The Japan Business Insider Newsletter is the only English newsletter concentrating on success strategies and niche business opportunities in Japan. Stay informed and know where and how money is being spent and made in Japan.

 All You Need To Succeed in Japan ... For Free!

Published by
Richard Posner

Website
http://www.successinjapan.com 

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Thoughts From Above And Below

Why Not Think Big?

“As long as you are going to be thinking anyway, think big."
~Donald Trump, Real Estate Mogul~

Throughout my life I have been astonished by how small a mind most people possess.  They live in a world where constantly something can and is created out of nothing other than an idea nesting in a mind that whispers for actualization. 

It is tragic that all but a very few discard those divine whispering voices as delusional or totally unrealistic. 

For example, let’s say I ask someone if they want to get rich.  With a faint, whimsical, resigned-to-doom smile some will say, “Yeah, I’d like that.”  Others will answer with false altruism, “Nah.  Rich people are selfish and many of them are unhappy despite their wealth.”  Still others will fall back on the standard refrain, “Rich people are lucky and fortunate.  They get all the breaks and are usually born with a silver spoon.  I am doomed to mediocrity.  I gave up on being rich a long time ago.” 

All of the above are guilty of small-mindedness which is, if left unchecked, a fatal disease of the soul.  We all have 24 hours in a day and a chance to change our attitude and thrive.  Our chances to think and act big are as infinite as the universe. 

No matter how old, young, rich, poor, advantaged, disadvantaged, educated, ignorant, despised, loved, dysfunctional, functional, handsome, wretched, beautiful, homely, lucky or unlucky we believe we are is a matter of choice.

No other human being – even one with a pistol pointing at our head and telling us to reveal all or die – can strip us of our dignity without our consent. 

Recently, I was watching a video presentation by one of my mentors, Bob Proctor of “The Secret” fame.  He suggested that he was humble, poor and shipwrecked in his early life. 

Then one day he wrote down his ultimate goal in one, all-encompassing statement, put it in his breast pocket, looked at it throughout the day, and never went to sleep without expressing gratitude to his Maker. 

Thereafter, he added the most essential element which has led to his multimillion dollar income for close 45 consecutive years.  That element is living as if.   It is not enough to want to be rich and successful; you’ve got to feel it in your bones.  You need to hang around with eagle accomplishers and leave these complaining human turkeys to wallow in their desert of dry tears. 

The honest truth is that your life is not predicated on approval of others; it is predicated on dreaming and doing on a massive scale. 

If you are uninspired in what you do, then you are probably thinking small and feeling insignificant.  Latch onto ideas and people in your life that fuel unbridled passion.  If you want to do more, you will have to become more. 

As another one of my mentors, Jim Rohn, has said:  “Don’t aspire to be a millionaire simply because of the money and fame you can accumulate.  Instead aspire for the good life because of the excitement of the journey and the personal growth you must experience to get where you want to go.” 

Humility is often nothing but a cover up for failure.  The truly humble are usually on top of the economic heap and don’t make you feel small because of their stature.  The falsely humble use God, government, community, family, friends, circumstances, genetic deficiencies and a host of other lame excuses so that they can unashamedly and justifiably dwell in a sea of underachievement. 

Why not choose to become big and truly humble as a result?  Make the best of time allotted to you.  Count your blessings and determine to find a solution to your adversities.   Spare us all any lame excuses inherent in settling for far less than you deserve.

Japan Niche Opportunities of the Week

1   Japan is a country with an infrastructure built for traveling between stations by train mostly.  Back when a majority of the small Mom-and-Pop shops were built after the Pacific War, most people took trains, occasional buses, bicycles, or walked to their destination.  Neighborhoods were self-sustaining and street or foot traffic other than by locals was an unexpected, welcome surprise and a boost in revenue.  In recent years, mega-malls have been developed by huge conglomerates such as Mitsui and Aeon, and once again the small, quaint  shopkeeper is being squeezed in much the same manner as department stores and large supermarkets did in the 1960s and 1970s.  From the look of it, small shopkeepers - with no parking space and lacking variety in merchandise on display - will soon give way to condominiums and up class "cities within cities" concepts being developed by Mori Building in densely-populated areas of major cities.

An Opportunity:   In many cases, the Japanese small shopkeeper and local restaurateur are to blame for their pending demise.  They are fiercely independent and resistant to change and innovative thinking.  What is needed to revive community shopping is twofold:  an innovative under- and over-ground parking system similar to the ones employed by many localities.  A community minibus service which can regularly pass by designated shops during regular opening hours.  I can't begin to tell you how many times I went to a quaint shop (like last night) which was off the beaten path and had scant parking.  The bus and parking concepts can shamelessly advertise for participating businesses.

2  What do Howard Hughes, J. Paul Getty and Nelson Rockefeller have in common?  They survived and thrived during and after the Great Depression.  The concept that markets are shrinking and money is evaporating wasn't true then and isn't true now.  Millionaires and multimillionaires will be made in our current economic malaise.  According to some schools of thought, 96 percent of all the world's wealth is controlled by 4 percent of the population.  The rich will make money and lavish themselves in good times and bad because they don't live in fear.  They believe in themselves.  It is no wonder that many urban developers in Japan are targeting the upper crust members of society.  Many such luxury units are selling faster than expected. 

Daiwa House Industry develops Royal Parks Nishiarai in Tokyo's Adachi Ward.

An Opportunity:   You can target your marketing efforts to those who want to buy cheap or you can go after the three million millionaires in Japan (which are expected to triple in the next eight years).  Luxury salons, pet care parlors, boutiques, eating establishments and a host of related services can make a focused entrepreneur exponentially more profit than trying to nickel-and-dime the majority of struggling working-class folks.  The upscale market is not easy, but if you can learn to deliver your products and services with urbanity second to none, Japan offers outstanding opportunities.  And why not?  In selling to the rich you will learn the tricks they use to accumulate wealth and become one of them.  What follows is a short list of articles/videos to get you into the mind frame to sell to super rich.

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Empowering Japan Resources

Tokushima/Kagawa Prefectures

The greatest part of Shikoku region manufacturing is taken by the basic material industry and the lifestyle-related industry. While nationwide the portion of manufacturing shipment value provided by the pulp and paper, chemical and other basic material industries is 32.3%, in the Shikoku region the level is higher, at 48.9%.

Heads Up

I encourage everyone to look at Japan as a place for business, commerce and opportunity in the Twenty-First Century.  It is a not only a strong launching ground for enterprise, but the last, great hope for the survival of this planet.  Please fill out the form below and join our Japan prosperity circle:

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The Aliens are Invading

According to one politician, "One in every 30 babies born in Japan has at least one foreign parent. We have to discuss very seriously how we should involve foreign residents in building our society." It remains to be seen whether foreigners can ever have any meaningful clout in Japanese society. So many of the foreigners here are unfortunately at the bottom of the economic barrel and any faint calls for political representation is refreshing.  But the video below is the story about blissful acculturation of one gaijin entertainer.  It does give you a sense the a foreigner can fit in without any awkwardness.  Watch (even if you can't understand a word of Japanese).

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Practicing Physicians in Japan and Membership in Japan Medical Association

The Japan Medical Association (JMA) is the national voice of Japanese physicians. Founded in 1916, and then re-established in its current form in 1947, the JMA's mission is to provide leadership for physicians and to promote the highest standards of medical ethics and education to protect the health of all Japanese citizens.  According to Hiroshi Honda, vice president of Kosei-kai Kurihashi Hospital in Saitama Prefecture,  a shortage of  doctors iis leading to a medical service breakdown by western standards,  Japan, according to Honda, is 120,000 doctors short. “Tax money should be used for improving medical services and increasing doctors.”  More likely, Japan will have to slacken its licensing standards and let more foreign doctors into the country.

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Will You Zip Me Up, Sweetheart?

There is a culture of cross dressing men in Tokyo which is much larger and well-heeled than I imagined.  Since launching two weeks ago on Rakuten, a major Japanese web shopping mall, the Wishroom shop has sold over 300 men’s bras for 2,800 yen ($30) each. The shop also stocks men’s panties, as well as lingerie for women.  We come a long way baby since the homophobic 80s and 90s.

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The Perfect Boss