVERTISING INFORMATION<br>For more information on advertising in this newsletter,<br>Contact <a href="mailto:ads@japaninc.com">ads@japaninc.com</a>.<br>
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<br>J@pan Inc is Japan's only independently published English-<br>language business website. Authoritatively chronicling<br>online the business trends in Japan, each posting brings<br>you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in<br>
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