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 Biweekly by
Richard Posner

Website
http://www.successinjapan.com 

Contact Us
newsletter@successinjapan.com 

Thoughts From Above And Below

Anger, the Japanese and Me

“There is nothing more galling to angry people than the coolness of those on whom they wish to vent their spleen."  ~Alexandre Dumas~

Many short-fuse foreigners in Japan believe that being assertive and obnoxious - the Ugly American Syndrome - in Japan will insure action in this docile country.

In my nearly 29 years here, such rudeness and overbearing manner scantly brings a positive result.

One case in my very first year in Japan should have taught me a lesson about living here, but unfortunately it didn't.  A Japanese junior high teacher whom I worked with had an extra phone line which she was willing to transfer to me. 

We went to the telephone monopoly, NTT, and I could tell by the hissing between teeth that something was awry from the start.  He explained to my benefactor that my signature would not be adequate.  "I needed a hanko (personal stamp)," he stated while pointing with smug confidence to the affirming regulation.

I left their office grumbling about red tape and whatnot, but we went to a hanko shop and found a stamp with Hoshina - though my name is Posner (poh-zu-na). 

We then marched back into the office ready for the transfer of the phone, but the same bureaucratic office worker said it must be Posner in katakana.  

Seething, I got defiant and said "Why can't I sign like I do at the bank?"  He took out his regs again and espoused the technicality.  Then he said, "Please make the personal stamp in English with Richard Alan Posner carved into the stamp.  I went into a tizzy and was spitting venom at a guy who was just smiling plastically and saying, "Sumimasen" (I'm so sorry), with a long, shallow bow.

The phone was never meant to be mine, I guess.  Especially because my hostility was met with calm efficiency or indifference.  Many other similar cases have occurred in my years here, and more often than not these days I just shrug my shoulders and get over it.

My mother once taught me about anger.  She said, "If you want to say or write something mean or angry in tone to another, write it down, put it in a drawer for one full day, take it out again, decide if it would be wise to write or say to the say impulsively, and if you still harbor any doubt you should go ahead with the ordeal, put it back into the drawer for two more days.  Eventually, you will note that the anger is 99 percent of the time out of proportion to the alleged act against you because your ego reigns and needs to be right and dominate in everyday behavior.

To survive in Japan, if you are a foreigner, you must heed my mother's advice.  If you don't, your life or business with the Japanese will seldom come to a good end.

TAKE THE TEST AND BECOME YOUR BEST!

Japan Niche Opportunity of the Week

The Stage

This past week I read an article about McDonald's titled: "Going Down-Market in Nutrition."  McDonald’s Japan announced that for the first time in eight years, it was once again the top selling fast food “restaurant” chain in Japan. The company had sales of 518.3 billion yen, becoming the first in Japan to exceed 500 billion yen.

In recent years the Japanese consumer has started to accept cheap, not-so-wholesome food, clothing and services.  There was a time when nobody who was anybody would buy damaged fruit and vegetables at the supermarket.  Those days have passed.

Nowadays, thrift is in and I believe it is here to stay.  The trend means that wholesalers and retailers want to unload perishables and other stuff costly to stock or warehouse before it expires, spoils or perishes.

The Opportunity

The need to track and make available perishables, damaged package goods and unsold inventory at heavily discounted prices is a challenge which will be addressed more efficiently in the coming years.

If you go to many supermarkets in Japan in the early evening, for example, the stock clerks are often discounting foods 10~50% at that time.  Other goods are kept in a refrigeration unit at all times of the day with things such a tofu, milk, luncheon meats, etc. whose expiration date is nearing expiration.

The challenge is to coordinate a database - for example, at 500 yen a month for consumers and 2000 yen a month for shops - that tells you which stores offer what discounts at that moment. 

It can even get more efficient than that.  A particular challenge: How do you keep perishables in stock and on the shelves without having them spoil? Researchers at Agrotechnology & Food Innovations (A&F), an applied research institute at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, are using radio frequency identification technology to find the answer.

However the identification of damaged or perishable goods which will be trashed can be made, a community database feeding into a nationwide database system can  drastically cut waste, save consumers boatloads' of money, and increase the bottom line of most wholesalers and retailers

Can you create or have you created such an ingenious system?  Japan - known in the past for its convoluted distribution system - is ready to embrace it.

Do You Want to Introduce Your Product or Service in Japan?  Looking for partners?  CLICK HERE.　

Empowering Japan Resources

Fiber Optics

**********

**********

********************

Online Drug Sales Ban in Japan

A controversial ban on online and mail-order sales of about 700 nonprescription drugs will begin in June as scheduled. But relief measures will be offered for two years for residents of isolated islands and long-time users of some specific medicines, health ministry officials said.

When the revised Pharmaceutical Affairs Law takes effect June 1, mail-order or online purchases of drugs with the risk of side effects will be banned, including cold remedies and Chinese herbal medicines. Users will be required to use pharmacies and other sales outlets.

Online network marketers in the health and wellness business may be greatly impeded.

~Source:  The Asahi Shimbun~

********************

Nippon Steel:  The Messiah of Roofs

Nippon Steel has developed and is now marketing a roofing tile which is 92 percent lighter than that covering ancient structures in Japan called kawara. (see below)

Titanium kawara are much stronger and lighter than the old-style version, helping a structure stand up to a strong earthquake, the company says. Pollution and the elements have left the kawara tiles of many old temples and shrines around the country in disrepair, and Nippon Steel says its kawara are also resistant to corrosion.

The catch?  They are two or three times more expensive than traditional tile.  The upside?  There is no clear competitor for this specialized steel product.

********************

Anime Bubble Bursts...

Or so say the profits of doom.  According to the Association of Japanese Animations (AJA), an industry body formed mainly by animation production companies, the number of anime programs aired on television steadily climbed from 124 in 2000 to a peak of 306 in 2006.

However, the figure dropped to 288 last year. Meanwhile, the number of new anime programs that began broadcasts last month was expected to be in the 30s, about half the 60-odd programs unveiled in April 2006.

Here's what I think that means: There are thousands of unemployed and underemployed animators and cartoonist in Japan ready to explore new avenues for their talents.  They could easily put that to work in such endeavors as online animation for websites and web-infomercials to work with/for you in a collaborative effort.

********************

Designer Fruit

I was astounded the first time I saw a perfectly square persimmon in Japan.  But farmers are getting more and more innovative.  Above, witness the pyramid and the heart-shaped watermelon.  Shaping fruit could well become an outstanding niche opportunity inside or outside of Japan.

It could also branch off into fruit and vegetable art, something I think the Japanese would literally eat up...

To watch a video of many more great food art ideas, CLICK HERE

This Week's Challenge

© Richard Posner . All rights Reserved Worldwide.