5 Product Requirements to Meet Japanese Consumer Needs

Japanese consumers are often said to be difficult to please, with high expectations.  It is not only about the language issue, and this is likely to be one reason why many multi-national companies or individuals find it a challenge to enter and penetrate the Japanese market, which is regarded as attractive due to its size, stability and maturity in many industries.

If you know their expectations and what they regard as “high quality products and services”, meeting their needs, it is quite possible to succeed in make market entry and penetration in the Japanese market.

1. Durable and indestructible

Japanese consumers expect products to be durable and indestructible, from clothes and toys to home electronics and automobiles.  This is probably what we all know as “high quality products” and their expectations are maybe the highest in the world.

Should clothes start to come apart by little or screw of devices start to get a little loose, consumers would usually regard them as defects and may well make complaints.  Indeed, for example, materials used for T-shirts made by Japanese companies are usually much stronger than those made by companies of other countries.  Also, how clothes are tailored by Japanese companies excel from those made in other parts of the world.

2. Easy to use and convenient

Easy to use and convenience has been what Japanese companies been strong at, and this has been a key feature and differentiator in Japan.  This is a popular value-added feature in Japan, not only for products themselves but also for packages.

Great examples are abundant in FMCG (fast moving consumer goods).  Many canned food are of easy-to-open cans, which are just like opening a canned coke and therefore there is no need for a can opener.  

There are variety of Natto (Japanese food made from soy beans) packages to make consumers easy to pour sauce into the container without getting their hands dirty.

This concept is applied in such products as drugs, too, and easy to take medicines are often a feature.  Many OTC (over the counter) drugs are differentiated not only by efficacy but also how it is easy to take/swallow (e.g. in power, made sweet for children), as well as how quickly the medicine starts to work.

3. Same appearance and size

Japanese consumers do not accept products with even a little irregularity in appearance and size, even for things such as fruits and vegetables.  So, even fruits and vegetables sold in Japan are all of “perfect” shape, and size, packed very neatly.  Should they be “imperfect” in shape and size they are neglected during picking and packing processes in farms and factories. 

This is why crisps you would see in the west are not found in Japan.  Each piece of crisps is of different sizes which are not acceptable to Japanese consumers.  That is why many of the crisps sold in Japan are made “artificially” from potato ingredients, all in the same size and shape.  And, some are put in a tube-shaped container, emphasizing uniform size and shape.

Should the products be imperfect even by a degree not noticeable by the majority unless being told, they are sold as what we call “class B products” or in Japanese B級品.  These are sold in separate channel with discount price.  Such products range from Kimono and furniture to bread.

When Japanese consumers expects all products the same in appearance, it is not a surprise that they would never accept foreign substances in the products they buy and use.  Should they find any foreign substances such as hair in drugs for example, they would regard drugs as “low quality” in the similar way as “imperfect appearance” mentioned above - they would question the critical quality of efficacy.  In such a case it is reported to the manufacturer as “defects”.

4. Perfect finishing

Japanese consumers expect products and architectures to be of perfect finishing even at details.  This is not only for devices that Japanese companies are strong at.  In the case of drugs, even those with a little spot or scratch on tablets that human eyes cannot detect (and thus detected by video inspection) are regarded as “defects” though it has nothing to do with efficacy thus removed from the production line. 

This is the same for packages, too.  Even just a slight imperfection in package printing of drugs are regarded as “defect” and removed from the product line.  Japanese pharmacists and patients would question the quality including efficacy of drugs should the package is not 100% imperfect in their standard.

It is the same for architecture.  A Japanese person in construction industry visited a very famous modern architecture in Australia which he was extremely impressed at.  However, when he saw that lower part of a concrete wall finish is “rough”, he said “Gosh!  How rough is this finishing.  This is never accepted in Japan!”

5. Sophisticated

Consumer electronics is probably the good example of this.  When large, relatively bulky portable audio were popular in the North American market, small, compact and sophisticated ones were developed and marketed for the Japanese market.  Small and compact size has been a key feature in products such as digital camera and mobile phones, too.

Colour variation is also what Japanese consumers tend to like and expect.  Thus for consumer electronics (AV devices, digital camera, mobile phone), and clothes and bags/shoes, there tend to be so many colour variations.  There have been abundant colour variations in recent small cars by Japanese companies.  Many of the colours are quite sophisticated, similarly to consumer electronics,

Sophistication is also applied to food and drinks.  In Japan, “subtle sweetness” is preferred in Japanese and western sweets and beverages including cakes, yoghurt, pudding, cookies, chocolates, Japanese dumplings and juice.  In making bread, they always sift flour so that the baked bread would be of fine texture.  This is why sweet buns in Japan are rather like cakes in the west.  Coarse-textured food is not accepted in Japan.

One more thing about the Japanese consumers…

Japanese consumers also always expect “something new”.

This will be the topic of the upcoming article.

Profit Increase for Over 50% Japanese Companies with Successful Corporate Strategy

Osaka-Thursday, May 3, 2012

Nikkei, Japan’s leading newspaper specialized in business and economy reported today that over half of listed Japanese companies enjoyed increased profit for the fiscal year ending March 2012.

This mostly attributes to improved profitability by many companies with structural reform even under severe circumstances such as high yen, flood in Thailand and the March 11 Japan Disaster. 

As many as 10% of the companies are to mark the greatest profit in the history, when total profit amount has decreased by almost 20% from 2011.  Success and failure of corporate strategy separates winners from losers.

1.   Financial statements of which companies have been analyzed?

It is the 242 companies (excluding financial institutes and emerging market) whose financial announcements have been made by May 2.  This is equivalent to 15% of all listed companies covering 36% of marketing value.

2.   Which companies are the winners?  How many are they?

They are 121 companies, equivalent to 50% of the companies analyzed.  With more upcoming financial announcements, as many as 800 companies equivalent to 52% of all listed companies are estimated to improve profit from 2011. 

This is far greater than 455 companies (30%) in March 2002 when the IT bubble collapsed and 367 companies (20%) in March 2009 when the economic crisis proliferated worldwide.

Companies in red are only 7%, which is far less than 21% in 2009.

31 companies enjoy greatest profit in their history.  With more financial announcements to be made, as many as 153 companies equivalent to 10% of all listed companies are estimated to mark greatest profit in their history. 

Major Companies with Greatest Profit in History for Fiscal Year Ending March 2012

(Source: Nikkei, translated by the author)

Company Name / Profit (Billion Yen) / Profit Increase / Reasons for the Profitability Increase

Soft Bank / 573.6 / 10% / Strong sales in iPhone

Fanuc / 228.5 / 17% / Strong sales in automotive robots

All Nippon Airways / 68.4 / 85% / Cost reduction, increased international flights

Oriental Land / 66.2 / 25% / Increase in customers with 10th anniversary events of Tokyo Disney Sea

Kuraray / 53.9 / 6% / Strong sales in resin for car gasoline tanks

Unicharm / 48.3 / 12% / Increase in disposable diaper demand in Asia

Kobayashi Pharmaceutical / 20.0 / 6% / Strong sales in OTC

Komeri / 19.6 / 28% / Strong sales in machine tools at home centres

Fujitsu General / 9.8 / 13% / Business growth in air conditioning products in emerging markets

Kagome / 9.2 / 10% / Increase in sales of tomato juice

Start Today / 7.6 / 30% / Increase in apparel EC site users

Note: Consolidated base, companies whose financial announcements have been made by May 2.  Profit increase is from fiscal year ending March 2011.

3.   Why the winners were successful in improving their profitability?

1)   Competitive businesses and products

(1) Fanuc

Fanuc, a market leader in factory automation and robots, increased purchase order leveraging their marketing positioning of 20% worldwide market share in robots for automotive and general industry.  This led to the greatest profit in their history.

(2) Komatsu

Komatsu, a leader in construction equipment, expanded their mining machinery business that has been enjoying market share of 40%.  This compensated for negative factors such as weak business in China and high yen.

2)   Business development in emerging markets

(1) Japan Tobacco

Japan Tobacco increased sales in emerging countries including Russia, leading to increase in profit.

(2) Unicharm

Unicharm, a leader in daily commodities enjoyed strong business of disposable diapers in Indonesia market which already had market share of 50%.  The CEO commented, “We managed to maintain high profitability by winning growth market.”

3)   Structural reform

(1) All Nippon Airways

With increased competition with Japan Airlines and Low Cost Carriers, All Nippon Airways reviewed their cost structures including aircraft lease fees and personnel cost.  This resulted in the greatest profit in history after 6 years.

(2) Fujitsu General

Fujitsu General transferred their air conditioner production to Asian countries such as Thailand which led to profitability improvement.

4.   Which companies are losers? 

They are mostly the consumer electronics with underperforming TV set business. 

Their profits decreased by 18% from March 2011. 

Total loss of 7 companies that announced huge loss including Sharp, Nintendo and Kawaski Kien is as much as 710 billion yen.  This led to 20% decrease in the total net profit of the companies analyzed.  When the losses of the 7 companies are excluded, profit decrease of such companies shrinks to 9%.

5.   What is the outlook for 2013?

Profit of listed companies for fiscal year ending March 2013 is estimated to increase by double digit because the negative effects of the Japan Disaster are to have gone through by then.

Companies with competitive products are assumed to continue enjoy strong business while companies that are suffering with underperforming LCD panel business such as Sharp are assumed to remain in red.

Thus, the disparity of profitability among listed companies is likely to become even more conspicuous.

Japanese Global Electronic Companies – Why Winners and Losers?

Osaka - Sunday, February 26, 2012




As briefly explained in the previous article Shift in Japan Economy Drivers – from Global Manufacturers to Domestic Non-Manufacturers many, Japanese global electronic companies have been under-performing, while there have been some others that have been performing reasonably well.



In this article, the author would like to explain why there are such winners and losers among Japanese global electronic companies under the same tough business environment including historic high yen, the Japan Disaster and the flood in Thailand, based on an article of Nikkei, Japan’s leading newspaper specialized in business and economy, that was issued on February 25.



1. Why are there losers?






1) Who are the losers?



The losers are Panasonic, Sony and Sharp that heavily rely on non-profitable flat panel TV business, as explained in the previous article Shift in Japan Economy Drivers – from Global Manufacturers to Domestic Non-Manufacturers. Now Nikkei reports that the total loss of Panasonic and Sony for the fiscal year ending March 2012 is to reach as much as 1 trillion yen.



2) Why is the flat panel TV business unprofitable?



The main reason is the accelerated speed of digital technologies becoming obsolete combined with market entry by Chinese players. The price of flat panel TV sets has drastically dropped and also the demand of LCD panels has become excessive. This has completely changed “the rule of winning in the market = the market player that continued proactive investment until the competitors drop out is to become the market leader is to obtain profit”.



Today, the market leader with #1 market share in digital technology (e.g. flat panel TV business) can necessarily be profitable. In the case of LCD panel market for flat panel TVs with market size of 6 trillion yen per year, #1 and #2 global players Samsung and LG Display went in red for the fiscal year ending December 2011. The total market share of the two companies is above 50% but the total operating loss of the two companies for the business is as much as 120 billion yen.



2. Why are there winners?






1) Who are the winners?



The winners are Mitsubishi Electric and Hitachi that have managed to withdraw from unprofitable businesses to focus on their strengths, leading to successful recovery to mark net profit of more than 100 billion yen.



Mitsubishi Electric made withdrawal one after the after from PC, DRAM, system LSI and mobile phone businesses that had been unprofitable to shift their business to more profitable ones such as factory automation equipments although such businesses might be less known and popular to the general public.



Hitachi separated fluctuating businesses of semiconductor and flat panel businesses to focus on social infrastructure businesses that the company is strong in. As a result, their total net profit for 2011 and 2012 is estimated to reach 438.8 billion when the company had been in red from 2000 to 2010.



2) Why NEC that also withdrew from unprofitable businesses not a winner?



It is all about timing and speed.



It is true that NEC avoided fluctuating businesses such as plasma and LCD panels, semiconductors and PCs and their decisions and actions seem to be quite similar to those of Hitachi. However their revenue for this year is to decrease by 40% from its peak and they are estimated to be in the red for 2 consecutive years.



What NEC is different from Hitachi is the speed and timing of their decision and actions. Their withdrawal from semiconductor which had been their burden with much investment was slow. As a result, the company could not strengthen their telecommunication and IT services in a timely manner. For this reason, the company currently lack in businesses that could drive their growth.



3. How are losers trying to recover and grow their business again?



They are trying to do so by leveraging external opportunities and players and for this reason they have been proactive in M&A and/or collaboration with other companies to create business growth.



Sony is eager to invest in Olympus because they are very much interested in the medical equipment business of Olympus. Sony aims to make it as one of their pillar of their future growth.



Panasonic acquired Sanyo last year even if the company needs to go through brand cost depreciation that requires approximately 250 billion yen in order to acquire technologies inevitable for development of green, environmentally-friendly cities green cars that Panasonic was desperate. Panasonic plans to make environment related business as their growth driver. For this reason, they have recently been discussing collaboration possibilities with trading companies in promising businesses in new energy.



4. What are the author’s final thoughts?



Careful selection and focus on businesses based on their mission leveraging on core competencies is the basics of strategy; however in reality, successful strategy development and execution in a timely manner in today’s drastically changing environment is not easy.



Such successful strategy execution usually requires timely withdrawal from unprofitable and/or obsolete businesses and shifting to promising businesses leveraging their core competencies. This is inevitable for business portfolio optimization which is a challenge.



One main reason of difficulty in withdrawing from a business is the extreme difficulty to “abandon” past success. In the case of Panasonic and Sony, TV business had long been the core and driver of their business, symbolizing their company.



It must be so difficult for them to shift their focus from TV business to others similarly to what GE managed to do so withdrawing from consumer electronics to financial services, medical and infrastructure businesses. However, they would need to change their mindset and their business portfolio immediately for sustainability and growth.





Resources:-

What determines winners and losers of Japanese global electronic companies is whether they can withdraw from unprofitable business and shift to promising businesses based on their mission leveraging their core competencies in a timely manner or not. Careful selection and focus on businesses usually requires abandoning successful past which is a challenge. But companies need to change their mindset to do so to optimize their business portfolio adapting to today’s changing business environment is necessary for survival and sustainable growth.

Shift in Japan Economy Drivers – from Global Manufacturers to Domestic Non-Manufacturers

Osaka - Saturday, February 4, 2012




Nikkei, Japan’s leading newspaper specialized in business and economy, reported today that announcement of financial performance of Japanese listed companies April – December 2011 (consolidated base) is worse than the original estimation, and that the profit for fiscal year ending March 2012 is to drop by 21% from the previous year.



This mostly attributes to high yen, flood in Thailand and the EU financial crisis, which are all negative factors for export-oriented industries.



Having said that, companies driven by domestic demand such as telecommunications and consumer goods are strong. Trading companies have recorded the highest profit in the history attributing to strong business in natural resources and energy.



It seems that there is a shift in the industries/companies that drives Japanese economies.



1. How did Nikkei come to the conclusion?



Nikkei collected and analyzed financial data of 743 listed companies (excluding financial and new companies) that have made announcements of financial performance for April – December 2011 by February 3.



2. What was the conclusion?



It is estimated that the decrease in profit for manufacturing companies from the previous year tops to as much as 36%, when the original estimation was 10%. However, for non-manufacturing companies it would increase by 2%.



1) Who are the losers?



They are consumer electronics companies that heavily rely on flat panel TV in particular, such as Panasonic, Sony and Sharp. The total losses of the three companies are to reach as much as 965 billion yen.



Panasonic alone announced that they will be in the negative by as much as 780 billion yen for the fiscal year ending in March 2012 when it was in the positive by 74 billion yen for the fiscal year ending in March 2011. The loss is the greatest in the history for Japanese manufacturing companies. Although the estimation includes approximately 760 billion yen of structural reform cost such as impairment loss attributing to revenue deterioration from acquiring Sanyo, it is clear that the company was hard hit by the external negative environmental factors and that they need to change their strategy.



2) Who are the winners?



They are non-manufacturing companies that mostly rely on domestic demand and resource business.



For example, KDDI, a leading telecommunications company, is estimated to record the greatest profit in the history attributing to strong business in smart phones. Also trading companies whose resource related businesses are strong are increasing their profit to record the highest in the history.



3) What are the implications?



The Japanese companies used to be led by export-oriented manufacturing companies of automobiles and electronics but the recent estimation of the financial result indicates that the industries/companies that drive the Japanese economy are shifting from such companies to non-manufacturing companies that are driven by domestic demand.





3. What are the reasons for ill performance of manufacturing companies?



They are mainly external environmental factors.



1) Highest yen in the history



With the unbelievable high yen, it is quite possible that the total decrease of profit for all listed companies is to reach as much as 1 billion yen for the fiscal year ending March 2012. Automobiles and electronics are the mostly hard hit companies.



2) Flood in Thailand



Many export-oriented companies are hard hit by the flood of Thailand because many of them have key factories in Thailand. For example, the negative impact of the flood is estimated to be more than 100 billion yen for Honda and Toyota respectively.



3) EU financial crisis



Negative impact of the EU financial crisis cannot be ignored, either. For example, the printer business of Ricoh is staggering because companies operating in EU are cutting down on costs due to depression. For this reason, Ricoh is to fall to red for the first time in history.





Resources:-

The recent analysis of the financial performance of Japanese listed companies implies that the industries/companies that drives Japanese economy is shifting from export-oriented manufacturing companies such as automobile and electronics to non-manufacturing companies that rely mostly on domestic demand and resource business. The reasons of ill-performance of manufacturing companies are mostly of external environmental factors including historic high yen, flood in Thailand and EU financial crisis. For electronics companies that heavily rely on flat TV business, their strategy is also a possible factor.

Post-Disaster Reconstruction Resource Investment by Japanese Construction Companies

Osaka - Monday, January 9, 2012




Nikkei, Japanese leading newspaper specialized in business and economy, reported on January 8 that Japanese general construction companies are to heavily invest resources (human resources, leading-edge technologies) in Tohoku region to meet the needs of post-disaster reconstruction from the Japan disaster of earthquake and tsunami that occurred on March 11, 2011.



This is because in the next 3 years, it is estimated that 1.7 trillion yen equivalent post-disaster reconstruction demand is to be created in Tohoku, when Japan construction market is currently just above 40 trillion yen, which is half of its peak in the middle of the bubble economy (around 1990).



1. How much demand and jobs are estimated to be created from post-disaster reconstruction?



A leading human resource company in Japan estimated that post-disaster-related construction demand for the 3 fiscal years of 2011 - 2013 (ending in March 2014) is to be approximately 1.67 trillion yen.



Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) estimates that in fiscal year of 2011 (ending in March 2012), 500,000 jobs will be created. This is equivalent to approximately 10% of nationwide jobs in construction industry in Japan.



Thus, in the budgeting plan for 2012, the Japanese government has allocated 3.9 billion yen as the newly created “special budget for post-disaster reconstruction of Japan”.



And the industry association created a committee collaborating with MLIT, local government etc. in the devastated area and associations of small and mid-sized companies with the objective of smoothly acquiring human resource.



2. Why such demand and jobs are estimated to be created?



It is because from fiscal year 2012 (starting April 2012), many of the construction in the Tohoku region is to start in earnest.



Some of the (re-)constructions include motorway and other main roads, railways, and levees for shore protection.



3. How are leading Japanese construction companies to take actions to meet such demand increase?



They are to focus their resources including human resources and leading-edge technologies in the Tohoku region to avoid their projects getting behind schedule and/or increase in cost attributing to insufficient materials and human resources.



Currently, the top 4 Japanese general construction companies (Kashima, Shimizu, Taisei and Obayashi) have allocated 300 – 600 human resources in the region but plan to increase by 10 – 20% when they win the order of project(s) related to post-disaster (re)construction.



Regarding technologies, Obayashi plans to utilize cement whose strengths do not deteriorate even exposed to sea water in constructions in coastal area. Applying technologies of waste segregation and recycling, Kashima developed a technology that increases recycling by 80% in handling disaster wastes, which they would like to leverage in post-disaster (re)construction.



4. How would large general construction companies to work with local small and mid-sized construction companies?



Small and mid-sized local construction companies have been preferentially winning orders (projects) that are related to post-disaster reconstruction from the perspective of providing jobs to local people.



The large, general construction companies operating nationwide (and also overseas) will be responsible of (re)constructions of roads, railways and levees for seashore protection, mostly of large scale projects that local companies cannot handle.



General construction companies will take consideration of providing jobs to local people in planning and executing such (re)construction projects. For example, they are thinking of making local construction companies to join their Joint Venture companies or to work for them as subcontractors.



5. What are the author’s final thoughts?



1) Jobs/employment and social infrastructure issues in Tohoku must be solved



This is a critical issue. The author recently saw a TV programme in which they reported that almost 50% of the respondents of their survey answered victims of the disaster lost their jobs. Even those who still have jobs say that their income has drastically decreased.



It is quite true that many victims still live in temporary housing and housing is also a critical issue, the victims cannot lead the lives they used to lead unless they have jobs to make ends meet.



Another critical issue for victims to lead normal lives is reconstruction of social infrastructure such as roads and railways, and ultimately cities/villages accompanied with such facilities as shops, hospitals and schools, and housing.



The above Nikkei article is the first step for such a social infrastructure reconstruction.



2) All organizations (public, private, academia) and all individuals need to take responsibility in post-disaster reconstruction



The above article is about the case in construction sector. It is true that at this stage construction sector is one of the sectors to take the lead but it is not the only one and there should be something that all sectors of all organizations/individuals can help and/or are responsible in the post-disaster reconstruction.



The previous article Sendai Girls Lead Post-Disaster Reconstruction Initiative – Japan Disaster, initiated by Muratac Co. Ltd., a company based in Sendai (one of the hard-hit cities by the disaster) is something that they came up with as what they can help and be responsible for the post-disaster reconstruction.



If there should be any sector, organization or individual that cannot help and/or be responsible in the post-disaster even it is may be something small, it means they do not contribute to the society and economy and their raison d’etre as a member of the society needs to be reconsidered. This is because post-disaster reconstruction is reconstruction of the total area covering all aspects of economy, society and people’s lives.





Resources:-

With estimated 1.7 trillion yen post-disaster reconstruction demand to be created in the next 3 years, Japanese general construction companies are to heavily invest resources (HR, leading-edge technologies) in Tohoku region to meet the needs of the new demand. This is the first step of reconstruction of the region (reconstruction of social infrastructure including facilities such as shops, hospitals and schools) to help victims to once again lead normal lives. Other critical issues for reconstruction include job creation. This is the reconstruction of construction sector and all sectors of all organizations and individuals are responsible for the reconstruction.

Samsung to Re-Enter Japan Flat Panel TV Market

Osaka - Wednesday, January 4, 2012




Nikkei, Japanese leading newspaper specialized in business and economy, reported on January 3 that Samsung decided to re-enter Japan flat panel TV market in 2013. They plan to launch high visual quality TVs with organic EL (electroluminescence) considered to be one of the promising next generation TVs and high-end LCD TVs.



Samsung is the global leader of flat panel TV with the #1 worldwide market share of almost 20% but they had not developed their business in Japan. Their re-entry in the Japan market would mean more options for Japanese consumers, and Japanese companies require countermeasures; TV business of companies such as Sony and Panasonic has been under-performing and for example Panasonic gone to red lately.



1. How has Samsung’s business been in Japan?



Samsung had once tried to enter Japanese TV market in 2002 by launching LCD TVs but they were unsuccessful due to weak corporate brand. Their market share remained as low as 0.3% and immediately withdrew from the Japan market in 2002.



2. Why did Samsung decide to re-enter the Japan flat panel TV market?



It is because their brand awareness has drastically improved in 2011 attributing to the success in their smart phone business of Galaxy series sold via a leading Japanese carrier, NTT DoCoMo from 2010. The company seems to have estimated that it is possible for them to gain market share of at least a few % if they launch organic EL TVs with low power consumption prior to their Japanese counterparts.



3. What actions has Samsung already taken?



The company already made approach to several leading retailers. The produce line-ups are assumed to be large TVs of 40 inch or larger of high-end LCD TVs with 3D and Internet connection functions. They also plan to sell TVs of 55 inch or larger with organic EL to avoid revenue deterioration from price collapse. Organic EL TVs will be first sold in South Korea in 2012.



4. How is Samsung positioned in the worldwide market compared to their Japanese counterparts?



According to Display Search, a leading research company based in the U.S., as of 2010, worldwide flat panel TV market share (volume base) of Samsung is #1 with 18.7%. #2 is LG with 13.1%, #3 is Sony with 10.3% and #4 is Panasonic with 7.9%. Samsung has been the worldwide leader for 5 consecutive years and in 2011 they had been targeting to increase their business by 15% to hit worldwide sales of 45 million TV sets.



5. What is the meaning of their re-entry to the Japan market in their global business strategy?



It is to “fill” their vacant regional market when it is difficult to grow their business in other parts of the world. Their main markets of the U.S. and Europe have slowed down due to debt crisis. China business is also tough with severe price competition with Chinese local makers.



Thus it is logical for them to re-enter the Japan market with leading-edge product line-ups to grow their global business when their corporate brand has become strong in Japan, although the Japanese flat panel TV market is estimated to decrease to 150 million units in 2011 from 260 million units in 2010 due to rebound of ad-hoc demand of transition to digital terrestrial transmission in July 2011.



6. What are the author’s final thoughts?



Many Japanese companies used to thoroughly enjoy benefit from relatively large domestic demand/market and unique needs of Japanese consumers that made their global counterparts difficult to enter the Japan market. For this reason, they could enjoy high market share in the Japan domestic market even if they were followers in the worldwide market, with which they could make their ends meet.



However, that is no longer the case. Demand/market of Japan is shrinking and slowing down, other markets such as China, India and Russia are emerging. Non-Japanese companies have become more competitive even in industries that Japanese companies used to lead (e.g. automobile, home electronics). Japanese consumers are more open to non-Japanese brands and products.



Samsung’s re-entry to Japanese flat panel TV market is a warning that Japanese companies need to change their mindset and review their strategy, business model, products and services, marketing etc. to meet the today’s global business environment for survival and sustainability.



The author, who used to initiate global web strategy when she was working for a Japanese consumer electronics giant, first benchmarked western global companies then added Samsung 2002 - 2003 when the senior management were interested only in Japanese counterparts. Her colleagues responsible for global market also regarded Samsung as the company they really need to be aware of. Their assumption came out to be quite true.





Resources:-

Samsung’s re-entry to the Japan flat panel TV market since their first attempt of entry in 2002 is a warning that Japanese companies need to change their mindset and review their strategy, business model, products etc. to meet the today’s global business environment for survival and sustainability. Unlike in 2002 when Samsung’s corporate brand was weak, their brand is now strong with their successful business in smart phone business of Galaxy series while global competitiveness of Japanese companies has done down.

Sendai Girls Lead Post-Disaster Reconstruction Initiative – Japan Disaster

Osaka – Sunday, December 18, 2011




It is over 9 months since the Japan disaster of earthquake and tsunami hit Tohoku district on March 11 this year. There are yet so many wreckages that need to be removed, people living in temporary housing, and so forth. Large-scale post-disaster reconstruction is about to start. The journey of the reconstruction, a nation-level issue, will be a long one.



In such a situation, Christmas Live Charity Events http://kitekesain.com/evtdisp.php?id=3905 have been held in Sendai, an important central city as the hub of Tohoku district that was hardly hit by the Japan disaster, in the afternoons of this weekend on 17th and 18th.



1. Who are the girls?



They are 8 members in early teens of a Japan pop group/idol unit called “Michinoku Sendai ORI☆HIMETAI” http://orihimetai.com/. The girls are all from Sendai, Miyagi prefecture; i.e. they are the victims of the Japan disaster. “Micninoku” is a Japanese word that means “Tohoku”, the North Eastern Japan.



“Orihime” literally means a female weaver but in this case, ORIHIME is the legendary Princess Weaver for whom Sendai holds famous Star Festival called “Tanabata” festival. According to the legend, ORIHIME meets the prince she loves called Hikoboshi once a year on July 7. The day is called “Tanabata” day and on this day people write their wish on Origami papers and put it on a bamboo tree, which is decorated like a Christmas tree. 4 famous festivals are held in Tohoku in summer and Tanabata festival the one held in Sendai, often called “City of Trees”.



2. Who produced Michinoku Sendai ORI☆HIMETAI?



It was a company called Muratac http://muratac.com/ based in Sendai. The company originally started its business from designing, manufacturing and supplying unique T-shirts upon request for events etc. and indeed it is the designer and supplier of the T-shirt for “24-Hour TV Programme” that has become a nationwide TV programme broadcasted every August. The events are also held aligning with the programme in major places/cities throughout Japan and the T-shirts are worn by the MCs and all staff members of the programme and the events.



The company has expanded the business to overall apparel such as stage costumes and festival costumes, and to planning and hosting events/stages including promotions (promotional goods, human resources for the events/stages).



With such business expansion, the company recently has entered scouting, developing and utilizing models and TV stars as well. For this reason, the company already had core competencies of producing and promoting a Japan pop group of Michinoku Sendai ORI☆HIMETAI.



3. What has Michinoku Sendai ORI☆HIMETAI been doing and why?



Since the group was produced in August, the members, although still amateurs, have been practicing hard to sing and dance day in day out so that they can deliver smile and courage to the people in the area where the progress in reconstruction has been slow through their stage event activities as well as reaching out to reconstruction-markets and visiting temporary houses.



With the earthquake and tsunami, everyone from adults to children has suffered from unprecedented damage, devastating them all. Everything from houses, schools and everything washed away and flattened.



The group wants to support areas which still face many hard-to-solve challenges in not only Miyagi but also Iwate and Fukushima. They also want to extend their gratitude to all people who sent money and goods from Japan and abroad for the sake of disaster victim children ever since immediately after the disaster outbreak.



They are determined to continue supporting not only disaster from victim children to elders side by side in the disaster-hit areas through their volunteer activities. Taking the advantage of their location, Sendai, they aim to send out information on not only the disaster but also wonderful charm of Sendai, Miyagi and Tohoku district to people around the globe.



They will be happy if readers of this blog post find people here in Tohoku forward-looking, cheerful and strong through ORIHIMETAI as seen in the lyric of ORI☆HIMETAI reconstruction supporting song “I’m Home” – “Once I was a bird I could not fly. But now no tear no time to cry. Believing you, it's nice to know you'll standby me〜”



It was with such a background that the Christmas live events performed by the group have been held in Sendai this weekend.



4. What are the author’s final thoughts?



The company and the group members must have overcome mental hardships as well as physical ones to have started this kind of initiative. It is because the author assumes that the victims of the disaster had been (or still are) mentally damaged and that there are so many things they would not really want to think or say about the disaster.



The author, just like many other people, feels it was with the characteristics of Tohoku people who are known for their patience that there has not been violence, chaos etc. even if the reconstruction process has been slow. If it had been in Kansai (western Japan), for example in Osaka, it probably had been quite different because Osaka people are known for being rather short-tempered.



The author is very much impressed with the initiative originated from Sendai by the company based in Sendai and their girls and that the initiative is planned to be spread to Iwate and Fukushima. Large-scale post-disaster reconstruction initiative is about to start and she believes there are things that each one of us around the globe can do to help drive such an initiative.





Resources:-

When post-disaster reconstruction has been slow, Muratac, an apparel company based in Sendai (an important city as a hub in Tohoku region, hardly hit by the Japan disaster in March 2011), produced Michinoku Sendai ORI☆HIMETAI, Japanese pop group of 8 girls in early teens from Sendai established in August to deliver smiles and encouragement through singing, dancing and visiting temporary housings. Large-scale reconstruction is about to start. Each one of us has something that we can do to help such an initiative.