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I uploaded some pictures of Kobe Airport that recently opened on Feb 16th on the artificial island in the sea near the heart of Kobe. The airport is very convenient to visit Kobe from many cities in Japan including Tokyo. Click here!
At a time when the government and some business sectors fret over the nation's falling birthrate, makers of high-quality desks see a business opportunity.
With fewer children per household, there is more money to spend on each youngster.
In the past, the majority of desks sold for new students were priced between 60,000 and 80,000 yen, but many desks are now priced above 100,000 yen, with desk sets sometimes going for more than 200,000 yen...
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200602160135.html
An interesting story about a market trend in Japan. Families with fewer kids (one is the norm) are willing to spend more for their kid. A $2,000 desk set for a kid! Wow.
How would you apply this theory to your business in Japan?
I found this new blog, "from the inside, looking in" quite interesting and the author really knows the current aspect of Japan including businesses, stock markets, VCs and so on. Check it out!
Have I ever mentioned my photo album, "Japan where business happens"? Probably not.
I occasionally upload pictures I take in Japan on the go to my customers or business partners. Hopefully, you'll feel what kind of places and buildings businesses happen at in Japan.
Click the thumbnail on the left side to view the album!
Someone asked me what kind of information the Japan Almanac 2006 contains. So, I'm posting the contents of the almanac for your convenience.
Page
Special Topics 2
Neighbors: China and South Korea
Japanese Diets
Foreigners Increase in Number
Election
Horiemon
Salaried Workers
NEET: Not in Employment, Education or Training
Women
Self-portrait
Declining Population
Municipalities
Recession
Railways
Decline in Academic Ability
Japanese Language
Information Technology
Crimes
Health
Professional Baseball & Sports
Earthquake
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Major Events in Japan and the World 66
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Japan in the World 70
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National Land / Politics
National Land 80
Climate 82
Population 83
Politics 91
National Defense 96
Imperial Family 99
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Economy
Economy 100
Government Finance 107
Business, Management 110
Labor 119
Wages 124
International Balance of Payments 125
Trade 129
International Cooperation 137
Finance 139
Insurance 142
Securities 145
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Industry
Agriculture 148
Forestry 154
Fisheries 155
Mining, Manufacturing Industries 157
Energy 173
Transportation 181
Communications 187
Commerce, Distribution 192
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Society / Life
Household Budget 198
Commodity Prices 202
Land Value 204
Housing 207
Environment 209
Medical Care 214
Nutrition 218
Social Security 219
Woman 224
Crime 226
Police 231
Accidents 232
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Culture Sports
Education 234
Science and Technology 241
Culture 243
Religion 247
Mass communication 248
Leisure 254
Sports 257
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History of Japan 262
World History 263
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Index in English 268
Index in Japanese 278
As I wrote on the previous post, you can easily import Japan Almanac 2006 which is filled with interesting statistics, graphs, and analyses written in English and Japanese. The process is easy and very similar to other Amazon sites. The only tricky part is, you need to turn English mode on. Here is how:
1. Click here to see Japan Almanac 2006's product page on Amazon.co.jp.
2. You’ll see this page. (Japanese characters might be displayed strangely as garbled characters on your computer, but just disregard it.)
(Click to enlarge)
3. Make sure you are seeing the image of the Japan Almanac 2006.
4. Click "Display in English" on the upper right corner.
5. Now, you should see "Add to Shopping Cart" button in English. Click it.
6. The next page will be displayed in English and Japanese like this. Click
button meaning "Proceed to check out". (I suppose displaying the button in Japanese here is a glitch of Amazon.co.jp).
7. Then, you'll be asked to create a password. According to their help page, "Your existing Amazon.com, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de, Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.ca account will not be recognized at Amazon.co.jp. You are, however, welcome to use the same e-mail address/password combination you are using for your other Amazon accounts." Later than that, everything will be displayed in English. You'll enter your password information, shipping and billing information. Visa, American Express, MasterCard, and JCB are accepted. That's it!
As you've seen, ordering on Amazon.co.jp is very similar to Amazon.com, although some Japanese characters you can ignore are shown. So, just relax and try it. You'll receive the book imported from Japan soon. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?
Notes: Some useful links on Amazon.co.jp
A good market entry strategy should be build upon accurate knowledge of the market. If your target is a unique and dynamically changing country like Japan, grasping the big picture of the country is crucial.
I've just bought an educational and even amusing book titled "Japan Almanac 2006" written in, unusually, both of English and Japanese.
The 287 pages book is packed with basic statistics, interesting graphs, and even eye-opening analyses. Here are some excerpts:
The list could go on and on. I really enjoyed reading many facts that are helpful to understand current aspects of Japan. I’m pretty sure the book is helpful to you, the readers of my blog, too to know what kind of problems Japanese consumers and corporations face and to think of how your products or services can solve them.
So, you’d ask how you can buy the book, wouldn’t you? Strangely enough, I could not find any stores that sell the book outside of Japan. Even the online giant, Amazon.com, currently does not carry it, although the almanac has been published every year since 1992 in Japan.
Fortunately, its Japanese subsidiary, Amazon.co.jp* carries it and they can ship it worldwide. I’ll show you how you can order it here on the next post.
* we are affiliated with Amazon.co.jp.
I've made up-to-date weather forecasts for some Japanese cities available on the left side on this blog, hoping you'll know what you should pack for your next business trip to Japan.
Happy traveling!
P.S. I added a banner on the top right corner as well. I hope this wouldn't bother you too much.
