Japan Success Strategies for Life and Business

On Being Pushed Into A Corner

September 15th, 2011

“When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.”  ~Peter Marshall, TV personality~


It has been said that Japan is changing and that the tempers of the young are every bit as explosive as that of American hotheads.  The only difference between the cultures being, say the social critics, that the Japanese don’t have easy access to firearms.

Yes, there are an increasing number of senseless, violent crimes happening almost every day in this island-nation, but all in all this country remains one of the safest on the planet.

Japanese don’t take kindly to overt pressure and intimidation.  When they are in a proverbial corner, they will bow and look for a non-violent, non-confrontational escape.  Sometimes they will nervously blink and try in vain to act as if their adversary or intimidator doesn’t even exist.

If you are planning to make a frontal, guns blazing approach to doing business here, no doubt you will meet a great yet subtle resistance from the natives.

Don’t mistake silence or nervousness as a sign that you have won the battle and the war.  On the contrary, you will make virtually no progress by intimidation.  Inside themselves the Japanese may well be seething, but for you they will mask their displeasure with a somewhat courteous smile.

That perfunctory smile is usually a kiss of death in business relations.

Always give a Japanese person a clear avenue of escape.  When you do so, they will appreciate your sensitivity to their discomfort and perhaps give you another try at making a good impression.

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Why Japanese Have Been Immune To Recessions

September 13th, 2011

Who is the average Japanese?  He or she is a person who doesn’t obsess about how well others are doing in comparison to themselves.

In highly-competitive, dog-eat-dog worlds such as can be found in the United States, the delineation between winners and losers can be, and often is, stark.

While some carnivorous achievers eat prime cuts’ from the beef of life, far too many others are chasing after the elusive, rancid bone of fame and fortune.

They’ve been sold a bill of goods that only exists for most in a Hollywood screen set.

The crazy chase for riches is horrifically frustrating and futile for all but the very few with the resources and wiles to stay concentrated indefinitely on a target which keeps moving.

The Japanese are by nature much more egalitarian and much more willing to settle for less.  Almost every toy and ploy is marketed and priced in a manner which makes it possible for almost every Japanese worker to possess the creature comforts which their neighbors possess.

The most important principle that checks wild swings in economic terms is the ability of the Japanese government, industry and academic cadres to foster a false idea that all Japanese are nearly equal.  Their people bite into this concept hook, line and sinker from one generation to the next despite evidence to the contrary.

In Japan, like in America, the rich-poor gap has become a great divide.  Many people here are beginning to sense that their perceptions of “Everyone is middle class” is (and always was) a factual distortion.

Free societies welcome new ideas and entrepreneurial spirit.  Some prosper, while many others live off the trickle-down scraps of the ambitious fortune-seekers and doers.

Because this entrepreneurial age has tiptoed into Japan, many Japanese are still living in a time-warped delusion of cradle-to-grave safety through conformity to conventions.

The dawning of the age of free spirits – able and willing to risk security for the chance to excel – is at Japan’s doorstep.

Regardless of whether or not you like this paradigm shift and loss of national innocence, the opportunity exists for visionaries (foreign and Japanese) to teach and coach a new generation of unashamed achievers.

Are you positioning your business or ambitions to participate in this changing of the guard in Japan?

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Redeeming Qualities of Japanese People

September 6th, 2011

There are some things which absolutely frustrate or incense me about Japan and how their people live.  Yet this country is safe and prosperous.  Here are ten reasons why:

1)  By and large, they follow rules and regulations which can threaten life or limb.  They do, however, flaunt laws and rules that are inconvenient to them, such as smoking in prohibited zones or cutting in line without a second thought.

2)  They are neatly dressed and groomed.

3) They keep their house exteriors relatively free of litter and junk, at least when compared to many areas of the States.

4) They keep slender and relatively fit because they ride bicycles and don’t food graze in malls on weekends.

5) They have unspoken allegiance to their company, at least until recently.

6) They will spend money for perceived quality.

7) They do not have fist fights or Uzi-ridden gang wars.  Safety is the ultimate attractor factor for many foreigners coming from crime-ridden societies.

8) They are very time-conscious, with the train system as a model for the world of efficiency and safety.

9) They do not let religion or religious beliefs rule their every thought or foster intolerance.

10) The education system – while not fostering originality and innovation – does its job of teaching the fundamentals necessary for a functional life.

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The Future of Immigration in Japan

August 27th, 2011

Japanese rabbit-hutch houses and the people that occupy them have seen their day.  People live in more spacious accommodations now and few, if any families, live and sleep in one room or lack the creature comforts of life.  By and large, life is good on Japanese Maple Drive.

But there is a storm cloud on the horizon.  Where have all the children gone.  Gone to iPods and PlayStations everyone.

After all, wouldn’t one rather have a sexually-liberated, dumbed-down society of childless adults spending all their booty on narcissistic doodads and toys?

The drudgery of making babies and draining adult-age pocketbooks on diapers and parenthood incidentals is not a scintilla as alluring to most as the newest  Final Fantasy or Virtua GFighter 4: Evolution.

So Japan depopulates and the only way to maintain the infrastructure is to tax and spend.  And when the spending far exceeds the tax base due to a dwindling population, a society such as Japan has only a few stark choices:

*Let a few big corporations survive and a wave of hollowing out, overseas outsourcing ensue.  This will lead to blighted lives here and a Third World infrastructure down the road (with no pun intended).

*Revamp an industrial society which discourages and seldom provides low-cost childcare services for two-working-parent families.

*Or…let the floodgates of immigration be opened wide.

I chose the third because Japan’s fifteen minutes of fame in history will surely pass in the next thirty years if it doesn’t openly welcome foreigners to live and work as equals in this hermetically-sealed society.

The xenophobic, us vs them policy of the Japanese government is widely believed by the Japanese to be justified.  “We Japanese like to eat rice,” is more than a statement of fact; it is a subtle way of saying:

“United we stand, divided we fall.”

Nothing, in my humble estimation, could be further from the truth.  Insularity and island xenophobia will relegate the Japanese nation to a once was great society in the history books.

Undoubtedly, this new toleration of foreigners cannot and will not happen with the flick of a magic wand.  There are language and customary barriers which will cause a painful adjustment for insiders and outsiders alike.  But this huge change is an inevitable.

If you are a foreigner living and working here or wanting to do so, then you do have rights.  Although you may not gain seniority in some positions, in some you can.  Although you may not vote in most areas in Japan, in some you can.  Although certain lines of business are off-limits to foreigners, others such as car exporting and language school operations are available with few restraints.

Japan needs us, whether they realize it or not.  United we stand, but divided we fall.

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Unashamed Youth With Fistfuls’ Of Moolah

August 15th, 2011

The number of single households in Japan has surpassed for the first time the number of married couple households.  More and more women are opting to remain single longer or forever.

What once was a man’s domain, the “wise” investing of family earnings has now seen a larger number of women – presumably single – looking to financial markets where they can get a higher rate of return than the low-interest accounts of banks.  My wife is the married equivalent.

There is a growing demand for websites and seminars for individuals with little or no experience in investing.  I personally know of one woman who has made more than 2 million yen in the last six months on gold and silver markets.

It is my firm belief that education about money shouldn’t begin after you start working.  It should start from the age when a child understands that the ice cream mommy bought cost money.  Parents are the first line of defense against fiscal irresponsibility as adults.  Jim Rohn, a renowned business coach and public speaker, says that the goal of every parent and educator should be to give a child the fiscal and moral training to allow the child by the tender age of eighteen to be independently wealthy.

Thus, the opportunity lies in teaching young Japanese children through manga step-by-step training booklets for elementary-age school children and online training for middle and senior high school students in the art of becoming financially independent.  This could also build up a strong mailing list which will then buy your proprietary software for researching and investing worldwide once they graduate from high school.

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Taking Vanity and Sin to the Limits

August 2nd, 2011

Often frequented by celebrities, this smart and luxurious bar nestles inside the Lanesborough Hotel, UK. Its majestic surroundings of plush upholstery, book-lined shelves and coffee tables with polished brass service bells conjures up an era of genteel service and distinguished drinking.

Make no bones about it – Japanese young people are marrying later, if at all, and having fewer children, if any at all.  Some might call that a crisis or a shame, while the entrepreneur would see it with eyes wide open.

Nagai Kafu and the artsy image. It's the stuff of new fashions in Japan.

The single life has gone mainstream, much to the chagrin of older generations.  The Setagaya Literary Museum recently held an exhibition focusing around the life of a charismatic writer, Kafu Nagai (1879-1959), whose work is still popular.  Married twice but single from his mid-30s until his death, Nagai was a typical chauvinist of his era.  Despite his machismo, women have also been known to be moved by his writing and life.

The museum has compiled 10 rules, based on Kafu’s writings, for leading an enjoyable solitary life.  Among them are that if a restaurant takes your fancy, you should go there no matter where it is.  He also recommended eating as many sweets as you want, keeping a journal, and hanging out with as many members of the opposite sex as possible.  Hmm…Sounds a bit like modern life!

How about a Kafu Package:  luscious chocolates, a gift certificate to a five-star restaurant, a gilt-edged journal with the person’s name engraved on the front jacket in diamonds or gold, and a voucher for three uses of a top-of-the-line companion service

OR

We live in a world which dismisses the classic novels and henceforth the writers who wrote them.  Many of them led solitary lives full of debauchery and decadence…by my standards.  Yet I believe the Japanese would embrace the concept of novelist or entertainment cults with the same reckless abandon that gangsta rap and hip-hop have caught on fire here.  Atmosphere bars or cafes with replica paraphernalia – pipes, eyeglasses, vests, makeup, clothing and accessories – of the bygone eras could become a new drug for the young.  Some writers or entertainers of note who have he allure and stickiness in Japan include:  Greta Garbo, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Clark Gable, Mae West, Howard Hughes, Kinuyo Tanaka, Albert Camus, and Ayn Rand.

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Plastic Fantastic Lover

July 21st, 2011

In this plastic-bottle vending machine society, Sigg bottles are an example of a potentially appealing line for Japan.

This past week I was taken back by the variety of pet bottle designs in Japan.  Being a long-term resident, you take such ingenuity in stride.  But it is quickly branching out into everything from hangers to gardening watering cans to prescription drug containers.  Attractiveness is truly the bait to try a new product on the shelf.

In Japan, 40-65% of pet bottles are recycled, according to the source you cite.   Recently, a lot of recyclable PET bottles are being shipped to China, and several recycling plants are operating at less than 40% percent capacity.  Many of the 60 or so plants are edging toward bankruptcy.

Like it or not, we are living in a finite world of natural resources.  With epic documentaries such as former Vice President Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” it has become increasingly difficult to live in a sound-proof cave with blinders on about the depletion of our earth’s resources and the resultant warming of our planet.

It is my firm conviction that the somewhat apathetic Japanese will be at the forefront of making long-lasting, upscale, attractive recyclable bottles, containers, hangers, utensils and whatnots.

While our thirst for plastic bottles may continue unabated, nature will pull us back to reality.  Japan is a great place to set up shop as a bottle designer, much in the mold of a Swiss company called Sigg.  This is a real business opportunity and design rather than language barriers will dictate the market.

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A Steaming Idea

July 10th, 2011

There are more than 130 million people in Japan, but only a fraction of them have or will ever have an entrepreneurial mindset.  This is good news for foreigners who are burning with passion.  Lots of local merchants and associations with good ideas, products and even web presence tend to keep their talent local.  They don’t think nationally or globally.

The Kusatsu Onsen Tourist Association has launched a two-year pilot program which is partially subsidized by the central government to revive run-down, tourist-deficient hot spring areas.  These areas were once booming in the ’60s and ’70s.

There are about 3,000 hot springs in Japan such as the one in Kusatsu, near Tokyo.  The government and local tourist associations are looking toward revitalization and revival of these ancient wonderlands.  Though Kusatsu seems to have their act together, many other areas are dragging their collective heals and wallowing in the throes of depressed economies.  Take a look at the Kusatsu website.  If you think you could clone or even improve upon such a website, you may be in business.

Since the government may pick up part of the tab, the time for action is NOW!  Several years ago I lived in such an onsen area, Beppu, and although it has become somewhat rundown it still has great charm and appeal, if framed right.  Become the framer and have the government foot the majority of the tab.

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Building Sophisticated Affiliate Portals For Japanese

June 30th, 2011

While there are several web sites on Japanese trends and innovation, few of them are well-known among Japanese or foreign consumer-surfers.  And although the market for TV home shopping is on the increase, viewer rates in Japan measure only a few percent.  Such big-hit products as Billy’s Boot Camp have seen mainstream success, but such TV networks are generally dependent upon a small, loyal, hungry consumer group which buys gadget after gadget on a whim.

The top four media–-catalog, direct mail, Internet and TV–-make up 75% of sales, of which TV shopping and Internet sales have shown particularly outstanding growth.

Japan is a land of gadgets and gimmicks.  Many of them have a shelf life of less than a year or two.  Come, such as Hello Kitty or Apanman, have become cultural assets with high marketing value worldwide.

The trouble is that gimmicks and hype dig into our disposable income and we should know the unbiased and un-bought testimonials of those who use these products and services.

Until now, we have been pretty much forced to rely on staged testimonials and PR blurbs distributed by the manufacturer around the concept of Product of the Week, similar to TV shopping channels in exhibiting their stuff.

Why not build a site a product in a streamed video, but dissimilar in the respect that the film producer is totally objective.  Each product will be judged according to a set of criteria such as price of competitive products, durability, practicality, etc.  Each page of the site will have paying sponsors (which would be clearly recognizable) to make the post worthwhile.

Alternatively, you could set up a site which features unique products from Japan and offers a Pay Per Click (PPC) or affiliate commission structure such as ClickBank.  This may be a lot to chew off, but the rewards in this consumer paradise (Japan) could make it well worth the struggle.

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Tour Biz On A Shoestring

June 21st, 2011

Tourists associations in many parts of Japan used to leave the planning and implementation of tours to travel agencies.  But the truth is that local associations know the nooks and crannies much better than a city-slicker agency scanning the Internet.

The Nanatsugama Caves of Saga, designated as a national natural monument, are cliffs sharpened by the rough waves of the Genkai Sea. The frontage is 3 m and its depth is 110 m, and you can enter there by a boat at the time of a high tide.

The relaxation of the travel law opened the way for tourist associations to promote tour programs.  Saga Prefecture’s Karatsu Tourist Association has exploited the association friendly law by devising a six-tour program.

The reduction of the security deposit each travel agency is required to place with the government was reduced from 10 million yen to 3 million yen in July, making it east for KTA and other associations to opt out from using travel agency for local promotion.

This lower barrier is also great news for foreign nationals wanting to own and operate agencies in unique, scenic areas of Japan.

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