<div>Submitted by terrie on November 19, 2012</div><div>* * * * * * * * * T E R R I E 'S T A K E * * * * * * *</div><div>A weekly roundup of news & information from Terrie Lloyd.</div><div>(<a href="http://www.terrie.com">http://www.terrie.com</a>)</div>
<div><br></div><div>General Edition Sunday, Dec 02, 2012, Issue No. 689</div><div><br></div><div>+++ INDEX</div><div><br></div><div>- What's New -- Traveling On and Rating Jetstar Japan</div><div>- News -- JAXA loses rocket data to "virus"</div>
<div>- Upcoming Events</div><div>- Corrections/Feedback -- Sony Off-Balance Sheet Payments</div><div>- Travel Picks -- Ancient inns in Aichi, Kites in Shizuoka</div><div>- News Credits</div><div><br></div><div>SUBSCRIBE to, UNSUBSCRIBE from Terrie's Take at:</div>
<div><a href="http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie">http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie</a></div><div><br></div><div>BACK ISSUES</div><div><a href="http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take">http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take</a>, or,</div>
<div><a href="http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/">http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/</a></div><div><br></div><div>-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-PBXL Managed Cisco Services-=-=-=-=-=-=--=</div><div><br></div><div>
After delivering the first hosted Cisco PBX offering in</div><div>Japan, PBXL has found a number of companies prefer to own</div><div>their own equipment. As such, PBXL offers a fully managed,</div><div>data center based Cisco Call Manager/UCM solution, carrier</div>
<div>management and/or as well Japan gateway set-up and</div><div>installation services. If you are looking for Cisco voice,</div><div>contact PBXL today!</div><div><a href="http://www.pbxl.co.jp/en/services/cisco-managed-services/">http://www.pbxl.co.jp/en/services/cisco-managed-services/</a></div>
<div><br></div><div>PBXL Managed Cisco Voice--because PBXL is Business</div><div>Communications</div><div>-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-</div><div><br></div><div>+++ WHAT'S NEW</div><div><br>
</div><div>Having heard so much about foreign LCCs changing the face </div><div>of air travel in Japan, when the wife recently had to go </div><div>take care of some family business in her hometown, we </div><div>decided to pack up the whole family and fly via an LCC. Our</div>
<div>destination was Kitakyushu, but you don't get cheap flights</div><div>without some inconvenience and for Kyushu the only airport </div><div>being served by Jetstar and AirAsia is Fukuoka, about 45 </div><div>minutes drive to the south. The clincher for us was when </div>
<div>Jetstar coincidentally ran a "20% off" campaign the week </div><div>before we wanted to go. They run these on a regular basis </div><div>and are worth watching for.</div><div><br></div><div>Certainly it is the pricing that is the biggest attraction </div>
<div>of the LCCs. For our trip for a family of four, we'd </div><div>normally have taken Star Flyer, Kitakyushu's own local </div><div>airline, which was notable six years ago for cutting the </div><div>prevailing ANA/JAL fares in half. Star Flyer has done a </div>
<div>pretty good job keeping its pricing at the same level </div><div>despite fuel increases and other economic setbacks, </div><div>however, it does mean that a return airfare goes for </div><div>between JPY25,000 and JPY40,000. The lower end of the price</div>
<div>range comes from whether you are willing to book 28 days </div><div>ahead and give them your money for that period. </div><div><br></div><div>Now, JPY25,000 for a 2 1/2 hour journey return isn't bad, </div><div>but, my, how things have changed now that the foreign LCCs </div>
<div>are here. </div><div><br></div><div>How much did we pay for a Jetstar fare for a similar route?</div><div>"Nan-to, just JPY8,000 per person return." So doing the </div><div>math, for a family of four, we spent JPY32,000 on Jetstar </div>
<div>compared with JPY100,000 for Star Flyer (or JPY240,000 on </div><div>ANA's "tokuwari" economy class). OK, there were other costs </div><div>as well, since LCCs, as mentioned, are inconvenient. </div><div>
However, in the current economic environment Jetstar and </div><div>other LCCs have suddenly made it possible for a family like</div><div>us to simply hop on a plane a few days after booking it and</div><div>go see another part of the world cheaply.</div>
<div><br></div><div>[Continued below...]</div><div><br></div><div>------------------ Moblize Your Website -------------------</div><div><br></div><div>According to Bloomberg, 18% of all purchases on Cyber </div><div>Monday 2012 were made on mobile devices, and this was up </div>
<div>70% over last year. Given that next year the percentage of </div><div>mobile sales will probably exceed 30%, it's time for your </div><div>firm to seriously consider "moblizing" your existing </div><div>
website.</div><div><br></div><div>Japan Partnership, the new publisher of Metropolis </div><div>magazine, has in-house expertise on mobilizing existing </div><div>websites, and would be happy to offer a free-of-charge </div>
<div>quotations to make your websites usable on mobile devices.</div><div><br></div><div>For more details, contact <a href="mailto:sales@metropolis.co.jp">sales@metropolis.co.jp</a></div><div>-----------------------------------------------------------</div>
<div><br></div><div>[...Article continues]</div><div><br></div><div>JetStar has a pretty good booking website at </div><div><a href="http://www.jetstar.com/jp/en/home">http://www.jetstar.com/jp/en/home</a>. It's available in both </div>
<div>English and Japanese and is intuitive and easy-to-use, </div><div>although it does have some wrong Japanese </div><div>explanations/translations. You can see that they have </div><div>learned from their existing overseas operations just how </div>
<div>customers want to use a website and despite the occasional </div><div>Japanese mistakes, it's much easier to find flight deals </div><div>than, say, on the ANA website. </div><div><br></div><div>After the excitement of seeing the savings, probably the </div>
<div>next emotion we experienced was concern about </div><div>reliability and punctuality. The Japanese media have done </div><div>their best to highlight every minor transgression of the </div><div>LCCs as they get going in Japan, and while we don't </div>
<div>believe there is any hidden agenda behind this intense </div><div>coverage, other than Japanese conservatism, nonetheless </div><div>such reports do give you some anxiety as a consumer. </div><div><br></div><div>For example Jetstar was in the news several weeks back, </div>
<div>when the company bumped several flights due to a government</div><div>reprimand over maintenance issues. They did the right</div><div>thing by providing alternative travel arrangements and </div><div>refunds to the affected passengers, but still, you don't </div>
<div>want to hear that your carrier may have basic operations </div><div>problems. So we couldn't help wondering just how reliable </div><div>they would be for us, particularly as we had to get back to</div><div>work on time for an important client meeting. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Other considerations in deciding whether to try Jetstar or </div><div>not included having to depart from far-off Narita airport, </div><div>and having to either stay out at Narita for the evening in</div>
<div>order to catch the early morning flights, or get up very, </div><div>very early and drive yourself out there. In the end, </div><div>though, we decided that you just can't beat those prices.</div><div><br></div><div>
For the Fukuoka route, there are four return flights a day.</div><div>The afternoon flights fill up pretty much straight away, so</div><div>we were left with a morning departure, being either 06:00am</div><div>(I don't think so...) or a slightly more civilized 07:15am.</div>
<div>After some debate and web searching, we decided to drive </div><div>out to the airport and stay at a low cost hotel -- to match</div><div>our low cost airline. :-) This worked out really well and </div><div>we got two rooms at Solare's Narita Mercure hotel for just </div>
<div>JPY8,000. Add this to the airfare, and we were still 50% </div><div>ahead of a direct Star Flyer fare. </div><div><br></div><div>Although the Mercure was comfortable enough, in retrospect,</div><div>next time we will probably forego the hotel and simply </div>
<div>drive out to Narita. Traffic at that time of the morning </div><div>isn't so bad and parking for the car worked out to just </div><div>over JPY1,000/day at the airport. It's even cheaper </div><div>(JPY500/day) if you park at one of the many long-term </div>
<div>parking sites there. Since so many international flights </div><div>have now diverted to the more convenient Haneda airport, </div><div>the car parking companies are hurting and are cutting some </div><div>pretty good park-and-bus options.</div>
<div><br></div><div>At the other end, in Fukuoka, we rented a small compact car</div><div>(Nissan) for JPY5,000 a day, to get up to Kitakyushu and to</div><div>putt around the city for a week. We could have taken a </div>
<div>train up north for about JPY1,500/person, but even with </div><div>this luxury, we still came out financially ahead of the </div><div>Star Flyer rate. </div><div><br></div><div>After all the concerns and expectations, the flights </div>
<div>themselves went quite well. Yes the outbound plane left 30 </div><div>minutes late, and Jetstar would do well to have its staff </div><div>post notices for restless passengers to let them know when </div><div>the expected departure time would be and hopefully why. In </div>
<div>our case the Captain told us on the plane later that it was</div><div>snowing in Hokkaido, which was acceptable -- we just wanted</div><div>to know why back in the waiting area. </div><div><br></div><div>The check in went smoothly and even our truck load of bags </div>
<div>(20kg per person) didn't phase the check-in ladies. The </div><div>kiosks and ticket technologies were all the latest </div><div>equipment and worked smoothly, and so checking us in was a </div><div>simple bar code swipe. Having to bus out to the plane, a </div>
<div>special torture inflicted by Japanese airport operators on </div><div>ALL LCCs and small airlines in general, was a pain -- but </div><div>this goes with the territory.</div><div><br></div><div>Most interesting for us was checking out who our fellow </div>
<div>passengers were on this mid-week, early-morning flight. You</div><div>had your green/purple dyed hair college types, grey haired</div><div>couples, mothers with little kids with no hair, and pretty </div><div>much anyone else looking for low-cost transport. What we </div>
<div>didn't see was many salarymen, although they were abundant </div><div>on other regular ANA and JAL flights also leaving from </div><div>Narita's domestic terminal. We can only imagine that the HR</div><div>departments of major Japanese companies haven't wised up to</div>
<div>the fact that they can reduce travel costs dramatically </div><div>with an LCC. What was good for Jetstar, though, is that </div><div>about 70% of the seats were full.</div><div><br></div><div>Our overall first-time traveler rating for Jetstar is that</div>
<div>they offer great value and despite the occasional teething </div><div>problems look to have a good operation -- certainly the </div><div>staff were very friendly. We will definitely be traveling </div><div>with them again, although for our next trip we might try </div>
<div>out AirAsia to see how they measure up. </div><div><br></div><div>As a general note, We think that just as with the mobile </div><div>telephone business in the 1990's it is up to the public to </div><div>support these new carriers so that they will grow and </div>
<div>thrive. Softbank lowered cell phone costs dramatically </div><div>thanks to early adopter support and the LCCs now promise </div><div>to do the same for air travel, if given a chance. This is </div><div>not only good for us as consumers but also for the regional</div>
<div>areas served by these operators, since money saved on the </div><div>flights gets spent there. </div><div><br></div><div>Additionally, we hope that the success of the Tokyo-Fukuoka</div><div>route, basically a non-tourist commuter route, gets noticed</div>
<div>by other prefectures whose economies are hurting but which </div><div>don't seem inclined to make it easy for foreign LCCs to fly</div><div>there. For example, the four prefectures in Shikoku, which </div><div>right now are unique among Japan's 5 main islands in </div>
<div>having no LCC service whatsoever.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>...The information janitors/</div><div><br></div><div>***------------------------****-------------------------***</div><div><br>
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<div>saving for flights from Japan to destinations within Asia, </div><div>and to the Americas, Hawaii, or Micronesia.</div><div><br></div><div>Here’s how to redeem this exclusive online offer*:</div><div>1. Go to "Redeem Certificate" page and enter WYAVE4GD into</div>
<div>the Certificate Number field.</div><div>2. Enter Redemption Code ADFH9EBHQ.</div><div>3. Search for your flights. Search result will show</div><div>Certificate Applied for the discount before booking is</div><div>completed.</div>
<div><br></div><div>For more details, please visit <a href="http://delta.com">delta.com</a></div><div><br></div><div>* Terms and conditions apply. Please visit <a href="http://delta.com">delta.com</a> for </div><div>full details. (<a href="http://bit.ly/T9c8M1">http://bit.ly/T9c8M1</a>)</div>
<div><br></div><div>All SkyMiles program rules apply to SkyMiles program</div><div>membership, miles, offers, mile accrual, mile redemption,</div><div>and travel benefits. The rules are subject to change </div><div>anytime. To review the rules, please visit </div>
<div><a href="http://delta.com/memberguide">delta.com/memberguide</a>.</div><div>-----------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div>+++ NEWS</div><div><br></div><div>- Pension fund earns JPY529bn from foreign stocks</div>
<div>- Kokuyo moves its workers to the cloud</div><div>- JAXA loses rocket data to "virus"</div><div>- Japanese spend most on Google appstore</div><div>- Japanese flocking to Hawaii again</div><div><br></div><div>
<br></div><div><br></div><div>=> Pension fund earns JPY529bn from foreign stocks</div><div><br></div><div>The Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the world's </div><div>largest, has reported that thanks to increased value in its</div>
<div>foreign stock holdings it earned JPY528.7bn of income in Q2</div><div>of this fiscal year, significantly better than the </div><div>JPY2.06trn loss booked for the first quarter. Unfortunately</div><div>the good news wasn't due to any significant action by the </div>
<div>GPIF but rather thanks to the declining value of the yen </div><div>causing an increase in the value of its foreign holdings. </div><div>Nonetheless, interesting to see that GPIF's holdings of </div><div>foreign stocks returned 4.87% while holdings of Japanese </div>
<div>stocks returned -3.43%. (Source: TT commentary from </div><div><a href="http://e.nikkei.com">e.nikkei.com</a>, Dec 01, 2012) </div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://e.nikkei.com/e/fr/tnks/Nni20121130D3011N01.htm">http://e.nikkei.com/e/fr/tnks/Nni20121130D3011N01.htm</a></div>
<div><br></div><div>=> Kokuyo moves its workers to the cloud</div><div><br></div><div>Office furniture maker Kokuyo has announced that it is </div><div>turning its employees into a "mobil-ized" worforce -- but </div>
<div>we sense a little bit of irony here. Kokuyo says that they </div><div>are going to switch all 6,000 employees to cloud-based </div><div>email (Google) and to give out 1,000 tablets and 3,000 </div><div>smart phones. ***Ed: Presumably this means that the </div>
<div>workforce can now work without being in the office. But</div><div>we wonder if Kokuyo has thought this through? After all,</div><div>if the experiment is successful enough that their clients</div><div>start to copy them, then the demand for office furniture </div>
<div>(the little irony we mentioned) is going to drop </div><div>substantially in the future. Yes, cheaper home office </div><div>furniture might be in demand, but that is the domain of the</div><div>likes of Ikea and Nitori, rather than Kokuyo. So what </div>
<div>secret plan does this cunning furniture company have up </div><div>their sleeve? Should be interesting to watch.** (Source: TT</div><div>commentary from <a href="http://e.nikkei.com">e.nikkei.com</a>, Dec 01, 2012)</div>
<div><br></div><div><a href="http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20121130D3011A07.htm?GID=56">http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20121130D3011A07.htm?GID=56</a></div><div><br></div><div>=> JAXA loses rocket data to "virus"</div>
<div><br></div><div>Kind of concerning the Japan's space agency, JAXA, has said</div><div>that it suspects sensitive information on its </div><div>next-generation rocket, the Epsilon, and which could be </div><div>used for military purposes, has been "stolen by a computer </div>
<div>virus". Probably they meant to say that it's been stolen by</div><div>someone who planted the virus in the first place. But on </div><div>the other hand it could have just been an accident. We </div><div>guess the situation will become clearer in 3 years time, if</div>
<div>the new Epsilon design shows up on someone else's launch </div><div>pad. Also interesting to see that Epsilon can be launched </div><div>from a PC connected over the Internet -- why would they be </div><div>wanting to do that on a US$100m+ per rocket project? In </div>
<div>case someone gets stuck in traffic or wants to do a launch </div><div>from their bedroom? (Source: TT commentary from </div><div><a href="http://computerworld.com">computerworld.com</a>, Nov 30, 2012)</div><div><br></div>
<div><a href="http://bit.ly/TxXAqd">http://bit.ly/TxXAqd</a></div><div><br></div><div>=> Japanese spend most on Google appstore</div><div><br></div><div>Mobile applications intelligence firm App Annie has said </div><div>
that its latest App Annie Index for Google Play puts the </div><div>country with the most apps purchases as being Japan, </div><div>overtaking the USA for the first time. The AA Index had </div><div>Japanese consumers being responsible for 29% of Google's </div>
<div>appstore revenue, followed by U.S. consumers at 26%. </div><div>According to AA, the reason is because 90% of the top </div><div>apps sold are games and Japanese games companies are better</div><div>at making money from mobile devices than other developers. </div>
<div>(Source: TT commentary from <a href="http://zdnet.com">zdnet.com</a>, Nov 30, 2012)</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://zd.net/Smjnzb">http://zd.net/Smjnzb</a></div><div><br></div><div>=> Japanese flocking to Hawaii again</div>
<div><br></div><div>Remember back when Hawaii was lamenting the dramatic </div><div>fall-off in Japanese tourists? Looks like the new trend is </div><div>for them to start traveling back to the magic isles again. </div><div>
According to statistics from the Hawaii Tourism Authority </div><div>this week, Japan was Hawaii's second largest visitor </div><div>market, after the U.S. West Coast, and in front of the U.S.</div><div>East Coast (which for some reason gets counted separately).</div>
<div>There were 125,742 visitors from Japan, up 15.2% over </div><div>October 2011, and they spent US$329 per person per day, up </div><div>4% over the same period last year. Apparently charter tours</div><div>were one of the big contributors to the growth and will </div>
<div>continue to be for next year. (Source: TT commentary from </div><div><a href="http://bizjournals.com">bizjournals.com</a>, Nov 29, 2012)</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://bit.ly/UgWpsP">http://bit.ly/UgWpsP</a></div>
<div><br></div><div><br></div><div>NOTE: Broken links</div><div>Some online news sources remove their articles after just a</div><div>few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we</div><div>apologize for the inconvenience.</div>
<div><br></div><div>***------------------------****-------------------------***</div><div><br></div><div>------------- Japanese Travel Writers wanted -------------</div><div><br></div><div>Do you know someone who can write native-level Japanese and</div>
<div>who is interested in travel? The JapanTourist.jp division</div><div>of Metropolis KK has two brand name clients in the tourism</div><div>sector who need to have a substantial number of travel</div><div>articles written about Japan. These are paid positions.</div>
<div><br></div><div>While professional writers are welcome, the JapanTourist.jp</div><div>project is a writer community set up for talented amateurs</div><div>to have a forum to test their skills. Therefore, we welcome</div>
<div>housewives, retired people, and Japanese living overseas</div><div>who would like to re-connect with their home country.</div><div><br></div><div>All work can be done from your own home, with stories and</div><div>editing discussions taking place by email and through the</div>
<div>JapanTourist.jp backend dashboard and associated tools.</div><div><br></div><div>Interested writers may contact JapanTourist at:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://japantourist.jp/register/">http://japantourist.jp/register/</a>, or at:</div>
<div><a href="mailto:support@japantourist.jp">support@japantourist.jp</a></div><div><br></div><div>-----------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div>+++ CANDIDATE ROUND UP/VACANCIES</div>
<div><br></div><div>=> BiOS, a Division of the LINC Media group, is actively</div><div>marketing the following positions for customers setting up</div><div>or expanding in Japan, as well as other employers of</div><div>
bilinguals.</div><div><br></div><div>** HIGHLIGHTED POSITION</div><div><br></div><div>BiOS is urgently looking for an Administrative Assistant to</div><div>join our multinational IT outsourcing team here at BiOS, in</div>
<div>Tokyo. The successful candidate will be responsible for </div><div>providing daily administrative support to sales and </div><div>dispatched IT staff, as well as for coordinating with HR </div><div>and accounting teams to create invoices to be sent to </div>
<div>clients. In addition, you would support senior </div><div>administrative staff for office management tasks, welcome </div><div>guests, and perform some translation if required. </div><div><br></div><div>This position is suitable for someone with at least one </div>
<div>year of administration or sales support experience in a </div><div>multinational environment. In addition, given the constant </div><div>communication with foreigners and Japanese alike, </div><div>business-level English and native Japanese are required.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Remuneration is JPY2M - JPY3M depending on your experience </div><div>and skill level.</div><div><br></div><div>** POSITIONS VACANT</div><div><br></div><div>- Network Engr, global DC services provider, JPY 5M - 8M</div>
<div>- Software Asset Manager, global bank, JPY4.5M - JPY5.5M</div><div>- IMAC Engineer, global bank in Tokyo, JPY3M - JPY5M</div><div>- Data Center Engr (Cabling), global DC co., JPY5M - JPY6M</div><div>- Project Mgr, international IT company, JPY5.4M - JPY7M </div>
<div><br></div><div>** BiOS Job Mail</div><div><br></div><div>Every 2 weeks BiOS sends out a regular communication to its</div><div>job seeking candidates, called BiOS Job Mail. Every edition</div><div>carries a list of BiOS's current and most up-to-date</div>
<div>vacancies, with each entry featuring a short job</div><div>description and a direct link to the main entry on the BiOS</div><div>home page. Regardless of whether you are unemployed and</div><div>searching, thinking about a career change, or just curious</div>
<div>to know if there is something out there that might suit you</div><div>better, the BiOS Job Mail newsletter is an easy and</div><div>convenient way for you to stay informed. If you would like</div><div>to register for the BiOS Job Mail, or to find out more,</div>
<div>please email <a href="mailto:jason.kisling@biosjp.com">jason.kisling@biosjp.com</a>.</div><div><br></div><div>Interested individuals may e-mail resumes to:</div><div><a href="mailto:jason.kisling@biosjp.com">jason.kisling@biosjp.com</a> and check out the BiOS web page</div>
<div>for other jobs: <a href="http://www.biosjp.com/positions.php">http://www.biosjp.com/positions.php</a></div><div>-----------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div>***------------------------****-------------------------***</div>
<div><br></div><div>+++ UPCOMING EVENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS</div><div><br></div><div>---------------- Go Global? it's not a joke! --------------</div><div><br></div><div>SunBridge Global Ventures, Inc. and Venture Now, Inc. have</div>
<div>created a entrepreneur competition to help Japanese</div><div>startups to become global thinkers and players. All</div><div>competitors have been through a grueling series of</div><div>mentoring sessions and pitch presentations. Now we're down</div>
<div>to the final 8 contestants, with the winner receiving a</div><div>trip to the Plug and Play Expo in Silicon Valley.</div><div><br></div><div>Who will the winner be? Find out by coming along.</div><div>Date: Tuesday, 4th December 2012</div>
<div>Place: JIJI PRESS Hall (JIJI PRESS Building 2nd Floor)</div><div>5-15-8 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo</div><div>104-8178, JAPAN</div><div>Fee: JPY6,000 (JPY3,000 for students)</div><div><br></div><div>More details can be found at:</div>
<div><a href="http://innovation-weekend.jp/en/">http://innovation-weekend.jp/en/</a></div><div>-----------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div>---------------- Start a Company in Japan -----------------</div>
<div><br></div><div>Entrepreneur's Handbook Seminar 9th of February, 2013</div><div><br></div><div>If you have been considering setting up your own company,</div><div>find out what it takes to make it successful.</div>
<div>Terrie Lloyd, founder of over 17 start-up companies in Japan,</div><div>will be giving an English-language seminar and Q and A on</div><div>starting up a company in Japan.</div><div><br></div><div>This is an ideal opportunity to find out what is involved,</div>
<div>and to ask specific questions that are not normally answered</div><div>in business books.</div><div>All materials are in English and are Japan-focused.</div><div><br></div><div>For more details:</div><div><a href="http://www.japaninc.com/entrepreneur_handbook_seminar">http://www.japaninc.com/entrepreneur_handbook_seminar</a></div>
<div><br></div><div>***------------------------****-------------------------***</div><div><br></div><div>---------------- ICA Event - December 11 ------------------</div><div><br></div><div>Speaker: Jason Wik, Managing Director - Sentry K.K.</div>
<div>Title: "Empower your Sales Teams with Realtime Mobile</div><div>Workflow"</div><div><br></div><div>Details: Complete event details at <a href="http://www.icajapan.jp/">http://www.icajapan.jp/</a></div><div>
(RSVP Required)</div><div><br></div><div>Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2012</div><div>Time: 6:30 Doors open, Buffet Dinner included and cash bar</div><div>Cost: 4,000 yen (members), 6,000 yen (non-members)</div><div>Open to all</div>
<div>Venue is The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.fccj.or.jp/aboutus/map">http://www.fccj.or.jp/aboutus/map</a></div><div>----------------------------------------------------------</div>
<div>***------------------------****-------------------------***</div><div><br></div><div>+++ CORRECTIONS/FEEDBACK</div><div><br></div><div>In this section we run comments and corrections submitted</div><div>by readers. We encourage you to spot our mistakes and</div>
<div>amplify our points, by email, to <a href="mailto:editors@terrie.com">editors@terrie.com</a>.</div><div><br></div><div>=> In TT688, we discussed the failings of Panasonic and </div><div>Sony, with particular focus on Panasonic, and how the </div>
<div>government will eventually have to be brought in to prop</div><div>them up. Our reader has an interesting side take on Sony.</div><div><br></div><div>*** In my opinion the government's main concern is whether </div>
<div>the outside world will realize at some point that the two </div><div>electronics makers have been misrepresenting their </div><div>business performances and financial liabilities for a </div><div>couple of decades or more... with the direct support from </div>
<div>the government. It would be interesting to hear what SONY </div><div>would say were someone to ask the firm directly, "How much,</div><div>exactly, have you paid in fines and court ordered </div><div>settlements over the past fifteen years - year by year, and</div>
<div>have you reported any of each year's total payments in the </div><div>corresponding balance sheet?</div><div><br></div><div>For kicks, I did track SONY to the best of my ability from </div><div>the mid 1990's to the present. Never once did their balance</div>
<div>sheet reflect the litigation payments. A year that stood </div><div>out particularly was 2003, when SONY paid the WALKMAN </div><div>inventor for stealing his invention. </div><div><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Pavel">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Pavel</a></div>
<div>It was a rough year because SONY was also obligated to pay </div><div>all electronics makers who had paid it licencing fees, </div><div>royalties and claims for producing personal stereos of </div><div>their own. That I believe was the year that finally broke </div>
<div>SONY.</div><div><br></div><div>It must also be noted that the company failed in virtually </div><div>every product it put out after the Laser Disc. </div><div><br></div><div>There is very little that SONY can say about the music side</div>
<div>of business either. The George Micheal boycott has never </div><div>been overcome by SONY. Madonna took US$60m plus for nothing</div><div>in return to SONY. Mirah Carey's first husband [Ed: Tommy</div><div>Mottola] sunk them deeper with his Payola scandal... </div>
<div><br></div><div>Mr. Editor, simply said, it's amazing that the company is </div><div>still trading on the open market.</div><div><br></div><div>***------------------------****-------------------------***</div><div>
<br></div><div>+++ TRAVEL DESTINATIONS PICKS</div><div><br></div><div>=> Okazaki Fujikawa Juku, Aichi</div><div>Tokaido stop No. 37</div><div><br></div><div>“Sankin Kotai” was a policy initiated by the Tokugawa </div><div>
Shogun requiring the Daimyo, or nobles to spend alternate </div><div>years between their home domains, and residencies in Edo, </div><div>(modern Tokyo). In principal, the practice was to provide </div><div>military services to the Shogun. A set number of the </div>
<div>daimyo’s samurai would accompany him to Edo, and while </div><div>stationed there would also perform guard duties and other </div><div>services to the Shogun. In reality, it was a way to </div><div>impoverish the daimyo, making them spend twice as much to </div>
<div>maintain two households, as their wives and heir were to </div><div>remain in Edo as representatives, and the expense of the </div><div>“daimyo gyoretsu”, the lavish processions in and out of the</div><div>city would prohibit them from being able to afford weapons,</div>
<div>armor, extra samurai and from staging an insurrection.</div><div><br></div><div>During these processions, the daimyo would use one of the </div><div>many highways, the main route being that of the Tokaido. </div><div>
At each of the stops were special inns reserved for the </div><div>daimyo and nobility called Honjin. For commoners, the </div><div>Hatago inns were to be used. Very few of these inns still </div><div>remain, however the Fujikawa Juku along the Tokaido boasts </div>
<div>one of those special few!</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://japantourist.jp/view/okazaki-fujikawa-juku">http://japantourist.jp/view/okazaki-fujikawa-juku</a></div><div><br></div><div> </div><div>=> Hamamatsu Kite Flying Festival, Shizuoka</div>
<div>Fighting with kites?!</div><div><br></div><div>One of the most famous festivals held during Golden Week </div><div>in Japan (early May) is the Hamamatsu festival. Started </div><div>450 years ago, in the 16th Century, this festival is </div>
<div>based on the tradition of flying kites to celebrate the </div><div>birth of a baby son to the Lord of Hamamatsu Castle. The </div><div>main event of the festival is still kite flying, which </div><div>takes place at Nakatajima dune by the sea and is free to </div>
<div>watch. Take a shuttle bus from the bus station near JR </div><div>Hamamatsu. There will be a sign for which bus to get (250 </div><div>yen each way).</div><div><br></div><div>Over the three-day festival (Thu, Fri, Sat) kites are flown</div>
<div>by neighborhood or district teams from Hamamatsu. Each </div><div>neighborhood designs and builds a kite which is around </div><div>3.5m x 3.5m in size. They're decorated with a paper sheet </div><div>that has the emblem of the area and are anchored by long </div>
<div>5mm hemp strings. The teams themselves wear happi coats </div><div>with their district emblazoned on them. As these are quite </div><div>large kites they have a habit of crashing -- so beware when</div><div>you're walking around. Teams frequently have to repair the </div>
<div>kites, with the help of sake or other libation, before </div><div>relaunching.</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://japantourist.jp/view/hamamatsu-kite-flying-festival">http://japantourist.jp/view/hamamatsu-kite-flying-festival</a></div>
<div><br></div><div>***------------------------****-------------------------***</div><div><br></div><div>***********************************************************</div><div>END</div><div><br></div><div>SUBSCRIBERS: 7,791 members as of December 02, 2012</div>
<div>(We purge our list regularly.)</div><div><br></div><div>+++ ABOUT US</div><div><br></div><div>STAFF</div><div>Written by: Terrie Lloyd (<a href="mailto:terrie.lloyd@japaninc.com">terrie.lloyd@japaninc.com</a>)</div><div>
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<div><br></div><div>J@pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in</div><div>Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of</div><div>business, people and technology in the world's third</div><div>largest economy.</div>
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