The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan journal.accj.or.jp | ¥800 PRESIDENT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Welcoming New Members Bucket List Jay Ponazecki | Page 7 Samuel Kidder | Page 54 Journal September 2014 Vol. 51, Issue 9 History of Giving ACCJ Charity Ball: unbridled fun and chance to help local causes Page 12 BUSINESS INDEX Real Estate & Architecture — Page 32 毎月一日発行 第五十一巻 9 号 ジャーナル 二〇一四年九月一日発行 Inside Vol. 51, Issue 9 37 7—President | Increased Presence 18— Press | Member News 27—Diversity | Houses Welcoming New Members • New Trans-Pacific Cable System Building Your Dream Home Jay Ponazecki • Tech Firm Gets Startup Support John Ghanotakis, Amir Khan, • Steakhouse Earns Its Chops and Timothy Trahan 9—Editor | Giving Back • Makers Team Up for Battery Plant Change is Brewing • ANA First to Fly Stretch Plane 28—Real Estate | Office Leasing Brandi Goode Vying for Space 19—Press | US–Japan News Tokyo’s vacancy rates plummet 12—Cover Story | CSR • Robots Mimic Origami while rents soar History of Giving • Comparing Education Cultures Barbara Hancock and • Program Aims to Fight Space Junk 32—Business Index | Kevin Naylor • Onsen Fit for a President Real Estate & Architecture • Surge Seen in Inbound 14—Embassy | Health & Energy Japan Travel 33—Relocation | Interview Full Charge for Bilateral Commerce Bouncing Back Andrew Wylegala 21—Drink | Brewers Tokyo still an important player The Business of Beer in the Asia–Pacific region 17—ACCJ Event | Kansai US brewers find a sweet spot in Japan Brandi Goode Learning from a Master Storyteller Martin Foster Rose Tanasugarn 37—Architecture | Sports 24—Cool Japan | Beginnings Politics in a Helmet Cultures Intertwined Olympic project receiving Roland Kelts unjust criticism Riccardo Tossani SEPTEMBER 2014 • ACCJ JOURNAL | 3 September 2014 41 21 28 19 24 38 38—Music | Crossing Borders 50—HR | Communication All-American Rock Star and Tarento Can You Read the Air? Brandi Goode Andrew Silberman 41—Travel | Walking 52—Advocacy | Roundup Step Back in Time The Third Pillar Tour operator’s treks retrace history • Dietary Supplements Vicki L. Beyer Subcommittee • Energy Committee 45—Diversity | Boards • Toiletries, Cosmetics & Asking the Tough Questions Fragrances Committee Interview with Sakie Fukushima Brandi Goode 53—ACCJ Corporate Sustaining Member Companies 46—Economy | Advocacy Reforms Point to Lasting Change 54—Executive Director | John Amari Home Stretch Bucket List 49—ACCJ Events | Samuel Kidder Past and Planned SEPTEMBER 2014 • ACCJ JOURNAL | 5 DLA PIPER IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE OUR SECOND ANNUAL GLOBAL IP SYMPOSIUM Our symposium will take place in November in the follow cities: ■ Osaka – 11 Nov 2014 (in conjunction with Daiichi Law Firm and Fukami Patent Firm) ■ Tok yo – 13 Nov 2014 If you are interested in attending one of the symposia, or would like to receive further information on our legal services in the field of intellectual property or other areas of our practice, please contact us at [email protected]. Please note that seating is limited, so it may not be possible to accommodate all requests. 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All rights reserved. | AUG14 | 2814201 President | Increased Presence WELCOMING NEW MEMBERS Jay Ponazecki [email protected] lease join me in welcoming nearly 250 new members who environment for FDI into Japan (http://www.bsfuji.tv/primenews/ joined the Chamber during the two-month Entrance Fee special/movie_accj_pc_e0.html). Earlier this year, I discussed Waiver Campaign that took place immediately after the similar issues on behalf of the Chamber in video content by Women in Business Summit. This year we received more Reuters and Dennis Wholey’s “This Is America & the World.” than double the number of new applications we received This year the ACCJ has received more mentions in traditional Pduring the three-month campaign after the 2013 Summit. media than in the past, due in part to the wide acclaim of the Earlier this year, 21.3 percent of ACCJ members were women, Women in Business Summit and the hard work of, among others, and, as of August 1, 24.1 percent of ACCJ members were women. the Growth Strategy Task Force and the Healthcare Committee. As we were still processing all the new applications when this month’s ACCJ Journal went to print, we expect that percentage to US-Japan Healthcare Dialogue and Advocacy Best Practices increase to at least 25 percent. We are well on our way to having The U.S. Department of Commerce and the Japanese Ministry women comprise at least 30 percent of ACCJ members by 2020 of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) plan to continue their (if not before), in support of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s goal of bilateral discussions on healthcare issues. These talks go back having women in 30 percent of management positions by 2020. more than 30 years, and most recently under the framework Many thanks to everyone who helped make this campaign a success. of the Economic Harmonization Initiative. After a period of inactivity, Commerce is looking forward to these important Increased Media Coverage Across More Varied Platforms discussions this month in Tokyo, in preparation for a visit by the I want to share some exciting developments regarding the ACCJ’s Secretary of Commerce in October. media presence. The Chamber has been ramping up its social media The ACCJ’s activities related to this development are fine presence through increased posts with more varied content on examples of what ACCJ committees can do in terms of advocacy. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. With the increase in platforms that In preparation for these talks, Commerce asked the ACCJ enable video content, we also are continuing to explore how best to Healthcare Committee, chaired by Bill Bishop, to prepare an convey our messages to members, potential members, the public and industry submission of issues we would like Commerce to raise key stakeholders in the government, industry and academia. with the MHLW. The core issues that members want to raise In addition to the new video blog I recently launched (accj.or.jp/ are primarily positions currently being advocated in ACCJ en/news-a-media/accj-video-blog), we continue to update our viewpoints (see page 52). This underscores the importance YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/AmChamJapan/videos) of having up-to-date viewpoints reflecting issues of concern as we develop new content. Please subscribe to get alerts when new to committee members, as well as information sharing and content is available. networking. Not all Chamber committees focus on advocacy. In addition, the Chamber has been featured in video by some By reaching out to its members, the committee also identified prominent news outlets. Nick Benes, Chair of our Growth Strategy additional recommendations for Commerce to discuss with the Task Force, was featured in early July on NHK World’s Asia MHLW, including allowing new drug submissions in English Business Forecast. (http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/ and increasing the transparency of biennial pricing research into asiabiz/archives201407030600.html). I also appeared on BS Fuji actual market prices, which is used to guide price revisions but is Prime News in July to discuss some of the challenges Japan faces in not shared with industry. attracting FDI, with Japanese Diet Member Daishiro Yamagiwa. It If you have any questions regarding the Chamber’s advocacy was a lively and thoughtful discussion, and a great opportunity to initiatives, how you can get more involved in these efforts, or broadly disseminate some of the ACCJ’s core messages developed by how to prepare a viewpoint, please speak with Sam Kidder or our dedicated committee leaders on how to create a more inviting Ethan Schwalbe. • SEPTEMBER 2014 • ACCJ JOURNAL | 7 Your alternative to real-estate-as-usual Real estate advisory without the typical conflicts of interest. Specializing in Corporate: • Lease Renegotiation • Lease Portfolio Optimization • New Leases/Relocations • Valuations and Appraisals • Acquisitions/Dispositions • Project Management www.colliers.com Formula1_v2.indd 1 8/25/14 3:56 PM Editor | Giving Back there were some 65,000 general As of 2013, Tokyo dwellers can certainly CHANGE IS and specific nonprofit corporations attest to the craft beer revolution in Japan, a staggering figure for there were that is sweeping the city. Every time sorting out where your donations some I turn around there seems to be a BREWING should go. The Charity Ball new establishment offering ji-biru, Committee does the hard part for 65,000 which only became legal here in the you by researching the many fine general and early 1990s, following deregulation. organizations in need of support; Readers can sample some lesser- all you have to do is register and specific known local brews at the Great turn up. And bidding on the nonprofit Japan Beer Festival, reportedly the auction items wouldn’t hurt either. largest craft beer festival in Asia. corporations Launched in 1998, the international Brandi Goode Crafty creations in Japan. event will take place this year on [email protected] Despite a few recent deceptively September 13–15.