OCTOBER 2015 VOL. 52, ISSUE 10 ¥800
THE JOURNAL THE AUTHORITY ON GLOBAL BUSINESS IN JAPAN JOURNAL.ACCJ.OR.JP
CODE- BREAKER
HACKING THE SYSTEM
FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS 毎月一日発行 第五十二巻 10 号 ジャーナル 二〇一五年十月一日発行
CONTENTS
VOL. 52, ISSUE 10
4 FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS 24 VOICES OF JAPAN The Heart of a City 5 EDITOR'S DESK Place Branding in the 21st Century The Hacker’s Creed—breaking codes and building bridges Dr. Nancy Snow
MARKET TRENDS 7 SOCIAL MEDIA 26 Trending on the Web The Internet Economy and Big Data 8 LEAD STORY Japan tackles data protection and privacy Minka: a tale of friendship and renewal Richard Jolley Roland Kelts 28 THIRD ARROW Corporate Governance 12 MARKET TRENDS Reforms: a board Olympics lures member’s viewpoint Japan property buyers Gerhard Fasol Anthony Fensom 31 J-MEDIA 15 PARTNER CONTENT No assurance of security, Cutting out brokers even for company intranets Nikkei Asian Review Zero trust may be the sole solution translation of article by 16 TECH IN ASIA William H. Saito Tokyo Tech Ecosystem Founders, investors, startups 33 INTERVIEW come to town E. Keith Henry
John Amari A 30-year tale of bridging the gaps between politics, policy, 18 ENTREPRENEUR and business in Japan Code-Breaker John Amari Ari Horie hacks the system for women entrepreneurs 37 ACCJ MEMBER NEWS John Amari
COVER IMAGE: MARKET TRENDS Ari Horie 22
PHOTO: The New Tower of Babel DISCLAIMER Women’s Startup Lab Will Machine Translation Custom Media and the ACCJ will not accept liability —Page 18 Manage Better Than Humans? for any damages caused by the contents of The Journal, THIS PAGE Richard Smart including, but not limited to, any omissions, errors, facts PHOTO: or false statements. Opinions or advice expressed in Riccardo Tossani the The Journal are not necessarily those of the ACCJ Architecture or Custom Media. ROLAND KELTS GERHARD FASOL MICHAEL PFEFFER
“Minka: a tale “Corporate of friendship Governance Senior Graphic Designer and renewal” Reforms” Custom Media page 8 page 28
Hometown: I am a writer based in Hometown: Vienna, Austria. Hometown: Hamilton, New Jersey Tokyo and New York. My mother is
FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS Languages: Languages: Japanese, my father American. German; English English and Japanese and French (functional); Japanese Most memorable interviewee: Years in design and in Japan: (business level); Swedish (barely) I have interviewed Haruki Murakami, Ten and three, respectively. Favorite places in Japan: Hayao Miyazaki, Yoko Ono and Pete Favorite place in Japan: Kyoto and Tokyo Townshend several times. Toyooka City (Hyogo Prefecture). Social media handles: I can be found Years in journalism/publishing: I had an opportunity to design an on Twitter (@rolandkelts), Facebook, As a physicist (not a journalist), advertisement for the city of Toyooka, Instagram and the Japanamerica blog: I publish scientific, peer-reviewed which appeared in the Michelin Green http://japanamerica.blogspot.com/ papers and books. Guide. Kinosaki Onsen and Izushi are very beautiful places. Currently reading: All That Is, Role models: As a physicist, I’ll say by James Salter; Daughters of the Richard Feynman, Pierre-Gilles de Role models: I was most influenced Samurai, by Janice Nimura; the Gennes, and Ludwig Boltzmann. by my teachers at the School of Visual forthcoming reprint of The Inland Sea, Arts (SVA) and my present and past Favorite author/thinker: Richard by Donald Richie; Crowds and Power, mentors in design. Feynman and Karl Popper by Elias Canetti; The Good Shufu, Most memorable design in by Tracy Slater; Here Comes the Sun, Social media handles: The Journal: The Women In Business by Leza Lowitz twitter.com/gfasol, instagram.com/ Summit article, which appeared in July gerhardf/, https://jp.linkedin.com/ Secret skill: I am a drummer for the 2014 stands out in my mind. in/fasol, www.facebook.com/gfasol Tokyo-based band ALI-Mo. Currently reading: Catching up on Currently reading: Books on big data, Haruki Murakami. encryption, data security; always learning new programming languages; Hobbies: Tokyo always has interesting and reading financial reports of the art exhibitions. I especially enjoy company where I am board director. going to the MORI Art Museum in Roppongi Hills. Leadership in Japan: I’m developing the Ludwig Boltzmann Forum and Trinity Japan Society (Trinity College, University of Cambridge).
Publisher Client Services Manager To advertise or subscribe: Simon Farrell Joy Fajardo [email protected] [email protected] Marketing Manager Editorial: President Megumi Okazaki [email protected] Robert Heldt Advertising Sales Director Custom Media Studio Manager DeWitt Mosby Publishers of The Journal for the American Chamber www.custom-media.com Paul Leonard of Commerce in Japan. Specialists in bilingual brand Account Manager strategy/visual communications, corporate bespoke 2013 Company of the Year Deputy Editor Joshua Ellis solutions. Producers of Business in Japan TV. John Amari Business Development Daiwa Azabudai Bldg. 6F Graphic Designers Director 2-3-3 Azabudai, Minato-ku, Michael Pfeffer Kotaro Toda Tokyo 106-0041 Ximena Criales Media Coordinator Tel: 03-4540-7730 Client Services Director Kana Shimoyoshi Sam Bird © 2015 Custom Media K.K. Project Coordinator Yoshiki Tatezaki
The Journal is printed on paper certified by the US Forest Stewardship Council with vegetable oil ink certified by the Japan Printing Ink Makers Association.
4 THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 EDITOR'S DESK n (formerly (formerly magazine with a
) is a business ACCJ Journal ACCJ
These changes reflected are inthe And this begs the question: will how Some these of questions are taken The perfect to complement the As always, the enjoy hope you we read, the greatestsince development the “industrial is set revolution,” to change the as world know we it. business section thisof (page 26) issue, as well as in the American Chamber Commerceof section in Japan (ACCJ) (page 50). technology affecthuman-to-human interaction? Will the new economy benefit allhumanity?of Will the bots take entirely? over of Babel”Tower inup “The New and in(page 22) the cover story, “Code-breaker: Hacking the system for women entrepreneurs.” ACCJ Kansai report—on chapter’s its successful in business Women summit (page 43)—our cover story Japaneseshows how entrepreneur Ari Horie is cracking the code of enabling entrepreneurship (page 18), to ridewomen the new waves the of andInternet set sail economy, into uncharted territory. and encourage we your feedback. A flagship publication of the American Chamber of of Chamber American the of publication flagship A Commerce in Japan (ACCJ), Journal The the history. 52-year Still the on theme buildings, of the And the same applies tothe Internet, Speaking the of Internet, in Tech As with the explorers yesteryear, of Caught in the middle this of new With the winds change of and Speaking being of purpose, for fit real estate market in Japan is brought under scrutiny this month (page 12), revealing a microcosm shifting of economic sands that are shaping in up favor. Japan’s as shown our by syndicated content and JAPAN where Yahoo! (page 15), areSony joining forces to shake the up property market online. conference brought in Asia’s Tokyo together founders, investors, and startup entrepreneurs in an extravaganza of Internet Economy pioneers (page 16). the rush gold risk-takers the of 21st century are hacking their way through thicketszeros of and ones, and clearing new digital paths new a brave global for economy. global wave, the is city Tokyo of redefiningitself, while trying to keep a its of identityhold (page 24). globalization picking Japan up, is taking the necessary steps to increase its competitiveness as shown (page 28), by an insider who is cracking the country’s corporate governance code. the Internet Things, of unarguably
is Latin for CREED— HACKER’S THE octo John Amari John BREAKING CODES AND BUILDING BRIDGES BUILDING AND CODES BREAKING custom-media.com @ john How is this?How Some linguistic code leadThe opensstory8) (page a Unsurprisingly, this issue of What’s more, since 2004, October has breaking is required— window the onto life an of American writer and a Japanese architect who re-drew both social and architectural rules and built something new. It’s October—the eighth month of the of month eighth October—the It’s oldRoman to the according That’s year. by lives the world of most But calendar. making this the calendar, the Gregorian the year. of month tenth The Journal is replete with themes of breaking codes, charting new territory, and encountering challenges. new Transnational collaboration, risk- taking, and creating new values are also a common thread. been National Cyber Security Awareness Month in the United States. eight. Due to historical accident, we are stuck with passing off “eighth” the month the for “tenth.”
NOW TRENDING ON THE WEB MEDIA SOCIAL
IN THE NEWS FROM JAPAN TOP HASHTAGS Tweets from leading Tweets in Japanese This month: Popular tags media outlets from people and media from the top 30 list
@JapanTrends
KDDI is developing a new series of projects engaging with the Internet of Things . . . an umbrella stand . . . and a dust bin.
http://dlvr.it/BzBSvv
@JapanTrends @techcrunch Tokyo Metropolitan Government has YouTube isn’t the only one to published a disaster introduce a live-streaming preparedness app this week. Japan’s DeNA book in a partially has entered the scene with manga format. its own take, called Mirrativ.
http://bit.ly/1Ot7cfG http://on.tcrn.ch/l/JV7Y
Welcome to the New Asia Edition of The Wall Street Journal
I am delighted to welcome you to The Wall Street Journal’s new @verge global edition in Asia. The expanded Journal brings you roughly Nintendo has appointed 50% more news content than before. We have also enhanced Tatsumi Kimishima as its new our digital offerings globally, with the ability to easily navigate all president following Satoru print sections on desktop, mobile Web and apps. Iwata’s death in July. Gerard Baker, Editor in Chief, http://www.wsj.com/articles/welcome-to-the-new-the-wall- http://t.co/U9Qss0XtXv The Wall Street Journal street-journal-in-asia-1442175347
Rank NHKニュース 時間外労働の短縮「企業にも意義」 1 #MTVHottest @nhk_news 厚生労働省は、ことしの「労働経済白書」をまとめ、従業員の時間外労働を 短縮させた企業は、同業他社より労働生産性は高いと認識していると指摘し、 5 #VMA 労働者だけでなく企業にとっても意義があると推奨しています。 http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20150915/k10010234981000.html 18 #CoolFor Reducing overtime is beneficial to a company TheSummerVMA According to the latest White Paper on the labor economy by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), companies that 22 #TuitUtil reduced overtime work showed higher labor productivity than others in the same industry. According to the MHLW, the practice is not only 26 #ALDUBBATTLE important for workers, but for employers also.* ForACAUSE * Translations of original content in Japanese 30 #TeamFollowBack
THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 7 a tale of friendship Minka: and renewal By Roland Kelts
PHOTO: CRAIG MOD
To residents of the seaside tourist town of Kamakura, Kanagawa On a bright hot summer afternoon, we are standing in the front room of Prefecture, it’s known as “the house on the hill”—an 18th century his house, cool and shaded, surveying Japanese minka farmhouse perched atop Genjiyama, one of the its panoramic views of Kamakura’s scalloped rooftops sloping down to town’s highest elevations. the sea. Takishita is spry, quick-witted, a Rumored through the years to be Press journalist John Roderick, and mellifluously bilingual 70-year-old the villa of a former prime minister, his adopted Japanese son, Yoshihiro with thick black hair and a baritone the sanctuary of an ocean-worshipping Takishita. bellow laugh. He is also bluntly religious cult, even the refuge of Today, it’s one of the most beautiful unsentimental. a disgraced foreign leader, it is in monuments to traditional Japan that “We always wanted to have our own fact a nearly 300-year-old wooden is more than just a relic. house. But back then, [John] was a edifice moved there in the 1960s from journalist with no money, and I was a the rural Japanese prefecture of Gifu. LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON student with no money. What to do?” The farmhouse was painstakingly “John and I used to rent a place on Takishita’s adoptive father, Roderick, rebuilt, restored, and modernized by the other side of the valley,” Takishita may have been broke, but he was not two men: the late American Associated explains, waving his arm. unknown. Born in the US state of
8 THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 LEAD STORY
Maine and a veteran of World War II, of Roppongi, Tokyo’s foreigner- he covered the rise of communism in friendly entertainment district, and it China in the 1940s, living in a cave blew Takishita’s mind. with Mao Zedong and fellow rebels “I came to Tokyo and it was huge, while filing reports to AP editors and so many people, and I find this in Washington. American and his house and I couldn’t Stints in the Middle East and believe my eyes when I opened the London followed, before he was door,” he says. assigned to Tokyo in the 1950s, to “It was an old minka, an old report on a rising American ally and farmhouse, but I opened the door keep an eye on communist China. and there was a flush toilet. Wow! Roderick won an award from the Fantastic. Then I went to the kitchen. AP for journalistic excellence; he was American people are quite open; also credited by Chinese Premier they show everything in the house. Zhou Enlai for “opening the door” What impressed me the most was to China for foreign media. But his the big white icebox—American- book, Minka: My Farmhouse in Japan, made, huge. I’d never seen such a published in 2007, a year before he big ‘refrigerator’. ” died, may be the pillar of his legacy. ROAD TO REVIVAL INTERNATIONAL HOUSE The experience transformed Takishita’s The book chronicles the story of evaluation of his rural Japanese Kamakura’s house on the hill and upbringing. All those old hovels from Roderick’s relationship with Takishita which he’d escaped—to Tokyo—might and Japan. It’s a testament to the be worth something; they might even power of transcultural friendship, and be the future he and his adoptive the way physical houses, beautifully father were seeking. made, can become homes. “I just wanted to build a house But it’s also a story about Japan like Weatherby’s in Roppongi. I and America. Takishita was inspired told John: We’re wasting our money to look for a traditional Japanese on rent, when we could live in farmhouse by Texan Meredith something beautiful.” Weatherby, publisher of books on Takishita alerted his snowbound Japanese art, and translator of works family in Gifu to be on the lookout. by Japanese literary icons such as Yukio Mishima. In the 1950s, It’s a testament to the power of Weatherby had erected a traditional Japanese transcultural friendship and the way farmhouse in the middle physical houses become homes.
Japan in the 1960s was rising and thriving. The 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games brought new money and increasing optimism. In the summer of 1965, his mother phoned to say she’d found something—an old farmhouse in Issei, Gifu Prefecture, that was cobwebbed and falling apart, but would be cheap to buy. “It was a long drive to reach this village called Issei,” says Takishita. “It was like going to Tibet. It took us forever: winding roads, narrow up and down, climbing near cliffs. Finally we reached the village, and to our
PHOTO: YOSHIHIRO TAKISHITA surprise, it was like a medieval town— Takishita has developed a reputation as a restorer and keeper of traditional Japanese farmhouses.
THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 9 AsiaStrategy_cropmarks.indd 1 1/14/15 10:35 AM LEAD STORY only 11 houses. People were looking at us as though we were from Mars.” Owing to seasonal rains, Issei was about to be flooded. Townspeople were evacuating; houses would be left to sink into mudslides or rot. Takishita and Roderick were told by the mayor that if they could dismantle and move the house before winter set in, they could have it for nothing. If they deserted the village without taking the house, they would insult the town. They had a month—October 1965— Takishita says, before the snows would
make the task impossible. With the PHOTO: YOSHIHIRO TAKISHITA help of friends, they dismantled the A combination of modernity and tradition suggests a way forward for Japan. home in Gifu and transported the materials to Kamakura. But that was just the start. From the outside, the peaked roof and the glories of its past the not so “At that time, on this big peak in and triangular symmetry tell stories subtle subtext. Kamakura, there was no electricity, of a farming Japan that is fast dying; “I’m happy we did it,” Takishita no [running] water,” Takishita says. from the inside, the elegant carpentry tells me now. “Because when my “I said, ‘John: what should we do and bamboo-lined ceilings speak of a father was in his death bed, I asked about living? We need water.’ ‘Never Japan that endures. him, ‘What shall we do with these mind,’ John said, pointing up. ‘We’ll Takishita and Roderick are the filmmakers asking these questions?’, catch rain. With this view, we’ll subjects of a short documentary and he said, ‘Talk to them.’ His voice be happy.’” film. Minka: A Farmhouse in Japan, was too weak at that time. It’s a by Davina Pardo, was posted to The shame. He loved to talk.” WINDOW OF HOPE New York Times’ website last spring The film, Roderick’s book, and Takishita and his wife, Reiko, now and went viral. Takishita’s own work, a gorgeously have what is likely the most eloquent Pardo’s initial plan was to record photographed, coffee-table tome view of Kamakura, in a house that Roderick’s story, but the latter died titled Japanese Country Style: Putting combines Japanese single-beam in Hawaii in 2008 before the film was New Life into Old Houses, have artistry with mod cons such as heated, completed. So Takishita became its ensured that one of Japan’s richest Jacuzzi-like baths, Toto washlet bidet primary subject, his subsequent work revival stories survives into the toilets, Wi-Fi and leather sofas. as a restorer of Japan’s farmhouses 21st century.
Takishita and Roderick were told that if they could dismantle and move the house before winter set in, they could have it for nothing.
As the country hollows out, its population rapidly aging and diminishing, Takishita is an icon of renewal. “Some people still say, ‘Oh, PHOTO: YOSHIHIRO TAKISHITA Takishita-san is crazy,’” he tells me as he walks me down the hillside toward Kamakura station. “And I admit: My kind of Japanese minka farmhouse is a shrine. I guess it’s Shinto, whatever that means to you or Takishita’s love to me. for farmhouses “There is some kind of mystery of the started with his friendship with space of these houses that gives a kind AP journalist of healing power. It’s a very comforting John Roderick. place. That’s all I know.” n
THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 11 Olympics lures Japan property buyers
By Anthony Fensom
Japan’s shrinking population, soft economy, and growing stockpile (US$440,000) in April, compared with HK$8.4 million (about US$1mn) for a of abandoned homes should all amount to a weak property market. 600-square-foot apartment on Hong Kong But buoyed by the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, as Island, or US$554,000 for homes in New York. For domestic buyers, the home-price- well as a wave of cashed-up Asian buyers, real estate in major cities to-income ratio, representing the cost of a is slowly starting to shrug off the post-bubble bust of the 1990s. home relative to a buyer’s average annual income, increased to more than 10 times last year in Tokyo. But it remains well below Describing the surge in Chinese buyers, Zhou Yinan, an its bubble-era peak of 18 times. Osaka-based agent at Chinese brokerage Sou Fun Holdings, “Properties in Tokyo are cheap and the returns are relatively said, “The demand is like water exploding up from a well.” high,” Nomura Research Institute Ltd.’s Tomohiko Taniyama “The Chinese buyers had mainly been from Taiwan until told Bloomberg. “The quality of buildings is high, while last year, but that trend has been in reverse since October, investment opportunities are abundant, unlike Singapore as the yen has been weakening against the yuan,” he told or Hong Kong where the number of available properties is Bloomberg News in a July 3 report. limited. In that sense, Tokyo is one of the best destinations Like the Chinese shoppers flocking to Tokyo’s upscale for investment.” Ginza district, Chinese property buyers are reportedly coming to Japan for regular three-day property shopping TOKYO HOT ZONES trips, during which they visit cities such as Tokyo and Osaka. Kenneth F. Arbour, president of Tokyo-based Century21 The yen’s decline to 22-year lows against the yuan has Sky Realty Inc., says his high-end apartment buyers are mainly boosted their spending power, while there is also confidence Chinese individuals with an eye for quality. that the 2020 Games will drive up prices, as happened “They buy the cream of the crop in terms of who’s building previously in Beijing. top quality residential properties in Tokyo, such as those by Mori Building Co., Ltd. And they pay cash,” he says. BETTING ON JAPAN “When you’ve got buyers going into a lotto just to buy one of While nationwide residential land prices have fallen for these places, like Mori’s Toranomon Hills, you know it’s a seller’s seven years straight, prices in the main metropolitan centers market. For these types of high-end properties, prices have gone of Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya posted their second straight up, not by 10 percent but by even as much as 50 percent.” annual rise in 2014. However, Arbour says buyers of relatively average priced According to the Real Estate Economic Institute Co., apartments in central Tokyo (of between around US$500,000 and Tokyo apartment prices have risen to their highest levels US$1 million) could still expect yields of up to 4 percent, well since the early 1990s, having advanced 11 percent over the above those of major cities elsewhere. He suggests buyers stay past two years. central for capital gain, rather than explore cheaper locations. Yet for Asian buyers, Japan remains inexpensive. In “If you’re a first-time buyer, I would really encourage you to 2014, Hong Kong’s median price was HK$4.9 million stick to Minato-ku—you can’t really go wrong there location- (US$630,000), more than 160 percent higher than the wise,” he says. price of comparable properties in Tokyo and Yokohama. Nevertheless, Tokyo-based architect Riccardo Tossani Yields on Beijing property average just 2 percent, making says foreign buyers are now venturing outside the capital’s Japan’s higher yields attractive to Chinese buyers who face traditionally favored but expensive “three As” of Aoyama, restrictions buying second properties in the domestic market. Azabu, and Akasaka areas. The average price of a three-bedroom apartment in Tokyo’s “Foreign buyers are starting to look at Setagaya-ku, Meguro- 23 wards and surrounding prefectures was ¥53 million ku, areas that are still very central but with tremendous
12 THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015
MARKET TRENDS PHOTOS: RICCARDO TOSSANI ARCHITECTURE TOSSANI RICCARDO PHOTOS: 13
2015 OCTOBER n THE JOURNAL n ALL RESIDENCES BY RICCARDO TOSSANI ARCHITECTURE ALL RESIDENCES While far from the bubble years when the Imperial Palace Palace when the Imperial years the bubble from far While “For yield purposes, we avoid the internationally renowned renowned the internationally purposes, yield avoid we “For the population where areas, urban targets he says Magen International at operations of director Hurst, Jason rural areas Brasor, Philip Chiba to resident According
GLOW OF TOKYO 2020 interest ultra-low buyers, overseas or residents foreign For land rising of the prospect and yields, rental attractive rates, Japanese put suddenly have the 2020 Games aheadvalues of in the back spotlight. property California, of state the entire as much as worth reputedly was bleak finally and berising period, may sun the a long after estate. real Japanese for again Both urban and suburban Japan may see a revival. cities like Tokyo, Osaka, and Niseko in Hokkaido, where where in Hokkaido, Niseko Osaka, and Tokyo, like cities depressed.” are yields too high and are prices industry. a single than more is there and growing, or stable is spring Sapporo and Nagoya Kobe, Kawasaki, Fukuoka, to mind. readily more can foreigners suggests Group, Solution apartment as such properties investment for finance obtain loans. 100 percent including buildings, foreign attract to campaigns launched have Japan of other or skiing for prices their low highlighting buyers, tourist attractions. PHOTO: RICCARDO TOSSANI ARCHITECTURE TOSSANI RICCARDO PHOTO: . Even in the major metropolitan areas, suburban property property suburban areas, metropolitan in the major Even and front, a broad on rebound to yet have prices “Land of Asia-Pacific manager, Ziv Magen, Fukuoka-based “When you’re buying an apartment, you’re only buying buying only you’re apartment, an buying you’re “When expect around can pay to homebuyers says Tossani URBAN VS RURAL elsewhere a revival, enjoying are centers the major While all for of land price average The sedate. more is the picture while nationwide year, last 0.3 percent by purposes dropped the to partly due starts declined 9 percent, housing hike. tax rate consumption last Although suburbs. the “hot” weak outside remain prices 3 than more average, on gained, prices land residential year they declined in the suburban Tokyo, in the heart of percent between urban disparity an increasing reflecting Ome, of city markets. non-urban and for will cities continue in [big] demand of the concentration Takashi analyst Securities Mizuho estate real time,” some the Nikkei told Ishizawa (NTI), acts a buyer’s as International Tradings Nippon Japanese seeking inexpensive investors foreign for agent US$30,000 between only from ranging typically properties, 10 percent. around high with of yields US$70,000, but and public amenities such as hospitals and daycare centers—it’s centers—it’s daycare and hospitals as such amenities public says. he the As,” three outside looking worthwhile BUY TO WHAT focus on residents Japan long-term suggests Tossani the difficulty given apartments, than rather detached homes on reliance the traditional and apartments in remodeling to up worth typically is land in the West, Unlike values. land package. land and a house of the value two-thirds won’t typically it and land, the underlying a portion of the depreciation for compensate to enough fast appreciate detached per family, a single value yen, In the building. of an than investment long-term a better always is residence explains. he apartment,” basic and a site of study” “volume architect’s an ¥300,000 for be pre- which can used gain to plans, schematic building Japan the approved, has this been After a loan. for approval scale the larger fees: a sliding of has Architects of Institute fee. the overall the lower the house, Experts suggest detached houses rather than apartments are a better investment for buyers. a better investment for houses rather than apartments are Experts suggest detached ,
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THE The move comes as the government has set has set government as the comes move The a only for account homes These secondhand 2020 as the year by which it hopes to double double to hopes which it by the year 2020 as occupied previously for the market the size of ¥20 to their renovation, including homes, trillion. transactions estate real of 10 percent over little in 80–90 percent with compared in Japan, States. the United and countries European buyers between private transactions Direct
Nikkei Asian Review is published ©2015 Nikkei Inc. Nikkei by Nikkei Inc. All rights reserved. and sellers are thought to account for 20 percent of of 20 percent for account to thought sellers are and States. deals in the United existing-home and consumers have been unable to look directly for such such look for directly to been unable have consumers and will broaden the digital market that hoped is It properties. options. their search Sony, Yahoo Japan service plan online Yahoo Sony, homeowners, up buyers links that intermediaries. Sony and Yahoo Japan are set to launch an online market for for market online an set launch to are Japan Yahoo and Sony homeowners letting this year, later occupied residences previously the Internet. over prices negotiate buyers prospective and asking prices and will negotiate with buyers without using Sellers will determine Cuttingout brokers The service, to be operated by Yahoo, initially will cover initially will cover Yahoo, by The service, operated to be Sellers will asking determine when a commission receive will companies two The has in Japan homes existing on data Traditionally, Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai surrounded by reporters in Berlin in September. by reporters Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai surrounded apartment properties in Tokyo’s 23 wards. In the tie-up, the tie-up, In 23 wards. in Tokyo’s properties apartment from funding additional will Real receive Estate Sony will ¥2 billion allocate Sony and to in new($16.2 million) shares stake. 40 percent Yahoo—a buyers with will and negotiate prices intermediaries. using without will Real support Estate Sony individuals letting technical work, estate real with deal comfortably transactions. to be is likely Their cut completed. are transactions price transaction of percent smaller the legal than limit—3 tax. ¥60,000 excluding plus agents, estate real among exclusively almost been shared TOKYO TECH ECOSYSTEM Founders, investors, startups come to town
By John Amari
On September 8 and 9, Tech In Asia held a signature conference, one Further challenges facing the country, he said, do not just emanate of its largest to date for entrepreneurs, investors, media, and members from policy decisions, but also of the startup community in Asia. manifest themselves in the lack of widespread use of English, and a Over two days in the Hikarie enthralled the crowd in discussion culture in which failure is to be feared. building in Shibuya, Tokyo, the event with two young entrepreneurs who Such states of mind, Saito added, have drew A-list speakers from the startup had begun and failed in their first to change. world, including executives from startup venture. Alibaba, Twitter, Airbnb, Rakuten, The main message of their SMART CAPITAL and DeNA. conversation was simple: being an A vigorous discussion then ensued, In addition to the star-studded entrepreneur means you have to try, between Saito and fellow panelist and line-up on the main stage, side fail, iterate, and repeat until you meet former principal at DeNA, James Riney. events included a kick-start stage and with success. Is there, they debated, a sufficient “bootstrap alley,” where startups with During the conversation titled amount of capital for startups in Japan? an interest in the Asian market set up “The Panel without Fear,” entrepreneur While Riney said he believed that booths and promoted their products and venture capitalist William Saito there is a lack of such funds, Saito and services. exchanged candid views on Asia’s tech said there is plenty of it around, in the A startup investor speed-dating industry with other panelists, who are form of government grants, although venue was also created, allowing also entrepreneurs. it is in direct competition with what is founders to meet investors at In reply to a question by interviewer really needed: “smart capital,” which the conference. Akio Tanaka, co-founder and emanates from venture capitalists. managing partner at Infinity Venture Gen Isayama, also a panelist, GIANTS OF TECH Partners, about Japan’s startup scene, and co-founder and CEO of World Two highlights marked day one of the Saito said Japan—while having a high Innovation Lab, said Japan’s startup event. Tomoko Namba, founder and tech culture and education system—is ecosystem lacks diversity and is too chairwoman of the board at DeNA, lacking in startups that go global. focused on the domestic market. This, he pointed out, is in contrast to Silicon Valley, which is both diverse and has a The panel without fear (from left): Akiko Naka, Gen Isayama, James Riney, William Saito, and Akio Tanaka global outlook. What’s more, he reasoned, Japan needs to improve how the country’s competitive advantages—including its high tech industries—are communicated to the tech world, in the same way that India and China are doing with their nation branding and tech promotion initiatives. “I worry that if we don’t do anything for the next 10 or 20 years, we will not have this conversation. If we do something now, maybe there will be some interesting part that Japan can play in the global tech space,” Isayama added.
16 THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 TECH IN ASIA IN TECH
INVESTOR SENTIMENT NEW MARKETS The fourth panel member, CEO and Following Horowitz’s presentation, founder of Wantedly Akiko Naka, there were panel discussions on how to began by saying the investment enter and win in Southeast Asia, the rise environment in Japan had improved of hardware in China, and the upsurge markedly in the last two or so years, of India as a market for Japanese tech © TECH IN ASIA but she agreed with other panelists that investors. The afternoon session also Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz Japanese startups need to focus more witnessed 9 handpicked startups in a on entering international markets. pitched battle for $10,000. Naka added that Wantedly, a trust- Speaking to The Journal, tech investor based recruitment platform, is seeking and founder of Rebright Partners, expansion into the Asian market. Takeshi Ebihara said emerging markets Other main-stage panels on day such as Southeast Asia and India are one of the conference included those new targets for Japanese investors. discussing funding trends in Asia, “the The main attraction, Ebihara said, economy of everything,” the Internet is the region’s emerging middle class, of Things in Japan, and the next which consumes and relies on the latest generation of Japanese hardware. tech and Internet services. A keynote speech by Japan enthusiast To this end, Rebright Partners has © TECH IN ASIA and economist Jesper Koll, and an in- invested in some 20 companies in the Tomoko Namba, DeNA depth conversation with Dave McClure, region: in Indonesia (several, including founder of the early stage venture firm, one of the largest e-commerce websites 500 startups, was a highlight of the day. One lesson Horowitz in the country), Singapore (a car- learnt during that time is sharing service), and the Philippines (a VALUING HONESTY bitcoin company). Day two of the conference began with the value of honesty A year ago, the company expanded a bang, as best-selling author and icon into India, where it has invested in of tech entrepreneurship Ben Horowitz five portfolio companies. Most of the held forth. company’s investments have been seed The founder of venture capital firm to Series A round investments, he added. Andreessen Horowitz, he spoke of his For a behind-the-stalls look at the early years as an entrepreneur in cloud startup scene, The Journal sat down computing and how, when his business with Eric Chung, representative plan had run aground, he had to lay off director and country manager-Japan staff: “I would sleep like a baby and wake of Vungle Co., Ltd. every two minutes and cry,” he said. Vungle is a mobile, video ad network One lesson Horowitz learnt during that helps developers monetize their that time is the value of honesty, apps and advertisers—the company including telling staff why it was works with the gaming industry, for necessary to make the tough decision to Takeshi Ebihara, Rebright Partners instance, to increase ad reach for let them go. Being engaged was also a users, many of whom do not consume valuable lesson, he said. traditional media such as TV. “I would remember standing there In Japan, Chung said, Vungle’s in the parking lot as staff packed their targets besides gaming companies belongings into their car, and thanking are publishers, e-commerce sites, them,” Horowitz said. “We may not social networking services, and have done a good job,” he continued, entertainment companies. “but at least I was honest.” Established by serial entrepreneur Indeed, Horowitz went on to speak Zain Jaffer in 2012, the company of the importance of being honest. began as a maker of trailers for gaming As difficult a quality as it may be companies, before pivoting to become a to develop, it is a key asset for any © VUNGLE creator of an in-app video ad platform. entrepreneur to have. Zain Jaffer, Vungle Beginning in the UK and then Silicon What’s more, this was in 2002, two Valley, in 2015 Vungle entered the years out from the dot-com bubble, and successfully pivoted from an Japanese market—where advertising when jobs in the industry were hard infrastructure and applications hosting spend is one of the highest in the world. to find. service to an enterprise software “When you look at companies that are Spurred on by a desire not to company called Opsware. In 2007, successful, they need mature markets,” fail, Horowitz was able to raise new Opsware was sold to Hewlett-Packard Chung said. “That’s how you become a money for the company, Loudcloud, for over $1.6 billion. success—by having global reach.” n
THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 17 Ari Horie hacks the system for women entrepreneurs
By John Amari
“Entrepreneurship is about breaking codes and applying new values. I think that applies to everybody. In this sense, a single mother taking care of a child at home can be considered a working mom—an entrepreneur, even,” says Ari Horie, entrepreneur, maverick, and mother of two children. Ari Horie, entrepreneur, believes Japan is ready for a women-focused startup accelerator.
Originally from Hiroshima, Horie established her first Japan is ready—now more than ever—for a women-focused startup—B! Minds/MoChiGo.com, a third language-learning startup accelerator, and encourages readers to “watch this space.” platform for children and families—in 2012, before turning her attention to women entrepreneurs. How did the main concept behind Women’s Startup A marketing professional who worked for IBM and has been Lab begin? featured on international broadcasting networks, including The idea began with the concept of success beyond knowledge, CNN’s 10 Visionary Women in 2014, Horie is CEO and founder because there are a lot of things to know; through YouTube of Women’s Startup Lab (WSL), a women-focused accelerator and Google and so on, there is no shortage of ways to find out based in Silicon Valley. the knowledge. In an exclusive interview with The Journal, Horie speaks But the question I asked myself was: What accelerates success? openly about the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs both It’s people stepping in and telling you the things you did not in Japan and the United States, and the novel solutions her “lab” know you did not know, thereby allowing you to access areas of is trying to implement in this regard. Tantalizingly, Horie says growth that you had not imagined before.
18 THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 ENTREPRENEUR
This is also where the concept of hito—the platform to minimize confusion and mistakes Japanese word for person—comes in. The while increasing efficiency and positive Chinese pictograph for hito suggests two people, patient outcomes. It was a brilliant idea, and one leaning on the other, which suggests the she seemed ready. people leaning on each other to achieve success. And yet, as with so many early-stage So the idea behind Women’s Startup Lab is female entrepreneurs, who may not have not just about talented people hanging out and the funds to create their ideal team from the incubating your own company to success; it is beginning, the problem she was trying to also about getting a community of advisers to solve did not match with the demographics come together to know each other intentionally and letting of the audience she was speaking to—which was all male the magic happen—this is the idea of “hito-logy.” and young. In addition, we have developed programs that allow For women in such situations, the only way to attract participants to deepen relationships and trust in a way that resources and momentum is to rely on personal currency, the magic I mentioned happens in a faster and more high or invite counterparts, usually males, who can help you impact way. pitch your idea to the community. In this case, it was a community of engineers who were Is the WSL for women only? more interested in creating a dating app or one that allows As I mentioned earlier, the main idea of hito-logy is a focus customers in a bar to rate the beauty of women inside it— on collaborative growth. In our case, it symbolizes a new these were the pitches that interested them. woman entrepreneur being supported by a peer female But they weren’t things that, in my opinion, would change entrepreneur—a seasoned founder supporting another the world. That’s when I thought: if we are to continue founder who may be new to entrepreneurship. like this, then what we have to change is the demographic The female entrepreneurs are also supported by a mentor, and environment that we deal with as entrepreneurs. who may be men or women, as well as by an investor—who And that’s when the idea of creating a separate group that is also a hito. So the symbol, and the Lab, exit in different has a common thread that can gain the confidence of all formats, but the main idea is that we need each other in order involved—while achieving success—emerged. to grow and succeed. ‘ It takes a village to raise founders. ’ So the lab allows women like that nurse to pursue their dreams. It has an ecosystem that is geared towards them; it What gap does the Women’s Startup Lab fill? means they don’t have to give up on a great idea. Back when I was still building the MoChiGo startup, I was— like so many others—trying to figure things out: how to What can you say about Japanese and American network, gain funding, develop a product, and so on. That’s approaches to entrepreneurship? why I went to an entrepreneur incubator event, and that had They are very different. And it’s not that one is better than a lasting impact on me. the other. But if you think about it, Japan has historically At the event, there was a nurse with over 20 years’ got a craftsmanship mentality. They make something, experience at Stanford Hospital who had an idea for how perfect, and then put it in the market. to solve a problem involving challenges of getting doctors, There is no concept of presenting something to the nurses, and patients on the same page regarding how to customer, and then getting feedback before going back to administer the best medical care. the drawing board to make it better. What this means is that The problem was one of lack of effective communication sometimes the customer may not use the product, or you’re between these three groups, and the nurse wanted to build a completely off.
Women’s Startup Lab is based on the concept of hito—male and female mentors support each other.
THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 19 Yokoso, welcome to Japan
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Do you think Japan needs its own WSL? We have been discussing that lately. In a sense, there is nothing for us to lose by expanding into Japan. If we fail, it means only a few people can benefit from our work; and if we succeed, it means there are more. But there really is no sense of failure, in my mind, because I’m not here to prove to the world that I’m right or wrong. I’m simply doing the work that I think matters and that will have lasting impact. I think that Japan is ready right now for us to come —customers and the market will guide us—and share our wisdom and resources with them. So it’s probably the right thing.
Turning to work-life balance: how do you Members of the company’s impact team: (from left) Martha Silva, executive assistant; Ari Horie; Shadi Nayyer, programs; Glen Allen, CBO balance the two? Sometimes people want to tackle problems based on what they understand right in front of them. In the United States, the rule is to present something that Often the problem is not what you think it is. You need to step has a lot of bugs in it—you know, software that has a lot of back and ask: What is your definition of success? And this bugs in it. This means you make a little bit of something and applies to a business and to the individual. Unless you know then present it, or you don’t even make it but just talk about your own value of success, you really can’t build anything. the concept. And then, if you have the concept, you act as I’ve been opposed to the term “work-life balance”; it’s as if though you have a product. You may even put it on Ebay for “balance” is the right way. If you look at history, many of the people to bet on it and thereby get feedback on pricing. people who have had an impact and changed the world were The idea here is to test, keep on testing, and to get hardly balanced people; they were close to crazy; or they were customers involved early on. You may not even think of them really unbalanced. It’s only after the fact, that we say what they as customers because did was kind of good, and we call it genius. Entrepreneurship is you get them I would cross out “work-life balance”—forget balance; it involved in your own doesn’t mean anything; who cares about balance. What matters about breaking codes and startup process. is “work-life design”—which means you get to design it any applying new values. That’s why the way you want. word “lab” in For me, work is a life worth living for, and some people Women’s Startup express this through projects; through work; some people Lab is really important—we continue to test out the concept express their life’s passion through raising children—and I constantly. There is no such thing as, “We are perfect; we are think that should be recognized; it should be honored. with it.” Because when you stop swimming, you’re dead as I mean, all mothers are all working women, whether we are an entrepreneur. You have to be constantly testing, moving, inside the house or at the office—we are all working women. and iterating. We all work, period. So the conversation begins with what is This is the very opposite of the Japanese concept of “work-life design” or, simply, identifying what is important to commitment, perfection. They are perfectionists who seek you and designing it. completion: “I did this much. This is who I am.” I think that goes against the entrepreneurship mentality.” Are you optimistic about Women’s Startup Lab? I’m totally optimistic. I think we are in the right place. There is a What has entrepreneurship taught you about life? lot of good energy and I think we reflect what the market wants You have to be true to yourself to understand what you’re good right now. And if I fail, then at, as well as what you’re not good at—which means being that is not what the market clear as to where your passions are coming from. Accepting wanted. It’s nothing personal who you are begins with really knowing your strengths. about me; nothing to point What’s more, you need to have strong values—values will a finger at; it’s just a failure guide you through difficulties. If you have values that you can in execution. But, given all align with your work, it will allow you to say the things you the attention we are getting, need to say even when it’s hard to say them, or it is difficult to I think we are in the right commit to them. place. Our focus is impact And it’s worth remembering having a startup is not a job; it’s in the market, and we have your life’s work, and you can align that with having fun. seen change and contributed But knowing yourself also means accepting the fact that significantly, not just for you may not be an entrepreneur—which requires that you startups but by sharing our are addicted to finding and solving problems. And if you vision and becoming an are not that kind of person, it is okay to say so and to do advocate and voice for a new something else. point of view. n
Horie with her children
For the article in full, please follow The Journal online: journal.accj.or.jp THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 21 The New Tower Will Machine Translation Manage Better Than Humans? of Babel By Richard Smart
A recent UK publicity stunt for Google Translate, a machine improve its algorithms and translate more accurately. But algorithms are translation service by Google Inc., went drastically wrong. A sign not humans. was emblazoned with “Good Evening, Old Street” on the left, and an “If you just want to grasp the meaning of a document, get a rough Arabic translation on the right. But the Arabic was backward, with idea of the meaning, then machine breaks in the wrong places. translation is fine,” says Kaori Sasaki, the founder of Unicul International Inc., which offers services including The mistake highlights today’s big Am I translating a speech where . . . translation, interpretation, and problem with machine translation: [Prime Minister Shinzo] Abe is pushing conference organizing. “But if you It doesn’t do its job properly. Adding flexible constitutional interpretation, want to get more from a document, to the headache, the “translated” sign or Haruki Murakami is pushing the you need a higher-quality service.” in central London, created by an merits of playing jazz albums to cats?” What’s more, many languages, algorithm, is unaware of the cultural The expectations of readers also have to including Japanese, simply do not have sensitivity of its work. Wherever be taken into account. a big enough presence on the global one lies on the political spectrum, Academics see little chance cultural landscape to provide the surely it is understood that not all that machines will fully replace sort of translated documents that the Arabic speakers appreciate Western translators. Carl Benedikt Frey and robots are hungry for. interventions in and attitudes to the Michael A. Osborne in Middle East. 2013 calculated that a translator would have It is beyond the literary and the CULTURALLY CHALLENGED a 38 percent chance of promotional that machine translation Artificial intelligence that is as capable the work they did being of translating language as a bilingual replicated by machines. has its greatest potential. human can is still a long way off. “With a growing Cultural awareness is one big reason. corpus of human- Peter Durfee, director at the Nippon translated [digitized] text, the success “To be truly successful, a machine Communications Foundation, has of a machine translator can now be translation engine has to have a huge been translating for decades and judged by its accuracy in reproducing corpus of matching terms thrown believes machines have a lot of observed translations,” they wrote into it over the years,” says Durfee. improvements to make. in their report, The Future of “For some language pairs, this has “You need to present the Employment: How Susceptible are Jobs progressed much farther than in information in the source text; you to Computerization? the Japanese [language] sphere: need to think about effective ways The fact that machines now can, Everything published by the European to present that same information in to a degree, learn from humans at a Union apparatus, for instance, has the target text. And this is as far as faster pace has practical applications. to go into a whole raft of languages, even the best conceivable machine The academics cite United Nations and you end up with hundreds of translation system can go. documents, which are translated millions of (public domain) words that “But you also need to consider the into six languages, as an example. can be stuck into Google’s and Bing’s motivations of the original author— Such multilingual texts help Google analytical tools for parsing.”
22 THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 MARKET TRENDS MARKET
Durfee sees a further use for software for 10 languages. The idea is machines. “One type of translation to cover the needs of the vast majority that has increasingly gone to the of visitors to Japan and change the machines is massive-scale triage in the nation’s difficult-to-travel image. discovery stage of big legal cases,” he In the private sector, Panasonic says. Without the need for anything Corporation has begun tests of its literary or to appeal to a public, automatic translation service in machines can fish through reams of collaboration with Mori Building documents in a different language and Co., Ltd. “By offering the devices at roughly summarize them. information desks, Panasonic will Key information can then be sent be able to confirm their appeal and to the human to get the job done functionality for users while also properly. Such scouring was never identifying areas for improvement,” CEO of Gengo, Matt Romaine rewarding for people in the first place, the company says. and few translators would regret “For Tokyo 2020, translation is a no longer getting to search for the must as we welcome visitors from COLLABORATIVE CODE proverbial needles in haystacks. around the world,” says Sasaki. Gengo, Inc. has found a way to get “And machine translation for this the most out of machines and offer a MACHINE–HUMAN BAZAARS is amazingly advanced. Most of the human service. The company, which It is beyond the literary and the daily necessities for translation, such operates the Gengo.com website, promotional that machine translation as informing people with allergies of introduces its around 16,000 human has its greatest potential. Google’s sign ingredients, can be done by machines.” translators to clients through an in London still got its message across. Companies seeing the possible online database. It offers services in Nobody struggled to get the meaning, success of products such as Panasonic’s 37 languages and ratings for staff. even if the language was clumsy. may, in the future, be tempted to clean “We don’t believe it’s possible to And, with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic up their budgets by ditching translators completely replace human translation and Paralympic Games coming up, for computers. Sasaki argues that this with a machine—not only because of Japan is working toward machines that means translators today have to do the creativity involved, but also because can bear the brunt of the translation more to show companies why humans of the evolving nature of languages,” burden. This year, the government are needed: “Clients really need to says company CEO Matt Romaine. will spend around ¥1.38 billion on be educated to choose which kind of Gengo’s database gives it a key developing automatic voice translation services they want.” n advantage on speed. Most of the jobs are started within two hours and completed within three. “New publishing and content distribution models dominated by names like Huffington Post and BuzzFeed—a domain we internally call casual media—also rely on Gengo to expand their global reach,” Romaine explains. He sees machine translation and artificial intelligence as a benefit rather than burden. “Machines can assist to make the process more productive,” Romaine says. “From searching for terms, to checking how many times certain words have been used, perhaps to not sound redundant, machines will only be tools for assisting human translators.” But there are limits to how far this assistance will go. “Clients need to provide context that only a human could understand. For example, if someone wanted a translation of ‘eats shoots and leaves’—is that referring to a koala or a criminal?” Re-translating between two languages exposes the limitations of translation machines.
THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 23 The Heart of a City Place Branding in the 21st Century
By Dr. Nancy Snow
Referred to as Tokyo 1964, but officially known as the Games #MyMomentatOkura Twitter campaign. I participated in both campaigns, but our of the XVIII Olympiad, those Games were not held in summer. efforts were futile because we were like They were held from October 10 to 24 to avoid the notoriously beatniks in mourning, standing in the way of economic progress. hot, sticky season and the accompanying typhoons that plague In Tokyo’s first Olympic year, the songwriting Japan in August and September. team of Hal David and Burt Bacharach released a number that offers a warning for Tokyo today: just as “A House is Not a Home,” a city is The world watched a proud nation, 19 years removed from not a company town, a seat of government, or a commercial its war-weary knees, become the first country to broadcast sector that champions capitalism. the Olympic Games internationally via satellite—a US–Japan A city has a heart that makes people want to write songs, joint venture—in color and without tape delay. A swords- tributes, and reviews on TripAdvisor Inc. that say, “better be into-ploughshares high-tech wonderland was born. It was a quick before the main building closes at the end of the month full-circle moment with the lighting of the Olympic Torch by and the history of the original Okura is gone forever!” track athlete Yoshinori Sakai, the “Atomic Bomb Boy,” who A city is more than a place to reside, work, raise children, was born August 6, 1945 outside Hiroshima. or study. It is a competitive brand, and if it is a place like Using the world’s best athletes and global media as its Tokyo, it is a global city brand. Writer Fiona Wilson, of place-branding podium, Japan, the first non-Western host Monocle’s Save the Okura campaign, said that the “demise of of the Olympics, presented its membership credentials as an the Okura is akin to the loss of a good friend. Tokyo will not economic and cultural superpower. be the same without it.” That same decade, Japan would shock the senses again That is true, and it speaks to Tokyo’s city identity—always by rocketing to the rank of second largest economy in the changing. If Tokyo had its own tenugui (traditional hand world. There was no stopping the ascent of Japan, Inc. or towel), it would be marked “Under construction.” Tokyo, like of Tokyo. the future, waits for no one, including a 53-year-old hotel. Landmark bookends illustrate this era of modernism in The future is to Tokyo as romance is to Rome, as diversity the metropolis: Hotel Okura Tokyo, completed in 1962 with is to New York, as LGBT is to San Francisco. The Hotel an annex added in 1973, and the Hotel New Otani Tokyo, Okura’s wrecking ball is an emblem of a city rebranding itself which opened in 1964 and features a 500-year-old, 10-acre in the yet-to-come. traditional Japanese garden. City branding is a globalization offshoot. In an age when A 41-story 550-room glass tower that will open in 2019, competition for commerce, consumption, and tourism holds just in time for Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, no allegiance to one country or region, place branding has is replacing Hotel Okura’s original main building. Picture emerged locally, citywide, regionally, and at the national level. Audrey Hepburn with cigarette holder in hand and the Rat Tokyo’s brand pull stretches like the city itself—wide and Pack, with whiskey on the rocks, walking through the lobby. far, even among those who can only dream and desire a visit. The loss of the Okura’s heart and soul architectural They may say Japan, but they often mean Tokyo because gem sparked an international online petition and a the metropolis sits among global city memes (Berlin,
24 THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 VOICES OF JAPAN 25 2015
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By Richard Jolley
If there is one thing we can agree on it’s the rapid pace of technical change. Just compare the TV or cellphone you have today with what you owned a decade ago. Well, the Internet economy is evolving just as fast, and where it stood 10 years ago bears no resemblance to where it stands today.
The accepted rule of thumb is that data worldwide is Yet, according to similar research by BCG, the Internet doubling every two years. We’re approaching the zettabyte economy in Japan will still be 5.6 percent—around the G-20 (one billion terabytes of information) era of Internet-based average—come 2016. So why is that? If you compare Japan data, according to Cisco Systems Inc., and with everyday with other G-20 countries, not least the UK, Japan is in a objects about to get their own IP addresses, that figure is great position to have a thriving Internet economy. The going to explode. infrastructure here is second to none. Jim Foster, a professor It’s hardly surprising that the Internet, and the economy at the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio it spawned, is driving growth worldwide. Companies are University, and director of the Keio International Center coming up with products and services designed for this for the Internet and Society, agrees. “The problem is data new platform, and analyzing big data—the huge quantities utilization,” Foster says. of information arising from our digital lives—to tweak and improve their offerings. DATA LAW Already, the Internet has helped create the world’s biggest In 2014, the Internet Economy Task Force (IETF) of the businesses. Google Inc., for example, ranks fourth among American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) released the largest companies by a viewpoint called the “GOJ Policy market capitalization, and Review on the Protection and Utilization Apple Inc. is by far the Companies are coming up of Personal Data.” It was a reaction largest, thanks to products with products and services to the Government of Japan Personal like the iPhone, which Information Review Working Group enable people to consume designed for this new platform, having published a report with the the Internet economy’s and analyzing big data goal of changing the legislation on data products and services. protection and privacy in 2015. What’s more, countries The IETF made a number of increasingly can’t do without their digital businesses. Take recommendations, including eliminating the overlap of the UK, where the Internet economy delivers 10 percent government authorities on data protection, and permitting of gross domestic product (GDP)—that’s more than the transfer of de-identified data to third parties. manufacturing and retail, according to management In September 2015, the government of Japan’s upper house consultancy the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). passed an amendment to the country’s data protection and
26 THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 MARKET TRENDS MARKET privacy laws, which supported the working group’s report He adds that many companies are now making inquiries and many of the IETF’s recommendations. into cyber security insurance to protect themselves. Of the changes, one of the most important is the establishment of the Personal Information Protection GLOBAL ISSUE Committee. It creates a single body to oversee personal-data Although Japan clearly faces challenges, no country can law and to coordinate governance. As yet, it is not known say it’s got it completely right. There are just as many, how well staffed the committee will be, and Foster fears it may if not more, concerns in the United States regarding receive no more resources than the My Number social benefits personal data as there are here. Gautam Hans is policy and tax program, an initiative he feels has been underfunded. counsel/director at the Center for Democracy & With reference to Internet businesses and groups such Technology (CDT) in San Francisco. The CDT, a non- as the IETF, he says, “It’s really important that we give as profit organization, champions the Internet economy and much support and guidance to the protection committee as the rights of users to privacy. Hans says the “CDT has possible. If we get it right here, Japan can be a great model long supported consumer privacy legislation based on for the rest of Asia.” the Fair Information Practice Principles, which prescribe a system of governance for data stewardship, while still HARMONIZING ACROSS REGIONS allowing for secondary uses and innovative practices with Michiru Takahashi, a partner at law firm Jones Day in Japan, appropriate disclosures.” is another voice calling on the government to amend Japan’s data protection laws. Takahashi believes that amendment JAPANESE APPLE? would help harmonize data laws here with those of other Now that Japan is falling into line with other developed regions in the world. She says, “It [would ensure] that countries concerning data protection, can we expect to see Japanese companies with operations in the European Union any giants like Google or Apple springing from Japanese won’t have to go through complicated procedures to take shores? Foster says we need to think about how the data out of the region. It should be a major cost saving for Internet is developing to answer this question. Japanese companies.” “The next big thing,” he says, “is going to be virtual Yoshihiro Obata, president and CEO of BizMobile Inc., raises reality. Once you put on the goggles, you could be in a questions over the effectiveness of the amended law. As Obata conference room in Nigeria or on a beach in Borneo. says, there is plenty of resistance among Japanese residents to Virtual reality is going to change the way we interact with companies using personal data even when controlled. the world—and Japanese companies have the skills and technology to do well. It’s going to require some creative destruction and government support, but Japan has the potential.” There is a lot of Masanobu Katoh is country head of Japan for Intellectual Ventures, a global anxiety about data investment company aimed at startups. He being hacked says the amendments are good news for Japan’s Internet economy, and need to be implemented fast. “This is a tremendous opportunity for the Obata uses the example of East Japan Railways (JR East) country,” he says. “I hope the changes encourage startups trying to sell ticket-related data to third parties. Despite the and new business models. Japanese businesses have many initiative being lawful, the backlash in the media and online strengths in many areas, and the Internet is a way for was such that JR East felt forced to apologize for its actions. companies to go global very quickly with new products “It was communicated to the public as a bad thing, and there and services.” n is no way to fight against that,” Obata says.
CYBER THREATS One shouldn’t be too hard on Japanese consumers for their attitudes about personal data. There is a lot of anxiety P about data being hacked, and rightly so, believes Motohiro K Tsuchiya, also a professor at the Graduate School of Media and Governance at Keio University. L “I believe faith already has been lost,” Tsuchiya says. Ja He highlighted reported data hacks, such as that of the N pan Inc Japan Pension Service earlier this year, and warns there M . is a shortage of skilled systems engineers to fix system vulnerabilities for large Japanese organizations. Tsuchiya believes many CEOs are at a crossroads. “They want to protect their companies from hacking, but don’t want to use too much money for security,” he says.
THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 27 CORPORATE GOVERNANCE REFORMS: A BOARD MEMBER’S VIEWPOINT
By Gerhard Fasol
In March 2014, I was appointed as an independent board director at a THEORY AND PRACTICE My work as an independent board publicly listed Japanese company, GMO Cloud K.K. Its core business director of a listed Japanese company involves Internet and cyber security, in connection with which it is based on the recently revised Company Law and the TSE Code. provides digital identity management solutions. In practice, my responsibility is to see that the company is successful My appointment comes in the wake of pensioners and individuals. In between, and grows in a competitive and corporate governance reforms instituted there is a long chain of investment fast-moving global market. To by Japan. These have been a key element intermediaries, including investment do this, I need to understand our of the third arrow of Abenomics, Prime fund managers and analysts. company’s business, including Minister Shinzo Abe’s reform policies to The key is to make companies as products and financial results, as re-ignite the Japanese economy. successful as possible, so that they well as the global cloud and cyber While generally welcomed by the may deliver maximum returns to security markets. business community, the full import stakeholders. Everything in between is What’s more, I need to have the of the corporate governance reforms essentially overhead, and needs to be ability to communicate in Japanese remains unclear. For many, basic as efficient as possible. with fellow board directors and questions remain unanswered. These Overall, the investment chain company executives, including the I hope to answer below, from the needs to be built on long-term trust Group CEO and CEOs of subsidiaries. perspective of a non-Japanese board and stewardship, not on anonymous Most importantly, I need to push my director of a Japanese company. momentary transactions. As such, input to execution. a key component of the investment The business reality is that, as of VALUE CHAIN chain is corporate governance. this writing, in this country there The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s (TSE) are 3,488 publicly listed Japanese Corporate Governance Code defines WHY JAPAN? companies and some 1,000 large corporate governance as “a structure Japan is the only major country with private Japanese businesses. for transparent, fair, timely and decisive an economy that, apparently, does Some 10 to 20 Japanese enterprises, decision-making by companies, not grow. Even the Keidanren (Japan including Rakuten, are “Englishized” with due attention to the needs and Business Federation) and Toray or they hire interpreters at board perspectives of shareholders, and Industries, Inc. Chairman Sadayuki level. Of the remaining 4,468, also customers, employees, and local Sakakibara bemoaned this fact during virtually all are run using the communities.” the 2015 Kyoto Bank New Year’s Japanese language exclusively and by The subtitle of the TSE Code is its Gala event. Japanese men. mission statement: “Seeking sustainable Stanford University economics In a rapidly globalizing world, these corporate growth and increased Professor Takeo Hoshi, moreover, companies are in desperate need of corporate value over the mid- to has analyzed reasons for a lack of internationalization and diversity. long-term.” corporate governance reform, and This means global input from many Why is the new code important? It’s for Japan’s economy having stopped different nationalities, and more fair to say that our families’ means and growing after, in the 1980s, it had women at board level. the quality of life we enjoy depend on caught up with developed economies. However, as is widely the growth and success of companies, Clearly aware that this is one of the acknowledged, Japan’s lack of including their investment in new factors inhibiting Japan’s growth, Abe international human resources is technologies and products. has created momentum for corporate one of the many factors limiting Companies are on one end of the governance reform. But how does the country’s economic growth investment chain; on the other end are policy compare to practice? and competitiveness.
28 THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 THIRD ARROW ts rs FINANCE • n ialis
ec ne Nominee, Nominee, 2014 British Business Awards of The Year Company rt Furthermore, by working hard until hard working by Furthermore, foreign to the applies The same has one risk, minimize such To corporate improving Ultimately, Pa your leadership skills are in demand, or or in demand, skills are leadership your of demands making before contributing accepted an become can one own, your the community. trusted of member and in the Japanese operating companies subsidiary in Japan your As market. to pays it corporation, a Japanese is of governance the corporate ensure subsidiary—defective Japanese your Japanese of governance corporate companies foreign of subsidiaries scandals recent caused arguably pharmaceutical some ensnared that this market. entered had that companies Japanese good one’s make useto of the by ordered as directors, of board Law. Company country’s needed thefactors of one is governance also is It growth. Japan’s reinvigorate to leads to inbreeding cultural that clear leadership of diversity that and disaster, and growth for ingredient essential an is and the culture knowing And success. country a smart is the host of language business. when doing move
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT FACILITIES • GOING THE EXTRA MILE EXTRA THE GOING Our level of understanding, matching accuracy, accuracy, matching of understanding, Our level tailored services and timely short-listing and the of some just are candidates of introduction industry leads the Partners Icon why reasons recruitment. in supply chain management Chain Talent Sp Chain Talent Icon ly LOGISTICS LOGISTICS • pp Su S.C.M. S.C.M. Learning Japanese is a good is starting Learning Japanese In the case of the Challenger, top top the Challenger, the case of In WHEN IN TOKYO Japan’s navigate we then, can How, minefield? cultural and corporate with influence seekingmore When do to will it not companies, Japanese the CEO or at either voice one’s raise develop to pays It meetings. in board are even if you relationships, trust and a shareholder. earn trust to is and if one point in achievements business to contribute partner to is step sound Another Japan. links such thosewith have who already skills.and that some investigators viewed the investigators some that of disaster Challenger Shuttle Space physicist Prize-winning 1986: Nobel the determined that Feynman Richard the failure was the disaster of cause communicate to management top of with subordinates. the planned on insisted management the on while the workers date, launch ready. not they knew were that ground on to the those to listen failure That disaster. led to ground
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Japan undoubtedly has many great great many has undoubtedly Japan chief- non-leader also many has Japan no showed industries Japanese Many example a dramatic represents This Toshiba at issues accounting Recent TROUBLE THE TOP AT and diverse of the lack just not it’s And Japan. ails that talent international be well the may leadership of A lack heel. Achilles country’s founder Kyocera’s as leaders, such who also co-founded Inamori, Kazuo when 80s, turned in his and, KDDI Ltd. Co. Airlines Japan around from bankruptcy. in powerful positions. administrators may occur if inefficiencies and Problems up give can’t chief-administrators such example, for and, retirement on power chairmen. to advisors become or 15 years for income no and growth the so-called during decades. lost longer of industry-wide a total failure of a surely, and, governance corporate corporate for push in Abe’s factor big governance reform. these of a symptom are Corporation I see Toshiba’s deeper problems. much way in the same debacle accounting TEL: icon-partners.com
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be presumed even within a No assurance of company, warranting a system of continuous checks. The time has come to change the security, even for way people think about, and deal with, security measures. Previous methods of sharing data to deal with company intranets known attack programs and viruses no longer work. Now there is “zero-day” Zero trust may be the sole solution vulnerability—meaning that once a flaw becomes known, the programmer or developer has zero days in which to fix it, while attacks occur before any countermeasures Translation of article in Diamond online are made public. by William H. Saito It’s essential, then, to know one’s enemy. Hacker attacks involve a @whsaito number of stages. First, a personal computer with some sort of vulnerability is found and used to enter the system. While visiting various parts of the United States in Then, a person is tricked into clicking on an icon, activating malware. Next, the PC is made to engage in horizontal August, I came away with the impression that major expansion, searching for the server containing the targeted changes had occurred in the ways society reacts to data. The hacker makes contact and, by issuing commands, steals the data. If one or more of these steps can be thwarted, it cyber security. is possible to prevent data leakage. One item that has begun to stand out is a behavior detector, Previously, such concerns had typically focused on the which automatically monitors data activities within a company leaking of credit card numbers, countermeasures that mainly or organization for signs of irregularities, and issues a warning involved halting use of cards with those numbers, and the when suspicious activity is detected. issuing of new cards. A headache—to be sure—but one that For example, there are programs designed to detect involved damage that was manageable. suspicious activities that might resemble an attack virus, More recently, however, troubles have involved a lot more based on such previous experiences as “attack patterns than the simple theft of data. up to now” and “an unnatural attempt to access the sales In June, it was revealed that an attack had been carried representative’s diagram.” out on what had previously been considered a secure server, These are the equivalent of setting up a monitoring camera which managed background check forms; data on some on the Internet, to proactively guard against damage, including 19 million people had been stolen. that from subspecies or unknown viruses. The most common form used, called the Standard Form However, as with monitor cameras, suspicious programs 86, is submitted before starting employment with the aren’t always flagged as threats, so it is necessary to have government and, in some cases, the forms contain highly programs that watch for suspicious behavior on corporate private information. internal networks and determine which are It may include details regarding the There is now a actual offenders that should be situated at applicant and family members that are a separate location—what specialists call practically unthinkable in Japan, such as worldwide trend a sandbox. matters related to psychological health toward the concept Naturally, like a simultaneous checkpoint, and the history of drug use. it’s best to constantly investigate all data logs With hacker attacks and leakage of data of zero trust in the same manner. This, however, won’t continuing unabated, cyber security has work for companies that process excessive become a serious issue for society as a whole. At businesses, as amounts of data. In such cases, it’s far more efficient to focus on well, security measures set up to block incursions at the point spotting irregularities. of network entry and previously regarded as sufficient, can no To confront, and overcome, attacks on servers that have longer ensure the protection of data. become automated will increasingly require that security Actually, in the past, numerous companies’ internal also be automated, leading to what will effectively resemble a networks had experienced break-ins that had gone perpetual game of cat and mouse. n undetected, with serious consequences. As a result, there is now a worldwide trend toward the Full-length original article: concept of zero trust. This means that data security cannot http://diamond.jp/articles/-177719
For the article in full, please follow The Journal online: journal.accj.or.jp THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 31 BUSINESS INDEX | OCTOBER 2015
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E. Keith Henry A 30-year tale of bridging the gaps between politics, policy, and business in Japan
By John Amari
Keith Henry has used his expertise of the private and public sector in Japan to advise business clients.
PIONEER IN GOVERNMENT RELATIONS Abegglen, then dean of Sophia University’s masters degree Keith Henry has been a pioneer in developing government in business program, and one of the founding partners of the relations as a consulting practice in Japan. Boston Consulting Group. Abegglen established BCG’s Tokyo But as he is quick to point out, government relations is more office in 1966. than simply helping a client navigate the halls of Kasumigaseki It was here that Henry says he was able to begin to or Nagatacho—where the seats of government are to be found. understand the fine points of strategy for the marketplace of Instead, it requires a tacit understanding of the dense matrix products and services from one of the keenest thinkers who of relationships shared among all key stakeholders in policy focused on Japan during its halcyon days. making, not only among bureaucrats and politicians, but also Over ten years, it became clear to Henry that the consumer groups, business and trade associations, academics, marketplace of policy making rarely overlapped with and even the media. the marketplace of products in the minds of foreign What’s more, the challenge does not end there. That business community. knowledge of policy, which might be of great interest to a Although policy outcomes impacted the competitive political scientist, must be translated so senior executives whose positions of businesses in Japan, rarely did the management businesses are impacted by policy making, but who typically do consultants assess policy as part of their recommendations to not have the time consider such matters, can grasp it easily. their foreign clients, and rarely did he see the foreign business Henry is uniquely qualified to straddle the seeming unrelated community actively contribute to the policy debates as an worlds of business and policy making in Japan. In the1980s, he accepted insider in the policy making process. was fortunate to be selected by a senior member of the ruling But in that gap, Henry saw a opportunity to provide Liberal Democratic Party to be his personnel aide. consulting services where the interests of business, politics and This began a 5-year odyssey that provided Henry a unique, policy intersect. Taking the plunge, Henry hung up his own hands-on experience in the inner workings of politics and shingle and established Asia Strategy over 20 years ago. policy making. On two occasions, when his political boss entered the Cabinet, Henry was taken along and served on the WHAT WAS TRUE IN THE 1980S REMAINS TRUE TODAY minster’s private staff. The intersection between politics and policy, and how it affects As he says, seeing how his boss’s schedule was determined business, remains of crucial importance, Henry says. the evening before each business day, and then participating This is regardless of which administration happens to be in as an observer in each of these meetings, provide him a charge at any time, or which way the country’s economic and practitioner’s Ph.D. in Japanese politics. political winds blow. Over the years, Asia Strategy advises best-in-class companies PROVIDING STRATEGY FOR POLICY from a wide range of industries including aerospace, ICT, AND BUSINESS IS KEY investment banking, insurance, energy, pharmaceuticals and This experience taught Henry the underpinnings of what telecommunications. he refers to as Japan’s marketplace ideas and the broad cross The consultancy has also advised on the public section of stakeholders who collaborate and compete to policy issues related to some of the largest mergers and formulate policy. acquisitions that have taken place in Japan. Indeed, while working in the Diet, Henry gathered data and “What allows us to do cover such a broad cross-section analysis that allowed him to finish off his master’s graduation of industries,” Henry explains, “is our tacit, contextual theses on lobbying in Japan. understanding of Japan—an understanding based on real-life Soon after his stint in Kasumigaseki and Nagatacho, he was experience in the decision-making process—both in business equally fortunate to study under and then work for James C. and government.” n
THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 33 BUSINESS INDEX | OCTOBER 2015
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onald Trump breaks many of the rules of presenting, Think back, though; how many key messages can you recall Dbut he gets the key stuff right. Love him or loathe him from the many business presentations you have heard? as a contender, he continues to top all of the polls, so he is I would guess not many. doing something right. Are there any lessons here for when When we speak, we need to have clarity around the key we give our own presentations? points we want to get across in the time we have available. He is authentic when he speaks. There is no speechwriter Taking on too much content (“death by PowerPoint”), grinding away in the background, polishing the prose to nullifies the key messages we want to have resonate with within an inch of its life. Nor are there invisible prompters the audience. A major information dump is also a killer, on the left and right to drip feed the speechwriter’s input. especially when quoting lots of data. Overload destroys the He does have some notes, but he barely refers to them. communication. He digresses, goes off on tangents, but the audience Trump totally oozes self-confidence. Confidence certainly understands this is the price for being non-scripted—and sells, and if he has any self-doubt about this new public they forgive him. He keeps their attention because he speaking role for himself, he is certainly not sharing it with concentrates on his audience. the audience. We may not have that same degree of self- So let’s take the good bits and drop the rest. Be yourself; belief, or his billions, but we must exude confidence when don’t ape anyone else. Be you, but try to be the professional speaking with our audience. you. Focus on the audience, not on the technology, the In Dale Carnegie, we bolster confidence through laptop, the big screen behind you or your notes. embracing the 3 E’s: We have Earned the right to speak, Trump has been getting a lot of practice lately. Prior to because we know our subject; we are Excited because of this run for the Republican Party nomination for president, our positive feelings for the content; and we are Eager to he rarely made long public speeches. share with our audience because we feel this will help them. Repetition is key to learning new skills, and seizing every Employ the 3 E’s and you will become confident. Even if chance to present is needed to improve our professional we are not super-confident at first, never ever show that to craft. Many people shy away from presenting because they the audience—people buy speaker self-belief and our job is lack confidence or are nervous. to provide it. There are techniques for overcoming nervousness, which Trump tells stories. NBC begged me to sign up for can be learnt. By increasing the frequency of presenting, we The Apprentice new season; Carl Icahn told me he is ready to gradually become more comfortable. be my negotiator with China; I saw all of these Japanese cars Trump’s messages can be quickly understood: Build a big in LA coming out of the biggest ship I have ever seen, etc. wall; everyone is more cunning than we are; make America He weaves these vignettes into his speech to highlight great again; read Trump: The Art of the Deal; it’s my own his key points. Storytelling works and, as he demonstrates, money so I don’t owe anybody; politicians are useless; I am stories don’t have to be lengthy to be effective. rich and successful; I know how to get things done; I am not Sprinkle some real-life stories into your presentations to politically correct, etc. make the content come alive for your audience. He is derided as a demagogue, but as a speaker, he If a novice like Trump can be persuasive as a speaker, presents his ideas in such a way that we can remember why can’t we? Study, adapt what works, hone skills, and them. Isn’t this what we also want with our audience? rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. n N
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CM_Web_OnAd.indd 1 9/10/15 11:15 AM CONTENTS VOL. 52, ISSUE 10
PRESIDENT 1 39 I Hope to See You in Kansai and Chubu this Month Jay Ponazecki
40 ACCJ EVENT Less is More The Garr Reynolds Way Anthony Griffin
41 ACCJ NEWS Healthy Mind, Healthy Body New Health and Wellness Service for English-Speakers Hits the Market
43 KANSAI Practical Steps to Workplace Diversity: 2 Kansai Women in Business Summit 2015 Rose Tanasugarn
44 ACCJ CHARITY BALL Going for a Good Cause Supporting communities Barbara Hancock
45 EVENTS The ACCJ in pictures
47 BOOK REVIEW Strategy at Work How to navigate office life Vicki L. Beyer
50 ACCJ LEADERS 3
PHOTOS: ACCJ STAFF Internet Economy Task Force
1 Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy and her team meet with ACCJ leaders on August 24.
2 Patrick Sheahen, F-35 Japan in-country director, Lockheed Martin Global, Inc., speaks on the F-35 fighter plane on August 5 at the Hilton Nagoya.
3 A group photo taken at the Chubu event, “Breakfast Meeting with Chief Gardner from the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo” on August 19 at the Hilton Nagoya.
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THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 37 AsianTigers_EB_A4_8_bleed.pdf 1 12/19/14 2:10 PM
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in Kansai and Chubu PRESIDENT this Month Jay Ponazecki [email protected]
his year marks the 10th anniversary of the American I hope many of you will join us at the panel discussion, the Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) Kansai Walk-A- reception and the Walk-A-Thon. I look forward to spending T Thon. Last year, 1,500 people participated. We hope even time with ACCJ members and guests and their families in more will participate this year. Registration starts at 10:00 Kansai later this month. a.m. on Saturday, October 17, at the Canadian Academy on If you would like to register to attend or be a sponsor of Rokko Island. one or more working women and their families so that they There will also be live entertainment, international food can attend the Walk-A-Thon free of charge, please email the booths, a charity raffle with great prizes and a children’s Kansai ACCJ Office at [email protected]. Thank you for play area. supporting this important annual event. The participation fee is ¥1,000 for adults and ¥500 for children. Food and drink tickets will be sold separately on 2015 CHUBU DIVERSITY SUMMIT site. Please also consider donating more and supporting On Monday, October 26, in collaboration with the Aichi working women and their families living under difficult Prefectural Government, the Chubu Women in Business circumstances by making a donation that will allow us to Committee is holding a full-day summit to generate concrete invite them to the Walk-A-Thon free of charge. solutions to diversify the workplace and create more Supporting and helping raise the awareness of issues opportunities for women. impacting working women have been ongoing themes of The summit will welcome Natsuko Horii of the Ministry the Kansai Walk-A-Thon. This year’s event is sponsored and of Health, Labour and Welfare and Aichi Prefecture Deputy supported by more than 40 companies—including many ACCJ Governor Akiko Yoshimoto as featured speakers. member companies—that actively promote diversity. We The summit’s breakout sessions will feature a panel applaud the Kansai Chapter for having donated ¥39,356,000 discussion on entrepreneurship and a leadership training over the years to 19 NPOs that support working women. workshop. A lunch panel will showcase professionals who The beneficiaries of the 2014 Kansai Walk-A-Thon were are successfully pursing their careers and taking care of their the Work and Child Raising Counseling Center, NPO Nobel, young and elderly family members. the Osaka Gender Equality Foundation, the Sakai City More details on the program are coming soon via the Family Support Center, and the Sanno Children’s Center. The ACCJ Insider, the ACCJ website and ACCJ social The ACCJ Board of Governors will hold its next meeting at media channels. the Ritz-Carlton Osaka on October 16. Afterwards, there will For information regarding the program, how to register, be a panel discussion with the Union of Kansai Governments and sponsorship opportunities, please email the Chubu followed by a reception with ACCJ members and guests, ACCJ Office at [email protected]. I look forward to seeing sponsors and official endorsers of the Walk-A-Thon. many of you at the summit. n
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THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 39 ACCJ EVENT Less is More The Garr Reynolds Way
By Anthony Griffin
rainy, humid night didn’t stop an Simplicity and enthusiastic crowd from coming the elimination of A to Knowledge Capital, an Osaka- clutter and noise were Communications expert based innovation hub, for a custom key themes woven Garr Reynolds engagement with local and global throughout Reynolds’ celebrity presenter Garr Reynolds. presentation. It’s Famous for books such as Presentation Zen: Simple tempting to cram our Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery and The Naked presentation slides with Attendees at the Garr Reynolds event Presenter: Delivering Powerful Presentations With or as much information as Without Slides, Reynolds could be said to have helped fuel possible, or “death by the popularity of TED Talks, their style having become a bullet point,” as Reynolds would say. However, it’s much more standard for public speaking. effective to keep things minimal, with plenty of white space. While the event in Osaka—“Creativity and the Power Presenters can always use handouts to provide the audience with of Design”—was based on Reynolds’s blog and books, this more detailed information. particular presentation was customized for Knowledge But the most engaging part of the presentation could never be Capital attendees and members of the American Chamber of experienced through blogs or books. It was an exercise focusing Commerce in Japan (ACCJ). on adopting a “beginner’s mind” toward design. True to what he preaches, Reynolds was audience-focused To illustrate this, Reynolds had audience members pair up from the start, presenting in English while his wife provided and draw pictures of each other. Upon revealing their pictures, Japanese interpretation. nearly everyone apologized for their “works of art,” regardless The presentation covered 10 easily digestible design of quality. But, as he pointed out, when children do the same principles (including a bonus 11th) tailored to teach “design exercise, they almost never apologize. for non-designers”—a growing segment for entrepreneurs, The point? Most of us have been educated or socialized out managers, and employees in an age of split-second of our creativity, and are often ashamed to display it. As adults, marketing where eye-catching imagery is king. we have to make a conscious effort to bring creativity back into Reynolds was quick to remind the audience that “vision our presentations to make them more effective. trumps all other senses,” and visual messaging needs to Finally, the last design principle ensured that everything about accomplish four things: the event sank in: “See the lessons all around you.” Reynolds Get attention Be remembered encouraged the audience to discover examples of his design principles in the real world while putting them into practice. Be understood Lead to action This drove home the practicality of the event and attached a These four points are the foundation on which Reynolds’ great sense of value to it, as the audience seemed to agree. design principles are built. Principle 1, “Get off of the Stephen Zurcher, ACCJ Kansai Business Programs computer,” is perhaps the most jarring nugget of advice. Committee chair, said: “[Reynolds] once again captivated In short, when designing your ACCJ members and guests at his annual presentations, start with pencil and presentation for us here in Kansai. Last year, his paper, rather than your favorite event was regarded as the best of the year and, no slide software. doubt, after we get feedback on this month’s event, Most of us have it will be similar.” Reynolds emphasizes simplicity in been educated or Matthew Winfield, ACCJ Kansai Business communication during his presentation. Programs Committee vice chair, summarized the socialized out of experience of “Creativity and the Power of Design.” our creativity “[Reynolds’s] session was simply practical, completely purposeful, and to the point, no doubt causing many to make a hasty retreat back to their offices to re-write presentations for the morning.” n
Anthony Griffin is the marketing and communications manager at the ACCJ
40 THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 ACCJ NEWS Healthy Mind, Healthy Body New Health and Wellness Service for English-Speakers Hits the Market
or many foreigners living, working, HealthyTokyo.com is not just or simply visiting Japan, finding the F right wellness and medical service about finding a doctor or a providers can be a challenge. dentist when you need one . . . Serial entrepreneur and long-standing Perhaps due to the language barrier, ACCJ member, Michael Bobrove lack of medical vocabulary, or because they are unfamiliar with Japan, residents and visitors have to rely on friends, colleagues, or strangers to What’s more, HealthyTokyo.com is not just about finding help them navigate the system. an English-speaking doctor or a dentist when you need one, Entrepreneur and long-standing Japan resident but also staying healthy overall. That’s why we expanded our Michael Bobrove and his team have created a solution: vision to keep expats healthy in Japan—it’s about not getting HealthyTokyo.com, an online community designed to support sick; it is about staying healthy; eating the right stuff; finding the health and wellness of English-speakers in Japan. the right exercise and relaxation. In a candid interview with The Journal, Bobrove, an active member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan Can you expand on some of the services that you provide? (ACCJ)—he was also an ACCJ board member as the vice HealthyTokyo.com offers detailed information about quality president of the Kansai chapter for four years—speaks about doctors, dentists, and wellness providers. A live concierge to the health and wellness industry, as well as his vision for this make appointments and significant discounts are also offered. new service. We have what we call health and wellness partners: the first kind are Medical Partners—these are English-speaking Can you tell us something about yourself? doctors and dentists, that we have carefully screened. I’ve been in Japan for 30 years. I originally came as a student and And then we have Wellness Coaches—who are lifestyle fell in love with the place. I then went back to the United States, and healthcare-related coaches: personal trainers; dietitians, finished college with a major in Psychology, and returned to motivational coaches, and so on. work in a psychiatric hospital as a counselor where I helped set We also have the rapidly expanding Healthy Partner up their first half-way house in Tokyo. section: healthy restaurants (including organic and In the late 1980s, I decided to go for my MBA in international vegetarian), gyms, spas, Pilates, yoga, massage, shiatsu, any management and marketing, and study Japanese at the graduate number of things that people are looking for to make them level at Monterey Institute of International Studies in California. feel good and help them stay in shape. After graduation, I came back to Japan and worked in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries for about 20 years. Can you say something about membership in After a successful corporate career in these industries—and HealthyTokyo.com? as I’ve always been an entrepreneur—I decided to build my own We have two types of plans for members: a free plan and company, put together a team, and go for it. a premium plan. The free plan gives you access to all the Having studied Japanese and become well versed in a specific detailed unique partner information that we create. area, in this case medical care, I felt set to create a business that The premium plan gives members additional access to a would help expats. That’s when I started HealthyIM K.K. Our live healthcare concierge, as well as to all special discounts first project was HealthyIM.com, a medical tourism site covering and offers from the three partner’s groups. In addition, five countries in Asia. premium members get free introductory sessions with As we progressed, many people were asking us for a Japan- Wellness Coaches. specific health and wellness service. So at the end of December 2014, we launched HealthyTokyo.com. Where do you see HealthyTokyo in five years? I see us having more features, and expanding content. As What was the motivation behind HealthyTokyo.com? we hold the HealthyTokyo trademark, we are looking at We looked at the people contacting us, who were mainly foreign, some other initiatives with the brand. So in five years, the and realized that, as advanced as Japan is, and as many people important components that serve the community today will from overseas as there are that speak Japanese, people still don’t still be integral to our business, while we expand to meet the know where to go for quality healthcare and wellness. additional needs of our customers. n
For the article in full, please follow The Journal online: journal.accj.or.jp THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 41 Lakeland College Japan (LCJ) is a branch campus of an • Small Class Sizes American college conveniently located in Shinjuku. • Highly Quali ed, Caring Professors • Multicultural Student Body (40% International Students) Students can earn an Associate of Arts degree in Tokyo recognized • A Wide Assortment of Undergraduate Courses by both an American accrediting agency and the Japanese Ministry of As part of its community outreach, LCJ also offers non-degree Education. bearing courses in evening and Saturday Open College classes. Our program allows students to easily transfer as third-year students Among the courses being offered are: Japanese, Chinese, Korean, to competitive universities in America and around the world that they Spanish, Russian, Translation, Film Appreciation, Ageing, PowerPoint may not have been eligible to enter directly after high school. plus others.
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KANSAI
Practical Steps to Workplace Diversity: Kansai Women in Business Summit 2015
By Rose Tanasugarn
Erin Nolan, representative director of Gap Japan K.K., shares advice for reaching senior positions in “Success Stories: Learning from Women in Leadership.”
ith the late August enactment of a Japanese law requiring leading a company of 250 employees than dressing a two-year-old. companies with more than 300 employees to be To support working parents, Jonsson enacted a corporate policy W transparent about management promotions, the inaugural banning early morning departmental meetings to allow employees Kansai Women in Business Summit provided a timely opportunity to drop off children at school or daycare without worrying about to share practical steps and best practices for diversity and work matters. He encouraged women to learn hard skills such as inclusion in the workplace. finance to round out their leadership portfolios. “The time for action in Japan is now,” keynote speaker Sachin “Equal opportunities are not just good for people and business, Shah said when addressing more than 200 attendees, including but also a critical step to enable a stronger economic GDP for 16 members of the Union of Kansai Governments (UKG). Japan. [Men] need to drive the change. It needs to start with us.” Women account for 80 percent of purchasing decisions in his Co-panelist David Swan agreed. “Men have an important industry, Shah acknowledged. Thus, having more role to play in the empowerment of women. women employees was a matter not just of greater Communication and raising awareness regarding equality, but of greater competitive advantage. unconscious bias are key factors.” What’s more, a sales force that better understands The difficulty lies Noriko Hidaka, on the HR best practices its customers makes better decisions. not in accepting panel, shared her Japanese corporate perspective. Quoting economist John Maynard Keynes, “It is great to be at an event with multinational Shah emphasized that, “The difficulty lies not in new ideas, but in corporations,” Hidaka said. accepting new ideas, but in escaping old ones.” escaping old ones. “In past forums I have participated in, there That said, he encouraged the audience to take were only Japanese corporations involved. There responsibility and raise awareness to create are very few opportunities like this. I want more positive change. and more people to participate in the future. Yumiko Murakami, head of the Organisation for Economic Japanese people have a stronger unconscious bias to overcome. Co-operation and Development, Tokyo Center, highlighted Men have to become more open-minded and give women more unconscious bias in hiring. opportunities.” Using the New York Philharmonic to illustrate her point, In an effort to identify unmet needs, the Kansai Women in Murakami related how adapting a blind audition process gradually Business committee created a wish tree, asking attendees to write had led to that organization’s greater diversity—by removing false their hopes for changes in the workplace. assumptions based on a candidate’s physical appearance. These wishes and other takeaways from the summit will be “Everyone knows why there should be more women in the shared with the UKG on Friday, October 16, at a pre-event to workforce. We want to focus on what to do to get there,” she said. commemorate the 10th ACCJ Walkathon in Kansai. Murakami emphasized the need for Womenomics 2.0: rather In his remarks, ACCJ-Kansai Vice President Kiran Sethi said, than only increasing number of female employees, companies “The ACCJ’s Women in Business committee started in Kansai should provide training and opportunities to build confidence and 10 years ago, when attitudes in Japan were quite conservative. maximize potential. Some progress has been made, but to reach Prime Minister Abe’s On the women in the leadership panel, American Chamber of target of 30 percent [women in executive positions] by 2020, a Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) Vice President Leanne Cutts joined change in the mindset is critical. Kotomi Takagi and Erin Nolan in sharing success stories. “We need to keep reminding corporate leaders and boards. “Learn to manage your energy and not your time because work We hope that participants will take today’s learning back to their tends to be cyclical and there are times you have to go full-on. You companies and translate these ideas about diversity and inclusion can have it all, but not at the same time. Say ‘yes’ to opportunities into practical actions.” n early and often and keep challenging yourself because you don’t build a legacy by taking comfortable jobs,” Cutts advised. As a male champion of change, Patrik Jonsson shared his Rose Tanasugarn is the ACCJ Kansai’s Living in Kansai experience as a hands-on parent, joking that it was much easier Committee chair.
THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 43 ACCJ CHARITY BALL Going for a Good Cause Supporting communities
By Barbara Hancock
hile there is no shortage of fundraising activities in the group of charities to support. These are our Primary Charities. Tokyo expat community, the American Chamber of While we continue to support recovery and rebuilding efforts W Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) Charity Ball, the chamber’s in the Tohoku region, we remain committed to supporting local most philanthropic activity, is an outstanding way for members charities, and this year’s are described below. n to give back to the community. Every year, the Community Service Advisory Council (CSAC), with recommendations from Barbara Hancock is director and vice president, MediaSense K.K., the ACCJ leadership and the Charity Ball Committee, select a and chair, Charity Ball Committee.
MIKE MAKINO FUND COMMUNITY The ACCJ Mike Makino Fund for the Homeless is maintained by the chamber for charities SERVICE FUND that focus on helping the homeless and hungry in Japan. Through it, the ACCJ has financially The Community Service supported the onigiri project, through which volunteers distribute rice balls to hundreds of Fund is an ACCJ board- homeless people in Tokyo parks, including those in the Ueno, Yoyogi, and Shinjuku districts. run fund with a mission This year, as in 2014, the fund will support the Tokyo Union Church and the Franciscan to administer the Chapel Center—both of which sponsor and support the onigiri project—to feed the homeless contributions of ACCJ temporarily residing in these parks. members in support The fund also supports the Sanyukai Nonprofit Organization Inc., through which doctors of worthy community volunteer their services, and the organization provides mental and physical care, as well as service projects. food, clothing, and shelter all for the homeless. The fund is also used for emergency requests that come in during TAYLOR ANDERSON LIGHTHOUSE JAPAN the year. The projects MEMORIAL FUND Founded in 2004, Lighthouse: Center for Human include activities of the The Taylor Anderson Memorial Trafficking Victims (formerly the Polaris Project US business, family, Fund was established in Japan Japan) is the only non-profit organization in and youth communities, in December 2013 by Taylor Japan that specializes in working to realize a as well as of selected Anderson’s parents and supporters. society without human trafficking, a modern Japanese social In collaboration with nonprofit form of slavery. Lighthouse runs an anti-human welfare organizations. and other organizations engaging trafficking hotline and provides direct intervention, During the past year, in Tohoku recovery efforts, the counseling, and other support for victims of the fund was able to primary mission of the fund is to human trafficking. The organization also focuses support the Special help schools, students, and families on awareness-raising and advocacy. Like a Olympics Nippon and in the Ishinomaki area recover lighthouse that guides sailors to safe harbor in the urgent requests from from the 2011 Great East Japan dark, the organization seeks to serve as a light of Global Children’s Fund and Earthquake and Tsunami. hope for human trafficking victims. Lighthouse Japan.
LIVING DREAMS YMCA CHALLENGED CHILDREN’S PROJECT– Founded in 2001, Living Dreams’ 2015 challenge is Digital YMCA/ACCJ OHISAMA CAMP Natives. Through this, the organization seeks to enrich and The YMCA Challenged Children Project was set up in 1987, enable children through experiential learning, professional in cooperation with the National Council of YMCAs of Japan development, and the utilization of technological tools to and the Tokyo YMCA. discover and live their dreams. Funds raised by the ACCJ Charity Ball are used to support Living Dreams seeks to become the new standard for the YMCA/ACCJ Ohisama Camp. This Tokyo YMCA Center 21st century learning and living in Japan’s institutionalized program, held in late summer in cooperation with the children’s homes. Programs by the organization include the ACCJ, involves some 40 children with conditions such as Designing Artist Academy (a therapeutic program for children Asperger’s syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dealing with traumatic stress, low self-esteem, and other information processing disorders, and other learning/ challenges) and Christmas Wish (a collaborative bridge to developmental disorders. The program enables the children bring together the community and the children’s homes). to participate in camp activities and enjoy the outdoors.
44 THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 PHOTOS: ACCJ STAFF 1 The Kansai Women in Business Committee records the celebration of a successful inaugural summit at the InterContinental Osaka on September 7.
2 Yuko Arimori, president & CEO, Special Olympics Nippon Foundation; ACCJ Executive Director Laura Younger; and Yoshiko Mitsui, chairperson, EVENTS Special Olympics Nippon Foundation at the ACCJ office in early September.
3 Yasuyuki Tanabe, country manager, Airbnb Japan, speaks on Airbnb's global growth strategy at "Airbnb: Growth through a Trusted Company" 1 on August 28.
4 Among those attending the birthday celebrations of ACCJ Vice-President-Kansai Kiran Sethi are (from left) Michael Bobrove, Jiri Mestecky, and Patrik Jonsson (right).
5 ACCJ members wear red outfits to match the “Tomato Red” party theme.
6 United States Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy (6th from right) and her team pose with ACCJ leaders after a briefing on August 24.
UPCOMING EVENTS
2 3 Please visit www.accj.or.jp for a complete list of upcoming ACCJ events or check our weekly e-newsletter, The ACCJ Insider.
• OCTOBER 8 The Power of You: Why Everyone Can Benefit from Building a Personal Brand through Social Media (Tokyo)
• OCTOBER 17 2015 ACCJ Kansai Walk-A-Thon (see page 39)
• OCTOBER 26 2015 Chubu Diversity Summit: Identifying Problems, Finding Solutions for a More Diverse and Productive Workplace (Chubu Event) 4 5
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Application Deadline: October 15, 2015 Cost: JPY125,000 BOOK REVIEW Strategy at Work How to navigate office life
By Vicki L. Beyer
ffice politics. It’s a concept so essential. But additionally, a successful At the same time, Marcus’ uses of wrought with negative imagery woman (or man, for that matter) examples from her own career as an O that it causes many working needs a box of tools that will help with executive coach make this part of the adults, especially women, to cringe soft skills: book feel like an infomercial. That and turn away. notwithstanding, her practical points Bonnie Marcus, in her book � Self-awareness and ability to about knowing when to seek coaching, The Politics of Promotion: How High- articulate her value proposition how to identify the type of coaching Achieving Women Get Ahead and Stay one needs, and how to identify the � Grasp of workplace dynamics, and Ahead, suggests that this reaction is right coach, are all extremely helpful. where power and influence lie based on an erroneous understanding Although Marcus is particularly of the concept. � Ability to cultivate ties to key addressing typical career mistakes of According to Marcus, politics—the interests and decision-makers women, much of the book’s content is art of building and making effective applicable to both men and women as � One or more sponsors to advocate use of relationships—exists inside they develop their careers. What’s more, on her behalf at crucial moments and outside the workplace. She argues many aspects of Marcus’ advice could that it is this ability to strategically � Objective assistance to assemble be applied to operating successfully network that marks the difference the pieces in any diverse workplace where one is between a doer and a leader. not a member of its dominant culture, The central chapters of the book go such as a non-Japanese in a Japanese in-depth to explain the tools and how workplace, or vice versa. n to get them, often by building them Marcus argues that women need ourselves. There are real-life examples to become politically savvy . . . of mistakes and success stories, often Vicki L. Beyer is a vice-chair of the with all-too-familiar fact patterns. Women in Business Committee of the ACCJ. To help readers get started, a “Political Skills Assessment” worksheet Many women, in particular, over- is provided. Other helpful worksheets focus on the work, on doing a good are sprinkled throughout the book, job. Marcus notes the “usual” female covering factors such as identifying practice to keep one’s head down power and influence around one and and do a good job, expecting that awareness of gaps in one’s attributes/ people will come. Sadly, as she amply skills/experience. demonstrates, the world really doesn’t Interestingly, although this is, to function that way: “our work does not some degree, a self-help book, one of speak for itself.” Marcus’ key points is the importance Marcus argues that women of others to one’s success. Not only need to become politically savvy, do we need to get comfortable understanding the environment in with quid-pro-quo networking and which they work and devising ways collaboration, we need sponsors to they can strategically network to raise help us advance. their own value in an organization— Additionally, we need what she calls in part by ensuring that key GPS: an awareness of where we are stakeholders are well aware of how and when we have gone off-course they add value. “Don’t leave [your that is best provided by an executive success] up to chance.” coach. She seems to be saying “you She advocates a two-pronged can’t possibly sort this out on your attack. Doing good work is, of course, own; you need professional help.”
THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 47 JOURNAL.ACCJ.OR.JP
journal.accj.or.jp THE JOURNALTHE THE OURNALAUTHORITY ON GLOBAL BUSINESS IN JAPAN The auThoriTy on global business in Japan
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coming-soon-ad.indd 3 3/19/15 6:58 PM The ACCJ thanks its PRESIDENT Jay Ponazecki Corporate Sustaining Morrison & Foerster, Ito & Mitomi Member companies CHAIRMAN Christopher J. LaFleur Their extensive participation provides a cornerstone in the McLarty Associates chamber’s efforts to promote a better business climate in Japan. TREASURER Aflac Kreab Jack E. Bird Zeirishi-Hojin PricewaterhouseCoopers AIG Companies in Japan Lenovo Japan
Amazon Japan K.K. Lockheed Martin VICE PRESIDENTS Jeffrey S. Bernier Hilton Worldwide Amway Japan G.K. McDonald's Company (Japan), Ltd. Leanne Cutts Mondele z Japan Ltd. Baxalta Japan Limited McKinsey & Company, Inc. Japan Marie G. Kissel Abbott Jonathan Kushner Kreab Bayer Yakuhin, Ltd. Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co., Ltd. Eric W. Sedlak Jones Day Becton Dickinson Japan MetLife Kiran S. Sethi (Kansai) Jupiter International Corporation Christopher Zarodkiewicz (Chubu) Cezars International K.K. Bloomberg L.P. Microsoft Japan Co., Ltd.
Boeing Japan K.K. Mondelez Japan Ltd. ACCJ GOVERNORS Tim Brett Coca-Cola (Japan) Co., Ltd. Catalyst Monex Group, Inc. Thomas M. Clark GE International Inc. Caterpillar Morgan Lewis Britt J. Creamer (Chubu) Lockheed Martin TAS
Chevron International Gas Inc. Morgan Stanley Japan Holdings International Corporation Japan Branch Co., Ltd. James Fink Colliers International Rebecca K. Green ERM Japan Ltd. Cisco Systems G.K. Morrison & Foerster, Ito & Mitomi John D. Harris Nippon Becton Dickinson Company, Ltd. Citigroup MSD K.K. Patrik Jonsson (Kansai) Eli Lilly Japan K.K. George L. Maffeo Boeing Japan K.K. Coca-Cola (Japan) Co., Ltd. Nanzan Gakuen (Nanzan School Corporation) Junichi Maruyama Citigroup Japan Holdings Corp. Colliers International Arthur M. Mitchell White & Case LLP Northrop Grumman
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC Aerospace Systems Sachin N. Shah MetLife Insurance K.K. Yoshitaka Sugihara Google Inc. Delta Air Lines, Inc. Nu Skin Japan Co., Ltd. William J. Swinton Temple University, Japan Campus Deutsche Bank Group Oak Lawn Marketing, Inc. Hiroyoshi Watanabe Amazon Japan K.K.
Dow Chemical Japan Ltd. Procter & Gamble Japan K.K. PRESIDENTS EMERITI
Eli Lilly Japan K.K. Prudential Financial, Inc. Debbie Howard (2004–2005) Charles D. Lake II (2006–2007) en world Japan PwC Japan Allan D. Smith (2008) EY Japan Qualcomm Japan Inc. Thomas W. Whitson (2009–2010) Michael J. Alfant (2011–2012) Federal Express Corporation Randstad K.K.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Robert Walters Japan K.K. ACCJ EXECUTIVE STAFF Tokyo Laura Younger Executive Director Saatchi & Saatchi Fallon Tokyo GE Japan Corporation Squire Patton Boggs GILT GROUPE K.K. State Street Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd. Teijin Limited GR Japan K.K. Teva Pharmaceutical Information as of September 10, 2015 H&R Consultants K.K. Industries Ltd.
Heidrick & Struggles Japan Thomson Reuters Markets K.K. Godo Kaisha The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan Toll Express Japan Co., Ltd. Masonic 39 MT Bldg. 10F, 2-4-5 Azabudai Hilton Worldwide Toys”R”Us, Japan Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan 106-0041 IBM Japan, Ltd. Tel: 03-3433-5381 n Fax: 03-3433-8454 United Airlines, Inc. n IMS Japan www.accj.or.jp https://japan.careerengine.org/accj/ The Walt Disney Company (Japan) Ltd. Johnson & Johnson The ACCJ is an independent membership organization not affiliated with any government Family of Companies White & Case LLP or other chamber of commerce. The ACCJ is a member of the Asia-Pacific Council of American Chambers and values its relationships with Japanese, American and other KPMG Zimmer K.K. nations’ business organizations.
THE JOURNAL n OCTOBER 2015 49 ACCJ LEADERS
Internet Economy Task Force
he Internet Economy Task for all private companies which are Force (IETF) of the American operated in Japan,” Tsukamoto says. T Chamber of Commerce in In a July 2014 viewpoint, titled “GOJ Japan (ACCJ) has been assigned Policy Review on the Protection and the development of viewpoints Utilization of Private Data,” the IETF and policy recommendations for recommends that companies be able Japan’s engagement with the Internet to aggregate and use data to benefit economy and related issues. customers. And proper controls ought As Yoshitaka Sugihara, chair of the to be included to ensure personal data IETF says, “The Internet is a resource is protected. for development and new business. But Yoshitaka Sugihara, chair, IETF The new data protection act, passed as it develops, a number of challenges on September 3, 2015, will be a priority exist, including regulatory and cross- item for the IETF during the rest of the border ones.” Moreover, “The close collaboration year and into 2016, with the next IETF To this end, the IETF liaises with between the US and Japan on the dialogue set to commence in December the business community in Japan Internet economy,” Sugihara says, “can this year. and the US, as well as with the be leveraged and extended to relevant authorities in government in other regions, including Asia.” both countries, to find solutions in What’s more, a key agenda The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow areas where difficulties for business item for the IETF is cyber is the imminent development of the IOT may arise. security and related concerns: Megumi Tsukamoto, vice chair of an over reliance on data the IETF agrees. “If we can support localization—as compared with using INTERNET OF THINGS and encourage more US–Japan more robust globalized data flow For Sugihara and Tsukamoto, the pot collaboration—not only between systems and standards—Sugihara says, of gold at the end of the rainbow is the private sectors, but also government-to- can lead to vulnerabilities in domestic imminent development of the Internet government—to make a smarter world, network security. of Things (IOT). then that would be a success.” “These concerns are similar to the “If the Internet economy develops old debates over managed economies into the IOT, which is the integration CHANGING ECONOMY and free trade,” Sugihara explains. “In of industry and the Internet,” Sugihara One feature of the Internet economy, the short term, managed trade worked says, “then the potential for economic Sugihara explains, is the fast-changing well. But, eventually, it was generally growth is limitless.” nature of products and services that understood that free trade made more Tsukamoto shared similar are being created. While everyday data sense.” Thus, the IETF recommends sentiments. “The IOT, big data, and flows are usually defined by national adoption of global data flow artificial intelligence are included in the boundaries, the Internet has given rise standards and cross-boarder Internet government’s growth strategy for 2015. to the borderless nature of data flows. governance norms. The Internet economy, moreover, is This aspect of the new recognized as an engine for growth. economic landscape has created PERSONAL DATA “With the government of Japan a need for greater collaboration The IETF, furthermore, has worked thinking positively, and Japanese between countries if mutual closely with government and industry companies being aggressive on economic growth is to be achieved, in the area of personal data protection. IT investment, I’m quite optimistic that and that collaboration includes US– “The Personal Data Protection Act the Internet economy would strengthen Japan relations. amendment is one of the critical issues Japanese competitiveness.” n
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