BCCJ ACUMEN, December 2012

The Magazine of the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan December 2012 | ¥900

RAISING THE BAR

TREE OF HOPE

DIVERSITY SURVEY

MANAGING MEETINGS

AFTER THE TYPHOON

scots su r pr ise Feeding Japan’s passion for fine, fresh, classic cuisine Page 16

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VOLUME 3, ISSUE 12

December 2012

20 16 FOOD & DRINK Pass the Salmon, Please!

Trade mission markets best of Scottish cuisine

42 DEFENCE After the Typhoon Former Tokyo defence attaché starts consultancy

7 PUBLISHER Looking Back … and Forward Simon Farrell

ARTS EVENTS Record Concert Vol. 2

44 COMMUNITY Madame Tussauds Tokyo Wax Museum

20 DEFENCE After the Typhoon Former Tokyo defence attaché starts consultancy

38 MUSIC Synergy and Synthesis Punk-era rebel thanks Japan for opportunity and inspiration

22 LEGAL Raising the Bar After 25 years back in Japan, foreign law firms still have mixed feelings

40 TECHNOLOGY Who Needs Referees?

Sony helps Winchester firm market device to end line call errors

HR 26 Disability and the Workplace Poll reveals reactions to new diversity rules, challenges ahead 29 Are You a Meeting Monster?

42 ARTS EVENTS Anonymous, Albert Nobbs, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Record Concert Vol. 2, US by fabric, Cinderella

14 MEDIA What you missed in the Japanese press

30 A-LIST Business Support & Outsourcing and Holiday Special

44 COMMUNITY BCCJ, charity, fashion, launch, music, film, sport

FOOD & DRINK 16 Pass the Salmon, Please!

18 Mission Accomplished

CHARITY 34 Shoulder to Shoulder …

37 Tree of Hope

46 BOOK REVIEW All the Emperor’s Men: Kurosawa’s Pearl Harbour

8 MEDIA UK–Japan News 11 PRESIDENT My Favourite Numbers Nick Walters 13 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Stay in Touch!

Lori Henderson

COVER PHOTO: SCOTTISH DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL TOKYO OFFICE

The British Chamber of Commerce in Japan

BCCJ Mission To strengthen business ties between Britain and Japan, promote and support the business interests of all our Members, and actively encourage new business entrants into the Japanese market as well as Japanese investment into the UK. Leaders President: Nick Walters Individual Member Vice-president: Alison Jambert Eat Creative K.K. Executive Staff Executive Director: Lori Henderson Operations Manager: Sanae Samata Executive Committee Russell M Anderson | Jaguar Land Rover Japan Ltd. Paul Atkinson | Individual Member

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Graham Davis | The Economist Group Ray Bremner | Unilever Japan Hideya Komori | Individual Member Vishal Sinha | British Airways Richard Thornley | Rolls-Royce Japan Co., Ltd James Weeks | Kreab Gavin Anderson K.K. James Dodds | KPMG Tax Corporation Philip T Gibb | Magellan Financial Planning K.K. Reiko Sakimura | Clifford Chance Law Office Yayoi Sogo | Individual Member Ex Officio Sue Kinoshita British Embassy Tokyo Jeff Streeter British Council Japan BCCJ ACUMEN Editor in Chief Simon Farrell British Chamber of Commerce in Japan 12F Ark Mori Bldg.

1-12-32 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-6012 Tel: (03) 4360-8361 Fax: (03) 4360-8454 info@bccjapan.com www.bccjapan.com BCCJ ACUMEN is the magazine of the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan

CONTRIBUTORS www.bccjacumen.com Produced by Custom Media K.K.

Nick Walters, has been BCCJ president since April 2012.

Lori Henderson has been BCCJ executive director since February 2011.

JEREMY SUTTON-HIBBERT

Publisher Simon Farrell simon@custom-media.com

Art Director Cliff Cardona Assistant Art Director Paul Leonard Assistant Editor Megan Waters Client Services Manager Sam Bird samuel@custom-media.com Account Executives Mareike Dornhege mareike@custom-media.com Leon van Houwelingen leon@custom-media.com Kieran Quigley kieran@custom-media.com

Ian de Stains OBE is a former BBC producer and presenter who has been based in Japan since 1976, when he was seconded to NHK. From 1987 to 2011, he was BCCJ executive director. Aside from writing, Ian now focuses on consulting and coaching and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and convenor of its Japan chapter. dest@attglobal.net

Julian Ryall is Japan correspondent for The Daily Telegraph.

JEREMY SUTTON-HIBBERT

President Robert Heldt robert@custom-media.com

Mark Schreiber is an author and translator who has been based in Tokyo since 1966. He was employed as a media analyst in market research before turning to freelance writing.

Christine Wright was made operations director of Asia in 2012 and retains her position as managing director of Hays Specialist Recruitment Japan KK, with responsibility for all aspects of the firm’s management and growth in Japan. Christine launched Hays’ four new specialist businesses in Japan: Office Professionals, Supply Chain, Legal and Insurance.

Anne Good, president of Eureka!, is a career, life and executive coach who helps clients get from where they are to where they want to be by unleashing the power within. anne@eurekamoments.net www.eurekamoments.net

Megan Waters is assistant editor at Custom Media K.K.

Media Co-ordinator Yoko Yanagimoto Host and Producer–BIJ.tv Mike DeJong Advertise or order BCCJ ACUMEN: inquiries@custom-media.com Tel: (03) 6804-5267 Fax: (03) 6804-5268 Custom Media Publishers of BCCJ ACUMEN for the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan. Specialists in bilingual brand strategy/visual communications, corporate bespoke solutions.

Akasaka Palace Bldg. 1F 1-4-21 Moto-Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0051 www.custom-media.com Warning/Disclaimer Custom Media and the BCCJ will not accept liability for any damages caused by the contents of BCCJ ACUMEN, including, but not limited to, any omissions, errors, facts or false statements.

Opinions or advice expressed in BCCJ ACUMEN are not necessarily those of the BCCJ or Custom Media. © 2012 Custom Media K.K.

COMING IN THE JANUARY ISSUE OF BCCJ ACUMEN

Booking deadline:

FRIDAY 21 DECEMBER As space is limited, we encourage advertisers to book early.

A SPECIAL FOCUS ON

Education and Manufacturing & Engineering Our INDUSTRY A-LIST will feature international schools, colleges, universities, language schools, educational products and major firms in mining, chemical, manufacturing, defence and energy—providing you with invaluable exposure among industry experts and an exclusive opportunity to showcase your services and solutions.

View previous INDUSTRY A-LISTs online at: www.bccjacumen.com/a-list

For more information Email: acumen@custom-media.com

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 5

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PUBLISHER

Looking Back ... and Forward

I

n January 2012, Custom Media vowed to showcase in BCCJ ACUMEN a diverse array of subjects, industries, people and things related to UK–Japan business, culture, sport, lifestyle and more over the following 12 months.

Front covers have featured more women than men, plus fashion, food, sport, music and transport. We received one letter of complaint (August) and too many compliments to publish. Apart from a good read, our pages (and sponsors) have generously given readers scores of books, event tickets, discounts, champagne, wine and glasses.

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed putting it all together for you and we always look forward to the next issue.

Here’s my A to Z of the year’s top ACUMEN stories:

Ambassador David Warren KCMG retires from the diplomatic service; Arsenal Ladies FC unbeaten on 11-day, threematch tour; awards for three British residents here (OBE, MBE, CBE) British Business Awards’ (BBA) record number of nominations; British Airways returns to Haneda airport and links with JAL; Brompton’s biggest bike market Chocolate with a twist from Fife and Osaka; cricket in Sano City, Tochigi Prefecture David Cameron on first official bilateral visit to Japan by a British prime minister for nine years; defence pact signed by Tokyo and London Events—diversity, Willie Walsh and wine Fashion with Vivienne Westwood (shoes) and the Union Jack (everything); flowers at Chelsea and Nagasaki GlaxoSmithKline K.K. launches joint venture for innovative vaccines; GREAT campaign opens in Shibuya

Oxfam opens in Tokyo; Okinawa Brits love the seaside Peterborough woman becomes Miyazaki priest Queen Elizabeth II celebrates diamond jubilee Refugees International Japan on Burma, internships, accountability and children; royal wedding; rowing from Tower Bridge to Hokkaido Sebastian Coe’s pre-Olympic visit; Scottish Highland Games in Chiba Triumph motorbikes’ niche market; television from UK debuts at Tokyo trade show UK Trade & Investment market-entry success stories; U.K. Subs gig in Sendai with Japanese guitarist; Unilever wins gender diversity award and opens Ben & Jerry’s in Tokyo Vivienne Westwood shoes (1973–2012); Virgin Atlantic’s afternoon tea at 30,000ft

Investment by foreign firms outside Tokyo

Winners of the BBA—Sir David Warren, GlaxoSmithKline, Lush Japan Co., Ltd., Osamu Okamoto, Suzanne Price

James Dyson continues his love affair with Japan with product launch

X-rated Paralympian Maya Nakanishi outrages reader

Kasumi Ishikawa, a teenage table tennis player, is one of the youngest competitors at the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games

Yayoi Kusuma’s biggest-ever UK exhibition

Harley-Davidson’s Bucks man in Japan

Lawyers from abroad mark 25 years in Japan Major—Sir John—gonged at Imperial Palace and speaks at BCCJ event; madness of British beef ban; marmite and natto Namamugi incident recorded at Yokohama museum; nuclear power new and old

Zero-emissions Leaf made in Sunderland

by Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. Finally, from everyone at BCCJ ACUMEN, we hope you enjoy a safe and pleasant holiday.

Simon Farrell Custom Media simon@custom-media.com

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 7

LATEST UK–JAPAN REPORTS

N-Power Creates Jobs Boost About 14,000 jobs are to be created in the UK by Hitachi Ltd., The Sun reported on 31 October.

The technology firm bought Horizon Nuclear Power for £700mn in October, and plans to build reactors at two sites.

Call for New Maths Teaching Methods British experts want the techniques employed in Japanese schools to teach maths brought to UK institutions to boost the country’s low numeracy level, the Daily Mail reported on 2 November.

Many six-year-olds in Japan are taught to use an abacus, and can calculate much faster than if they used pencil and paper.

Scientific tests have shown that those taught maths using an abacus in East Asia use the computational and visual areas of the brain, while their peers in the West underemphasise visual elements.

At each site, at least 6,000 jobs will be created during construction, and 1,000 permanent jobs thereafter, which will give the UK’s nuclear energy programme a massive boost.

Schools Feel Thatcher Legacy

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto has announced that children will have to attend school on Saturdays, reflecting his admiration for the education reforms credited to former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the Daily Telegraph reported on 12 November.

As part of a campaign to raise the standard of education and reduce delinquency, all elementary schools in the city must implement the new timetable at the start of the next school year in April.

In the 1980s, Thatcher outlined plans for higher standards and increased local autonomy in UK education.

Dementia Scheme The UK is launching a scheme based on a Japanese programme for training people to spot signs of dementia and help sufferers, the BBC reported on 8 November.

The £2.4mn programme hopes to raise awareness of the illness and recruit 1mn volunteers by 2015. In England, the ailment affects some 700,000 people, a figure expected to double over the next 30 years.

Sessions in workplaces and town halls will explain dementia, what it is like to have the condition, and what can be done to help those with symptoms.

Staple Success

Seaweed has been commercially harvested in the UK for the first time, the Daily Mail reported on 14 November.

The edible Dulse seaweed cannot be collected and sold without permission from landowners and environmental agencies and is worth up to £200/kg.

The seaweed is popular in Japan where it is a key ingredient used to achieve umami, the so-called fifth taste.

Tourism Trade Visit

Soft Power Poll of Nations The UK is the nation with the most positive influence, while Japan is in sixth position, according to a survey by Monocle magazine, published in its November issue.

The rankings focus on soft power, a country’s ability to attract and persuade rather than coerce, and were calculated using a composite index of 50 objective and subjective factors—from the standard of government and cultural output to the quality of national cuisines and business brands.

8 | BCCJ ACUMEN | DECEMBER 2012

京浜にけ

VisitBritain brought representatives of 18 UK tourism-related firms to Japan to connect with travel trade buyers, The Japan Daily Press reported on 22 November.

Britain’s tourism agency sought to make the most of encouraging figures for Japanese visitors to the UK. In 2011, some 237,000 Japanese went to the UK and spent £191mn, up 6% year on year. The agency hopes to raise the figure to 30% by 2020, with an additional 61,000 visitors.

The Takizakura tree is at least 1,000 years old.

Famous Sakura Seeds Donated Seeds from a famed flowering cherry tree in Fukushima Prefecture have been given to London’s Royal Botanic Gardens, media reported on 15 November.

Seeds from Miharu town’s 13.5m Takizakura tree, said to be at least 1,000 years old, were delivered to the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew Gardens to express gratitude for the UK’s support for those affected by the March 2011 triple disaster.

The seed bank project aims to conserve biodiversity and promotes the collection and preservation of seeds of wild plants at home and abroad.

THE RAILWAY MUSEUM

Top Honours for Linguist

Roy Hurst was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun medal for his contribution to UK–Japan ties as a linguist, according to the Slough and South Banks Observer on 8 November.

Hurst, appointed an OBE in 2000 and awarded the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation in 2006, taught Japanese diplomats Russian and German at the Royal Army Educational Corps centre at Wilton Park, Beaconsfield, from 1964 to 2002.

Limited Drink Bottles Launched

Suntory Holdings has released a blended whisky to mark the Rolling Stones’ 50th anniversary, media reported on 2 November.

Only 150 bottles of the whisky, part of the firm’s Stones Bar series, were released. The crystal bottles are engraved with the Stones’ iconic lips and tongue logo, and have a decorative diamond-shaped stopper.

Whiskies Win Top Awards Two Suntory Holdings Limited whisky brands have won the top prize at a UK competition, media reported on 6 November.

The distiller is the first to have been simultaneously honoured for two products at the International Spirits Challenge 2012.

The British-built Locomotive No.1 was the first train used on the Shimbashi–Yokohama line.

Railway Museums Join Forces The Railway Museum in Saitama City plans to form an alliance with the UK’s National Railway Museum in York, The Yomiuri Shimbun reported on 26 November.

The partnership is expected to allow more items from the birthplace of railways to be displayed in Japan.

This year marks the 140th anniversary of Japan’s first railway, built between Shimbashi in Tokyo and Yokohama, using UK technology.

Visitors Pay Homage to Shipbuilders

A Cumbrian shipyard hosted visitors from Japan, who were there to see the birthplace of that nation’s most famous battleship, the North-West Evening Mail reported on 14 November.

The Mikasa was built for the Imperial Japanese Navy by the firm then known as Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd. of Barrow-in-Furness. Launched in 1900, it played a key role in defeating the Russian Navy at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905.

The 28 members of the Mikasa Preservation Society were presented with a plaque to commemorate the visit and a picture of the Mikasa as she looks today.

Rare Tapestries Exhibited

Suntory’s Yamazaki and Hakushu single malt whiskies won the top prize at the International Spirits Challenge 2012.

Tapestry and embroidery wall hangings from the Meiji era will be exhibited at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, the Guardian reported on 7 November.

The Threads of Silk and Gold exhibition is the first devoted to textiles from the Meiji era (1868–1912) and will include fabrics never before exhibited.

Project Imports Arts, Crafts

A new e-commerce venture will take Japanese art and designs to the UK, according to a press release issued on 1 November.

Online customers will be able to buy contemporary Japanese art and crafts.

The founder of the Manchester-based endeavour, Pop Up Tokyo, travelled Japan to source items from up-and-coming artists and craftspeople, who would otherwise never have been able to market their products in the UK.

Star Player Boosts Fans

Since the signing of Shinji Kagawa, the number of Manchester United fans has increased, FCBusiness reported on 19 November The football team has almost 4mn supporters in Japan, and the number is expected to continue to rise while Kagawa plays for the club.

Manchester United has a long-established presence in Japan with six commercial partners in the country, including printer manufacturer Seiko Epson Corp. and electronics giant Toshiba Corporation.

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 9

PRESIDENT

My Favourite Numbers

T

he BCCJ 2012 British Business Awards (BBA) were the culmination of months of hard work and careful planning.

I would like to thank our hosts, the Conrad Tokyo hotel, our incredibly generous sponsors and, above all, the BCCJ’s secretariat, led by Executive Director Lori Henderson, as well as Vice-president Alison Jambert and her team for their months of hard work to ensure everyone enjoyed the dinner and rightly celebrated the remarkable relationship between the UK and Japan.

What follows is taken from my welcome speech at this year’s event. My apologies to the 186 people who have already heard it, and I trust that next year many more shall hear the words of welcome!

Everybody worries when a tax accountant is given the microphone and asked to address a roomful of people who are there to enjoy themselves.

Too often, we try to entertain the crowd with slides from our latest birdwatching trip, or talk about our favourite numbers. But, as I am not much of a twitcher, that leaves me to discuss my favourite numbers.

Twenty, 12. The numbers have become one and synonymous with a glorious year

for the UK. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, with the grand flotilla on the Thames river; the best Olympic and Paralympic Games in the modern era; the first men’s Grand Slam tennis champion since Fred Perry in 1936. Yes, 2012 will remain one of my favourite numbers for some time.

How about 450 for the 450 British firms that currently have operations in Japan?

Or 8bn? That’s a good number. It represents the £8bn in goods and services that the UK exports to Japan each year.

Two more numbers that may come together: 125mn and 2,000.

One hundred and twenty-five million pounds is the amount that Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. invested in its UK plant in Sunderland earlier this year, creating 2,000 jobs in the north-east of England.

Or this great series of numbers: 700mn, 6, 14mn, 60 and 12,000. Oh, they are good numbers that any tax accountant would like. They represent the £700mn investment in the UK by Hitachi, Ltd. to build up to six new nuclear power stations that will provide energy for almost 14mn homes for up to 60 years, while at the same time creating 12,000 jobs in the UK. Oh, yes, good numbers indeed! But, moving closer to home, another of my favourite numbers is 724.

This represents the 724 members of the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan.

Despite the tough economic times, this number is steadily rising—a sign of the value our members see in being part of this great community.

And, finally, 180. No, not in memory of the late, great sports commentator and TV personality, Sid Waddell, and his catchphrase, but the 180 members, guests and friends who gathered at the fifth annual BBA to celebrate the significant partnership between the UK and Japan: the deep, wide and growing bond that ties the two countries together.

One final number: 50. It has been 50 years since he arrived on our screens and, with the advent of Skyfall, may he grace them for 50 more. Ladies and gentlemen, James Bond ...

Finally, a video digest of the 2012 BBA, produced by Custom Media, may be viewed at: http://bit.ly/bba2012

Nick Walters BCCJ President

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Stay in Touch!

Supporting, promoting and engaging with members Meet Your Executive Committee

TA

he British Chamber of Commerce in Japan is now t the our BCCJ annual general serving membership meeting onup-to-the-minute 26 April, through eight attendees elected a new communications channels, executive committee, which are designed to support, promote comprising members and engage with member15 firms and the (whoseUK–Japan names can be found on page 6), to greater relationship. serve the membership during the 2012–13 chamber year.

Website committee meets every month TheThe home of all BCCJ events, news andat the British Embassy Tokyo’s Number 4 House, information (www.bccjapan.com). by kind permission ournumber; ex-officionew Benefits: a unique of login memberfirm Sueupdates; Kinoshita, director of UK member customisable Tradein&our Investment.

There the team agree pages online member directory; organisational policy, discuss general promotional opportunities; discounted BCCJ business, review progress member rates forand events; free event in promoting the interests of all members. coupons; member marketplace.

Certain executive committee members take responsibility for specific areas Weekly Roundup of BCCJ growth and development, and Circulated to 720-plus members every this often includes heading a task force Friday afternoon. charged with specific objectives, such Benefits: Delivery of BCCJ news and as events, communication, events to your inbox; updateslegal fromissues, the finance, CSR, the European Business British Embassy Tokyo and European Council,Council and thein British Business Business Japan; key diary Awards (BBA).for member firm services. dates; requests More generally, team members are asked to attend and host as many BCCJ LinkedIn as possible Aevents professional group(40 of were high-held in 2011– 12) to mix with guests, everyone calibre members amonghelp LinkedIn’s feel welcome, 175mn subscribers. and solicit feedback on approximately the BCCJ. The secretariat welcomes Benefits: Real-time business news; feedback and encourages members to industry updates; commercial information

from key Japan and overseas institutions; collaborative problem-solving. familiarise themselves with executive committee representatives, in order to Facebook thoughts and will Aexpress dedicated page on theopinions world’s that largest lead us to providing social networking site.the highest levels of service for Interactive the membership at from large.the Benefits: content Executive committee members BCCJ, the British Embassy Tokyo; events are, essentially, ambassadors for the updates; information; news about social BCCJ. They introduce new members, responsibility activities. invite guests to events, and support organisational goals.

Twitter You willfeed be hearing more from Dedicated on the text-based individual members microblogging site. of this 2012–13 committee in subsequent issues of Benefits: Daily news from the BCCJ, ACUMEN. Should you have any questions member firms, other chambers. for executive committee members, please email: info@bccjapan.com.

YouTube Video summaries of BCCJ events, 2012 British Business Awards charitable activities.

InBenefit: response to feedback over the years Activity updates. from the executive committee, for the fifth British Business Awards we will Flickr encourage more nominations across all Photo stream of BCCJ events, social categories, toactivities. create even more of a buzz responsibility inBenefits: advanceAccess of this to headliner event—this our photo streams year slated 2 November at the widgets Conrad through our for website (left column, Tokyo“My hotel.

The more nominees, the more under BCCJ”). attendees—and the more opportunities for business development for everyone.

BCCJ ACUMEN Full-colour, monthly print and online YouTube with exclusive content, publication As part ofto the communications circulated allBCCJ’s BCCJ members and strategy, we now have our own YouTube key institutions.

MORE REASONS TO VISIT THE BCCJ ACUMEN WEBSITE » READ interesting articles from all issues » SHARE insightful content with other people » FIND vendors and clients in our A-LIST » ENTER exciting competitions and win prizes » SIGN UP to our monthly E-Bulletin » TELL us what subjects you like to read about

Benefits: Variety of top-quality editorial from journalists, BCCJ leaders, industry channel, designed experts, guest VIPs. to drive traffic to the BCCJ website through search-engine optimisation, and showcase We invite all members to reap the diversity of our events programme, this year led by benefits of the BCCJ’s comprehensive Graham Davis offramework the Economist Group. communications by regularly A number of videos, including sharing updates from your firms “BCCJ and British Business 2011”, have been industries, as wellAwards as writing news articles uploaded. tuned to see more BCCJ for the BCCJ Stay website. member firms featured in and the weeks and Maximise your exposure stimulate months ahead. member-to-member business by posting Steve Crane, executive offers on the BCCJchief website and/orof Business Link Japanspecific K.K., and winner of the our Person requesting services through of the Year prize at the British Business Weekly Roundup.

Awards 2011, saidhelps recently: “Following All of the above enhance your on from search-engine the BCCJ’s comment about utilising firm’s rankings, and has videos to maximise there the potential to open opportunity, up key avenues for has business. been a steady flow of viewers to my your BBA videobeen (360experimenting so far). Many prospective We have with clients have watched it, to and have gone auto-responders to email increase on toefficiency, do business with us. Since winning office free up resources for us award, I have seen a clear upturn in tothe better serve our members, and work on ourBCCJ’s sales,development which suggests that (a) the strategy forwinning the a BBA has coming year.a clear, positive effect on business, and (b) capturing the moment BCCJ Operations Manager Sanae Samata andI are putting it out there on forward social media and genuinely looking to is a very you goodinthing!” serving 2013—and beyond!

LoriHenderson Henderson Lori BCCJExecutive ExecutiveDirector Director BCCJ

bccjacumen.com

MEDIA

WHAT YOU MISSED IN THE JAPANESE PRESS

BY MARK SCHREIBER

Hitto Products Despite Tough Times The Japan Marketing Journal is credited with having coined the term hitto shouhin (hit products) back in 1971.

The concept has changed little since then; inclusion in the list of hits acknowledges a firm’s ability to develop a new success, which initiates spending patterns that indicate how Japan’s society is changing.

Needless to say, these successes are particularly admired because they have been achieved during the prolonged business recession.

A number of publications and organisations, including the Japan Marketing Journal’s sister publication, Nikkei Trendy, have joined in drawing up their own list of product hits at the year’s end.

In its December issue, the Nikkei Trendy magazine listed the top 30 hit products for this year. In number one position was the Tokyo Skytree that, at 634m, is the world’s tallest free-standing tower.

Moreover, since its opening to the public on 22 May, it has helped stimulate the economy of Tokyo’s downtown area. The number of visitors to the tower has easily surpassed the 32mn—one-quarter of Japan’s population—initially projected for its first year of operation.

Second on Trendy’s list is LINE, a multilingual communication application from NAVER Japan Corporation that allows smartphone users to make voice calls and send messages free of charge.

PLUS Corporation’s Fit Cut Curve Scissors

Duty-free System to Be Streamlined As a result of efforts made by the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other business associations, the tax exemptions enjoyed by overseas visitors will undergo simplification beginning around May 2013, according to the Japan Marketing Journal (26 November).

In part, this is to counter the planned rise in the consumption tax from the current 5% to 8% in 2014.

Among members of the working group that made the suggestions on 29 November were JTB Corp., the Japan Association of Travel Agents, Japan Airlines, ANA, Yodobashi Camera Co., Ltd, and Shiseido Co., Ltd.

14 | BCCJ ACUMEN | DECEMBER 2012

Current duty-free regulations require retailers of souvenirs and other goods to submit separate applications for each sale.

Retailers say this is time-consuming.

The system under consideration, which would enable retailers to provide tax rebates on the spot, is that currently in use at European Union airports.

Besides products to which duty-free measures currently apply, the new system is expected to cover food products and cosmetics.

It is believed that the duty-free system must undergo streamlining if Japan is to attain its ambitious goal of attracting 25mn foreign tourists per year by 2020.

Domestic low-cost carriers, such as Jetstar Japan Co., Ltd and AirAsia Japan, are in third place, while Maruchan’s instant noodles, which have sold over 200mn servings in their first year, came fourth.

PLUS Corp’s Fit Cut Curve scissors, which will help to increase their domestic market share by 15% by offering a choice of handle colours and a sharp curved blade, made it to fifth place on the list.

The absence of foreign brands—only two made it to the top 30 in 2012— was conspicuous.

In 17th place, Coca-Cola (Japan) Company, Limited enjoyed a good run with its yerba mate tea made from the leaves of a South American tree, while Proctor & Gamble scored success with its Lenora Happiness aroma gel (20th place).

Trendy also observed several distinct patterns in consumption during 2012.

One was the concentration of shopping and leisure complexes around some major attractions. In the Kanto area, these included the Tokyo Disney Resort, which this year received a record number of entrants; the Mitsui Outlet Park in Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture; DiverCity Tokyo Plaza, Odaiba; the refurbished Tokyo Central Station in the city centre; and Tokyu Corporation’s new Shibuya Hikarie.

Second was the entertainment industry’s success in shifting the focus of TV, films, music and books to products offering “peace of mind” and “ease of understanding”.

For food and beverages, consumers sought “inventive” product ideas. Recipe books that include preparation ideas for such products as Mitsukan vinegar and Kibun soya milk sold well, and demand boomed for Bacardi’s Hemingway-esque mojito cocktails.

Maruchan’s instant noodles were placed in fourth.

MEDIA

The HUB in Funabashi-city, Chiba Prefecture

Thirst for UK-style Pubs Patronage at British-style pubs in Japan shows no sign of relenting.

The Japan Marketing Journal (23 November) reports that the HUB Co., Ltd chain, operator of 58 HUB and 18 82Ale House outlets, projects an ambitious expansion, to reach 130 nationwide over the next five years.

Based in Chiyoda Ward, the firm began in 1980 as a fully owned subsidiary of the Daiei, Inc supermarket chain. Its largest shareholder is currently Royal Holdings Co., Ltd., operator of the Royal Host family restaurants and Shakey’s Pizza franchises, among others.

The chain reported a 12% year-on-year increase in revenues during the March to August period, defying the overall downward trend of its main competitors, izakaya—the Japanese drinking establishments that also serve food.

With the main nightlife areas in Tokyo largely saturated, the new outlets will focus on the metropolitan areas of Osaka and Nagoya, as well as regional cities.

Another strategy will be to open new branches close to suburban commuter stations, such as that near Chiba’s Kaihin-Makuhari Station on the JR Sobu Line.

One reason for the chain’s success may be the relatively low average outlay per customer. Compared with the approximately ¥2,800 spent at rival chains, the average customer at a HUB outlet typically pays only ¥1,500 during the comparatively short 90 minutes he or she spends on the premises.

“More people, particularly among the younger set, are spending less time when at restaurants and bars”, said HUB’s president, Tsuyoshi Ota.

Do You Walk on Escalators?

In the Asahi Shimbun’s “be between” online survey (24 November), 3,517 people answered the question: “Do you walk on escalators?” Just over half the respondents (52%) gave a positive response, while 48% said they remain stationary.

Among those who replied in the affirmative, 48% explained their walking as a habit; 33% said it is because they are in a hurry; while 7% said other people do, so they just follow their herd instinct.

Among those who said they stand still on escalators, 23% said they believe moving about is dangerous, while 22% said standing still is the proper way to ride an escalator.

However, the most common reply (39%) was that the respondents are not in a hurry.

The Asahi gave the last word to Junichi Hirota, a division head at the Japan Elevator Association responsible for enhancing

the safety, performance and comfort of escalators. Hirota noted that, according to Japan’s construction regulations, the maximum width of escalators is 1.1m, or about 0.3m narrower than public staircases.

This allows passengers to grasp either the left or right hand rail.

Another factor that discourages walking on escalators is that the riser (height) of each step is usually 20cm or more, compared with the regulation 18cm or less for stairs.

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 15

FOOD & DRINK

Pass the Salmon, Please!

Trade mission markets best of Scottish cuisine

By Julian Ryall Photos: Scottish Development International Tokyo Office • Food is nation’s strongest growth sector • Whisky exports hit record £4.23bn in 2011 • Vision: healthier, wealthier, smarter Scots

“Scotland is a small country, but it benefits enormously from a pristine natural environment”.

16 | BCCJ ACUMEN | DECEMBER 2012

A

mong the things that struck Richard Lochhead—a member of the Scottish Parliament and cabinet secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment— on his first visit to Japan, were the quality and presentation of food, as well as the passion that Japanese people have for what they eat.

This, he said, gave him great optimism that the trade mission he was accompanying to promote Scottish food and drink would meet with success.

“Scotland is a small country, but it benefits enormously from a pristine natural environment. This means that we can focus on premium quality products, capitalising on naturally healthy foods and a provenance with which customers associate quality, authenticity and trustworthiness”, Lochhead said at a food and drink tasting event at the British Embassy Tokyo in November.

“Many of our food and drink businesses are family owned, with much pride,

passion, skill and experience transferred between generations.

“As a government, we recognise that our food and drink sector is something of which we should be, and are, immensely proud”, said Lochhead, a member of the Scottish National Party who represents the Moray constituency.

“That is why, when we came into office, we created the first National Food and Drink Policy for Scotland, and we have come a long way since the conception of the policy in 2007 and its publication in 2009”.

The government’s vision for food and drink is to make the nation healthier, wealthier and smarter, he said. As well as addressing quality and health, the policy addresses environmental sustainability, education, access and affordability for all.

The success of this wide-ranging, proactive approach has been recognised around the world, and held up as a model by the government of Canada, the United States Department of Agriculture and the World Health Organization.

“Over the next year, we will focus on food education for young people”, he added. “To build on the success of the policy, the Scottish government has more than doubled the food policy budget for the next three years, highlighting the importance we place on the sector”.

The food and drink industry is currently Scotland’s strongest growth sector, with

FOOD & DRINK

“Many of our food and drink businesses are family owned, with much pride, passion, skill and experience transferred between generations”.

2010 figures showing a 5% year-onyear increase in turnover, from £11.8bn to £12.4bn.

“Credit for this success should be given to Scotland Food and Drink Ltd., who are the industry-led body responsible for driving industry growth”, he said.

The team was established in 2007 as a non-profit organisation to guide food and drink firms of all sizes towards increased profitability. In 2009, Scotland Food & Drink set a 2017 target of £12.5bn, which is on track to being reached five years early.

“It has helped ensure that fantastic collaboration and partnerships have been fostered—between farmers, fishermen, food processors and manufacturers, salmon farmers, whisky companies and all parts of the food- and drink-supply chains”, he said.

“The Scottish food and drink industries are outperforming the UK food industry, breaking records and outperforming all other manufacturing industries”.

Scotland reported record exports in 2001, and the government has implemented policies to boost total exports 50% by 2017, with the food and drinks sector a vital piece of that plan.

Within that sector, whisky plays a big part.

Exports of Scotch reached a record high of £4.23bn in 2011, up 23% from 2010 and 50% from 2007.

Whisky has also played a special part in cementing the friendship between

Scotland and Japan, Lochhead pointed out. The relationship can be traced as far back as King James VI of Scotland and Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japan’s first Tokugawa shogun.

While Japan largely made Western-style spirits with chemicals after the country opened up to the world, the secrets of whisky were brought to this country

by Masataka Taketsuru, the founder of Japan’s whisky industry.

Initially sent to Scotland by a drinks manufacturer in 1918, he worked at a number of distilleries in the Highlands and studied organic chemistry at the University of Glasgow, becoming the first Japanese to learn the art of making topnotch Scotch.

After marrying, he returned to Japan in 1921 with his Scottish bride—and the ability to make genuine whisky.

But, aware that the right environment is required for the very best whisky, he started his own firm in 1934, Dainipponkaju Co., Ltd., later to become the Nikka Whisky Distilling Co., Ltd, with its first distillery in Yoichi, Hokkaido.

“History shows us that we can learn much from one another. We can benefit from sharing cultural understanding, but we also have much in common, such as a shared appreciation of quality, authenticity and tradition”, said Lochhead.

“Over the next year, we will focus on food education for young people”.

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 17

FOOD & DRINK

Mission Accomplished Firms report sales triumph on first Tokyo trade visit

• Michelin star restaurants order seafood • Biscuits, beverages, breakfast items sought • Focus on packaging, high-quality goods

T

he recent trade mission to Japan to promote Scottish food and drink paid an immediate dividend after The Scottish Deli announced that its next order from Japan had tripled in size, thereby adding five top-end fish and shellfish products to its range of exports.

18 | BCCJ ACUMEN | DECEMBER 2012

The delicatessen chain, with shops in the Scottish towns of Pitlochry and Dunkeld, will now be supplying products to 20 Michelin-starred restaurants in Tokyo.

The firm’s managing director, Alec Cruikshank, paid tribute to the impact of the trade mission organised by Scottish Development International and Scotland Food & Drink.

“Visiting Japan and China really opened my eyes to the huge opportunities across Asia and helped me develop new contacts”, Cruikshank said.

“We already had our next shipment to Japan planned but, after we met our importer, they decided to increase the order threefold and are committed to taking more of our products in the future”.

The firm has been supplying langoustines and lobster to Japan since August, but the November visit has strengthened links with customers in the new market.

“The mission also helped me make some really useful contacts so I’m confident this is just the start of something very exciting”, he said.

The Scottish Deli was one of 17 Scottish firms visiting Japan and China, where they visited top retailers and supermarkets to better understand the market opportunities and grasp what Asian consumers are looking for in terms of branding, packaging and price.

The trip included 130 one-to-one meetings to introduce the firms to buyers, importers and distributors, as well as a series of industry receptions to showcase Scottish food to chefs, hotels, restaurants and retailers.

“We have been fortunate to have wonderful partners here in Japan for many years now, and that has been a big help for us in this market”, James Walker, managing director of Walkers Shortbread Ltd, told BCCJ ACUMEN at a British Embassy Tokyo reception.

“This is a very demanding market because the standard of the products available here is so high, which means that we have to really be on our toes”, he said.

One way of keeping ahead of the competition is by providing distinctive new packaging for products, he added.

Walkers have introduced a selection of new boxes and tins ahead of Japan’s allimportant Christmas and oseibo year-end gift-giving seasons.

Andrew Neilson, a representative of Glasgow-based fisheries firm John Vallance, while on an early morning visit to Tokyo’s Tsukiji wholesale fish market, was deeply impressed by both the scale of the market and the volume of fish being landed there.

“I work in Glasgow fish market, but [Tsukiji] was just a different world”, he said. “I have been very impressed by the attention to detail that is needed to get

FOOD & DRINK

The Scottish Deli announced that its next order from Japan had tripled in size, thereby adding five topend fish and shellfish products to its range of exports. a foothold in the market here and the quality of what is available.

“We’re not looking to do a high volume of trade with Japan, but instead we want to provide high-end products and differentiate ourselves through our brand.

“I came [to Japan] with an open mind and an aim to get a foot in the door. The response I have had in our meetings has been fairly positive”, he added.

More than 100 guests from Japanese firms were given an opportunity to sample some of Scotland’s finest cuisine at the embassy reception. An array of Scottish salmon and whisky was ably supported by mature Mull of Kintyre cheddar cheese, lobster salad with beetroot and vinaigrette, smoked haddock with potato and chive cream, crab and artichoke rillettes, poached langoustine with rhubarb and compote, as well as poached mussels in the shell with anchovy and celery butter.

The firms taking part in the event also displayed some of their products, ranging from Braw fruit bars, Highland Spring water and Melrose’s tea to marmalade made with Bowmore single malt Islay whisky, Black Isle bottled porter and stout, and even a tinned vegetarian haggis.

“As we’re a fairly young organisation, this is the first food and drink trade mission to Japan. We were only set up five years ago, but we’re very optimistic that this will lead to successes down the line”, said Ray Jones, chairman of Scotland Food and Drink.

“Whisky obviously leads the way for us, and of our £5.9bn in total exports in this sector, £4.7bn comes from whisky”, he said. “So what we are looking to do now, is to extend our portfolio of good, natural and processed foods”.

Scottish beef is one area that Jones believes holds great potential—as soon as the rules on beef imports are lifted—along with lamb, high-end cheese and a large selection of seafood from some of the best waters in the world.

But all the participants in the mission were heartened by the instant success of The Scottish Deli.

“It is fantastic to see one of our companies winning new orders from Japan just days after participating in the trade mission”, said Anne MacColl, chief executive of Scottish Development International.

“The visit demonstrated the huge potential of the Asia market for Scottish companies to increase their export performance”, she said.

“All of the companies met potential buyers in Japan, as well as China, and we’re expecting many more deals to be done in the coming weeks and months”.

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 19

DEFENCE

After the Typhoon Former Tokyo defence attaché starts consultancy Custom Media Photos: Ministry of Defence, Crown Copyright

W

hen Japan decided not to buy the Eurofighter Typhoon as its nextgeneration fighter aircraft, there was deep disappointment among the firms in the consortium that had designed it, including the UK’s BAE Systems plc and Rolls-Royce plc.

The decision, announced in December 2011, was mitigated somewhat in April,

The Seafox mine-disposal system works at extreme depths.

20 | BCCJ ACUMEN | DECEMBER 2012

however, when Prime Minister David Cameron visited Japan.

In a statement issued with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, the two nations committed themselves to working more closely in the areas of defence and security—particularly in the joint development of defencerelated equipment.

The foundations for collaboration between the defence industries of both nations were laid while Simon Chelton was defence attaché at the British Embassy Tokyo, where he was posted for four years from 2003.

After leaving the armed services, and following a short spell in the defence industry, he set up Cheltons Consulting to bring together firms from the two countries and to develop new opportunities.

He describes the Defence Cooperation Memorandum (June 2012) between Japan and the UK as “very significant”.

“Overall, the new agreement enables the two countries to support each other as appropriate when they are operating in close proximity, such as in the Indian Ocean off Somalia, and working together to improve their respective equipment capability”, Chelton told BCCJ ACUMEN.

The equipment collaboration agreement is, thus far, the only one that Japan has signed with a country other than the US. It has ushered in a noticeable increase in consultations between the two governments as both sides explore the possibilities of the understanding.

Since the end of WWII, Japan has had a single security treaty and has been very careful to limit its military capabilities.

However, the conclusion of the Cold War in 1991 marked the end of several accepted defence certainties, making international security more complex.

“From an equipment capability perspective, it is worth reflecting that both Britain and Japan are island nations on the edge of large continents, and are dependent on external resource supply by sea. This means that both have similar needs for maritime and air military capability”, Chelton pointed out. “[The UK and Japan] are very close allies of the United States, and maintaining military interoperability with the United States is equally important to both”, he added.

“The two countries have similarsized defence budgets, and maintain ambitions to produce at least some of

DEFENCE

BAE Systems’ Viking vehicle takes on all terrains.

The Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham shares information with other governments in the global fight against cyber attacks, terrorism, natural disasters and military crises.

3. Morale-boosting regimental mascots like Taffy the goat are not for sale.

4, 5. UK firms sell protective gear to armed forces worldwide.

6. Off the coast of South America, the Royal Navy seized more than £33mn worth of cocaine believed destined for Europe, arrested the crew, and destroyed their speedboat.

7. A 24-hour multi-climate ration pack 8. A soldier’s prosthetic leg at the Personnel Recovery Centre in Edinburgh 9. The Ministry of Defence recently spent millions of pounds on British boots.

SERGEANT ALISON BASKERVILLE RLC

1.

2.

1

4

2

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SERGEANT IAN FORSYTH RLC

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their military equipment from their own national resources.

“Neither country’s military spending is in any way comparable to that of the United States, so collaboration offers the potential for a more equal relationship with the US in this area”.

Chelton believes it will be important in the early days for the two governments to provide a suitable framework to allow collaboration.

“Both countries’ systems have significant differences. There need to be ways of similarly addressing the issues of protecting sensitive information, sharing information with allies, as well as handling intellectual property rights for jointly developed equipment and contractual procedures”, he explained.

“It is also likely that any early projects identified by the two governments will be at the smaller and nonlethal end, perhaps emphasising protective qualities”.

8

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These ventures might include the development of body armour systems— an area in which British firms are world leaders—that enable troops to detect and identify nuclear, biological and chemical contamination, as well as protect themselves by such equipment as respiratory apparatus. In addition, they could develop technology to detect, disable and destroy land and sea mines.

Given that Japan and the UK share a great number of similar objectives in the areas of international security, peacekeeping operations and foreign policy in general, and both countries have similar needs regarding the protection of their respective homelands, future development efforts could evolve into larger, joint projects, involving, for example, maritime patrol aircraft or new-generation search-andrescue helicopters.

As well as BAE Systems and RollsRoyce, AgustaWestland and Thales both

5

have large UK identities, significant interest in the Japanese market, and are likely to already be taking part in talks with potential partners.

However, there is a wide range of smaller British firms who currently do not have the capacity to maintain a presence in Japan.

“Helping these firms establish appropriate relationships with Japanese companies will be an important contribution to the collaboration landscape”, he said.

Chelton believes his service is designed to bring together firms on both sides—a sort of defence nakoudo (matchmaker).

“In yen terms, Japan’s defence budget has consistently declined in recent years, but the pressure to obtain greater value from a significant budget will continue to increase”, he said. “The UK’s experience in this area could be very useful to Japan.

“The potential for fruitful collaboration seems substantial”.

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 21

LEGAL

Raising the Bar After 25 years back in Japan, foreign law firms still have mixed feelings

By Julian Ryall • • • • • •

Positive changes lauded, but more to do Some 360 overseas law firms here Parts of legal system are criticised Foreign law firms get only one office Some rules’ logic, fairness questioned Govt talks often vague, lack urgency

D

ecember marks an important anniversary for the legal profession in Japan, with foreign law firms celebrating a quarter of a century since they were permitted once again to practice in this jurisdiction.

There have been vast changes in Japan’s legal landscape over those 25 years, as well as in the advice that foreign law firms are allowed to provide. While

specialists in business law agree that most of the changes have been broadly positive and in line with the needs of modern international businesses, they believe there are still areas of the Japanese legal system that lag behind those of other advanced nations.

Some point to a lack of transparency on how regulations are made; others say the rules should be rewritten to allow young, foreign lawyers to start and fully develop their careers here, instead of being required to work elsewhere for two years.

Another bone of contention is the ban preventing foreign law firms from having more than one office in Japan.

However, there is optimism that improvements are coming since, in recent years, Japan’s Ministry of Justice has instituted changes. One of the improvements that was, arguably, most

“In general, a lot of the big battles have already been fought in many areas”.

Ken Kurosu

22 | BCCJ ACUMEN | DECEMBER 2012

overdue came after authorities here finally realised that Japan was suffering from a dire shortage of lawyers. Consequently, it permitted many more law students to pass the annual bar examination.

“In general, a lot of the big battles have already been fought in many areas, although some work remains to be done”, said Ken Kurosu, managing partner at global legal practice Squire Sanders.

“These sorts of things are often more effective at the government-togovernment level, rather than in workinglevel talks”, Kurosu explained.

One of the very first US law firms to set up shop in Asia, Squire Sanders’ predecessor firm, Graham & James LLP, had a presence in Tokyo as early as 1955. To operate, it took advantage of a loophole in the rules at the time, which permitted lawyers to work if they had been here in the immediate aftermath of WWII. Squire Sanders’ roots may be in Cleveland, Ohio, but its largest office is in London, while the Tokyo practice reopened in 1988, after the ban on foreign law firms was relaxed.

“Government-to-government talks on issues can be a bit vague and lack a sense of urgency”, Kurosu told BCCJ ACUMEN. “The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan has been quite active in pursuing these matters, while the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan is also involved through the European Business Council in Japan. That is where we see most of the

LEGAL

James Lawden

movement and approaches that tend to be the most effective”.

As Japan emerged from years of isolation to embrace foreign ideas, it was initially drawn to European legal systems. The nation’s rulers in the Meiji Era (1868–1912) adopted laws based on those of Germany and, to a lesser extent, France, the UK and the US. The Commercial Code, a set of laws designed to regulate commerce, was adopted in 1899. The current corporate law is based on that code but is undergoing numerous revisions, the most recent going into force on 30 December, 2005.

After the end of the war, the legal system underwent a number of major revisions by the Occupation authorities and, inevitably, was strongly influenced

by US law, with a dash of British law added.

However, the changes did not make it easy for foreign legal firms to open offices in Japan. Initially, such firms were given special status to assist in the post-war trials or aid the Occupation authorities.

Then in 1954, rules were instituted banning any more overseas firms from offering their services here.

The shutters remained down until the 1980s, which were a tense time for Japan’s trade relations. Restrictions were placed on imports of everything from French skis—because Japanese snow was claimed to be different to that of France—to US cars. Under huge pressure, primarily from Washington D.C., legal services were one area in which Japan gave way, and foreign firms were allowed to provide their expertise.

Today, there are some 360 foreign legal firms registered in Japan, some 200 from the US and 70 from the UK, with numerous unregistered junior lawyers assisting them. The remaining legal firms have been set up by businesses in other nations although, in recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of Chinese lawyers practicing here.

Overseas legal firms are represented as a bloc by the Foreign Lawyers’ Association of Japan, which works with the legal services sections of foreign chambers of commerce and the EBC to encourage changes in Japan’s laws.

The EBC’s Legal Services Committee, chaired by James Lawden, a partner with the Tokyo office of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, contributes a section to the EBC’s annual white paper on the status of changes in the industry. The 2012 report made for uncomfortable reading.

The optimism expressed two years earlier had been severely diluted in terms of both the moves by the Ministry of Justice to streamline the application process for foreign lawyers, and a report by the Foreign Lawyers System Study Group on foreign law firms possibly being permitted to establish bengoshi houjin (lawyers’ corporations) and, thus, operate more than one branch in Japan.

While an attempt by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations to reverse the streamlining efforts appears to have failed, the white paper points out, the legislation regarding corporations met opposition from the Association of Japanese Patent Attorneys “for no obvious reason”.

“It seems the relevant legislation, when enacted, will permit law firms—in Japan and comprised solely of foreign lawyers— to establish a corporation and, so, open a branch. But those [firms] composed of both foreign and Japanese lawyers will not be able to do so”, according to the report.

“The distinction has no rational basis and will reduce the already limited usefulness of the new measures”, it adds.

With 24 lawyers in Japan at present, London-based Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer provides all the services required of a corporate law specialist—from the small print on M&As to financing, banking, litigation, intellectual property issues, patents, real estate transactions

and competition law—but is only allowed to have a single office here.

“More than 200 Japanese firms have established themselves as legal corporations and, for example, Tokyo firms have opened offices in Osaka and Nagoya. But that status is not available to foreigners,” Lawden said. “And that is clear discrimination”.

Legislation currently going through the Diet, the Japanese parliamentary system, will allow foreign firms to become corporations—the catch being that a foreign firm is only eligible to do so if all its lawyers are foreign.

In the recommendation in its 2012 white paper, the EBC’s Legal Services Committee calls for abolition of the restriction on branches, on the grounds that it is “archaic and does not suit the needs of either domestic or international law firms”.

The rules on the eligibility of foreign lawyers is another key area of concern.

“We would like to see the cumbersome residency requirement abolished for nonJapanese lawyers”, said Toshi Arai, chair of the Tokyo office for US law firm Paul Hastings LLP. Removing the obligation for a foreign lawyer to have three years of professional experience, of which two must be obtained outside Japan in his or her homeland, would make a huge difference to a firm that has been in Japan since 1988 and currently has 15 attorneys.

Managing partner for Morrison & Foerster LLP in Tokyo, Kenneth Siegel equally believes that young lawyers “should be allowed to start in Japan and develop their careers here, without the requirement of spending two years somewhere else, which is costly and damaging to their development”.

Changing the rules would also give client firms better access to the attorneys they are working with, he pointed out.

And having over 10% of the firm’s attorneys in Japan demonstrates just

“We would like to see the cumbersome residency requirement abolished for nonJapanese lawyers”.

Toshi Arai

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 23

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LEGAL

Changing the rules would also give client firms better access to the attorneys they are working with.

Kenneth Siegel

how important this country is to the practice’s overall operations.

Working for one of the firms that opened up the Japanese legal industry to outsiders in 1987 and has 125 lawyers in Japan at present, Siegel is hopeful that better services might be made available for clients here.

“The biggest change we have seen in Japan has been the increased sophistication of the clients and the appetite for global services in Tokyo”, Siegel explained. “Japanese clients are very active around the world and understand the value of having their attorneys and advisors close at hand”.

However, there are major differences in doing business in Japan compared with the US, where Morrison & Foerster was set up in 1888 in San Francisco.

“For me, the most significant difference is the long-term nature of the attorney-client relationship”, he said.

“It takes many years to develop a close relationship with clients in Japan, but they do tend to stay with the attorneys who support them effectively”.

Clifford Chance, which has had an office in Tokyo for 25 years, but has advised Japanese clients for far longer as a global firm, has seen some fundamental shifts in the legal work it has undertaken in this country.

“The nature of the work has changed, in line with changes seen in the Japanese and global economies”, said Eiichi Kanda, managing partner for the Tokyo office. “For example, since the recent economic crises, we have seen much less complex securitisation work, but have seen an increase in outbound M&As in recent years.

“In relation to work undertaken by foreign lawyers, we have seen an increase in foreign-qualified lawyers with strong Japanese language capabilities who provide foreign law services in Japanese and cater specifically to Japanese clients”.

Headquartered in London, Clifford Chance has 35 offices in 25 countries, and some 3,400 legal advisers. Of these, 400 lawyers are based in the Asia-Pacific region. This year, the Tokyo office marks 25 years in business.

Another legal player marking a quarter of a century in Japan is White & Case LLP. The global law firm has its roots in New York, but 90 legal professionals in Tokyo and, from the outset, has been active in lobbying for further reforms to the Japanese legal system.

“The post-Lehman period has seen a decline in work available in the area of financial and capital markets here in Japan, as also in many other jurisdictions.

But recent years have been marked by a

“The nature of the work has changed, in line with changes seen in the Japanese and global economies”.

Eiichi Kanda

fairly dramatic uptick in outbound M&As, and investment by Japanese corporates”, said Brian Strawn, executive partner for the firm here.

The increase in outbound M&As can be attributed to a number of factors, Strawn believes, ranging from Japanese firms having “a lot of dry powder”, the strong yen, domestic firms looking for new markets as the home market matures and shrinks, and a shake-up in various industries—in particular the electronics sector—as Japanese firms become less competitive.

Kurosu added that another big change Squire Sanders has noted in Japan is the amount of time that is now spent on compliance and attention to the legal issues “in a very serious way”.

“In the past, Japanese companies’ legal departments were not very strong at all and there was no focus on compliance as a driver of decision-making”, he said.

“But now it is a factor in every decision that is made”.

In terms of its clients’ actions, Squire Sanders is “not seeing the kind of bubbleera, irresponsible business where firms were buying everything and anything

Brian Strawn

they could get their hands on”, he said.

“Now they are going through the proper steps, and Japanese firms are operating according to global standards and in a more responsible manner”.

They are, however, becoming more litigious. This is partly due to the fact that they are present in so many jurisdictions and there is an increasing recognition of the importance of intellectual property rights. This is causing Japanese firms to resort to the courts to protect their rights.

The EBC white paper suggests that the 25th anniversary of the foreign lawyer law going into effect offers an opportunity for Japan to consider how legislation might be developed to fit the types of law firms that are now establishing themselves in Japan and benefit both internationally minded clients here and the entire legal profession of Japan.

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 25

HR

Disability and the Workplace Poll reveals reactions to new diversity rules, challenges ahead

Investment in new ways of thinking will pay dividends, as it drives consumer spending and the economy overall.

26 | BCCJ ACUMEN | DECEMBER 2012

By Christine Wright Operations Director, Asia Hays Specialist Recruitment Japan KK · Most firms aware of the new rules · Two-thirds employ disabled staff · Diversity attracts the best workers

T

he Japanese government recently implemented regulations requiring that, in firms with 50 or more employees, individuals with disabilities must account for at least 2% of the staff.

This development is important because it not only provides those with disadvantages an equal opportunity, but also highlights workforce diversity as a way of addressing skills shortages.

In a candidate-stretched environment that is increasingly focused on overseas markets, local employers must embrace a wide range of viewpoints, backgrounds and experiences. Investment in new ways

of thinking will pay dividends, as it drives consumer spending and the economy overall, particularly as businesses approach new and unexplored markets and sectors.

Hays Specialist Recruitment Japan KK surveyed more than 200 hiring managers across Japan in researching the development of workplace diversity and reactions to the new regulations.

The results show that more than two thirds of the responding firms have employees with disabilities, while more are working to attain a fully diverse workforce.

Of the businesses surveyed, the government criteria applies to 79%, of whom 11% said they are yet to recruit more staff with disabilities. This shows that most businesses are aware of the new regulation and have been making appropriate changes.

Our poll reveals that 79% of the respondents employ up to 30 staff with disabilities, of whom 70% fill administrative posts and 23% have jobs such as that

HR of driver, caretaker, inventory/storage clerk, developer, engineer, planner or salesperson.

The diversity of roles shows anew that, the wider employers open their recruitment pool, the greater will be their choice of quality talent and, in turn, the easier it will be to find the right person.

Employers who limit diversity parameters, effectively limit their ability to fill roles in a skills-short market. At the same time, a diverse workforce sends a strong message that the organisation is accepting of all, making it an employer of choice.

In some cases, hiring candidates with disabilities requires changes.

Interestingly, the Hays survey shows that only 30% of responding organisations provide wheelchair accessibility.

However, regardless of any necessary accommodations, employers should focus on how candidates might contribute to the business.

In addition, it is important to ensure that standard induction procedures are accessible to all. Although they do not always have to know the details of a disability, managers, supervisors and colleagues need to be suitably

briefed so that they understand the adjustments required.

Finally, employers should not make assumptions about a person’s ability to take part in the firm’s activities. Always check whether adjustments are needed.

While some training in disability awareness may be required to reduce the risk of discriminatory attitudes, embracing diversity allows employers to tap the breadth of the talent pool and ensure that they are attracting the best of the best.

60

Businesses are made up of people and, thus, are as good as the talent they attract. To be the very best, businesses must reflect, in their staff, the breadth of the working population.

This survey is the second conducted by Hays in its series, Diversity in the Workplace: Thought Leadership, the first having focused on women in the workplace.

(%) 51%

50 40 30 17%

20

10%

10

7%

7% 4%

0

1–10

11–20

21–30

31–50

51–100

101–150

5% 0% 151–200

201+

BRINGING THE RIGHT PERSON TOGETHER WITH THE RIGHT JOB - THAT’S OUR PROMISE We are the world’s leading recruiting experts. We operate across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. Our deep expertise across a wide spectrum of industries and professions makes us unparalleled recruiters in the world of work.

Our expertise covers a wide specturm of industries and professions including:

• • • • • •

Accountancy & Finance Banking Finance Technology Human Resources Information Technology Insurance

• • • • • •

Legal Life Sciences Office Professional Property Sales & Marketing Supply Chain

If you’re looking for talent to transform your organisation, or for a new role to transform your life, you need to choose the right partner.

Contact Hays at info@hays.co.jp or 03 3560 1188.

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Are You a Meeting Monster?

By Anne Good

E

very year I facilitate a session on managing meetings for participants of the Japan Market Expansion Competition (JMEC).

Although it’s a bit of a dry subject, managing meetings often proves to be a nightmare for the teams of the business training programme.

However, the current JMEC participants probably don’t know this yet as the teams for the 19th consecutive competition have yet to be finalised.

Everyone thinks they know how to run a meeting, so what’s the point of the session?

In the nine years that I have been involved with JMEC and throughout my (oh so long) working career, I have seen many meetings fall apart at the seams.

In the box I have described, with a light-hearted approach, the types of people seen at meetings in the past. See if you can recognise any of them.

If you wish to discuss techniques for dealing with the above types of people, you will have to attend JMEC’s session on managing meetings.

Good luck JMEC 19 participants!

DEVIL’S ADVOCATE This type of person likes to constantly take the opposite view to any argument or point being put forward. They seem to think it is some sort of sport. Often this person begins by saying “for the sake of argument, I believe the opposite is true”.

While there is always value in looking at more than one point of view, the devil’s advocate seems to take this stance at every possible opportunity.

JOKER I am a great believer in lightening the atmosphere from time to time.

However, jokers often are over the top and sometimes belittle others’ ideas and contributions.

Jokers can be a real pain when one is trying to keep a meeting on track. Their constant repartee derails others, and often completely redirects the subject being discussed.

PANDORA’S BOX OPENER These meeting monsters feel they have to tackle issues that are emotional, touchy or “hot buttons” for others.

In every business meeting there are topics that are guaranteed to strike a nerve, provoke an emotional reaction, or place the group into a quagmire.

Pandora’s box openers like to discuss anything that will strike a nerve or provoke people’s emotional responses.

They like to go where other members of the meeting know it would be better not to go. They bring up issues from past meetings that have been resolved, but not to their liking.

TANGENT TALKER Anne Good is a professional executive, career and life coach and conducts sessions face-to-face or via Skype. If you have a related question for Anne that you would like answered in the next issue or in private, please contact her: anne@eurekamoments.net www.eurekamoments.net

They like to divert the topic to something different, detracting from the agenda. Thus, one minute you are on target and adhering to the agenda and the next minute … who knows!

However, you can be sure it will not be the topic at hand.

FENCE SITTER Such people are unable to make decisions. They like to consider all points of view and hate to disagree with anyone. They hate conflict and healthy debate, avoiding it at all costs. It’s difficult to see what point these people are trying to make during a discussion, while their ambivalence is frustrating and slows down a meeting.

MONOPOLISER He or she believes they are the only one who has knowledge and the correct answers on any given subject.

They believe that everyone else is there to hear them speak. Thus, they prattle on, in the belief that their ideas are the only important ones, and don’t give anyone else a look in.

CYNIC Such masters of negativity tend to use phrases like “we’ve tried that before and it failed”, or “that won’t work”.

The cynic sees everything from a negative perspective.

ATTACKER Attackers are bullies. They attack the person rather than the issue, have no concern about hurting other people’s feelings, are confrontational and have no regard for others.

SUCK-UP These people will bend over backwards to ingratiate themselves with the boss.

They are smarmy and sickly sweet, agree with everything the boss says, and have no backbone or ideas of their own.

ROBOTS These people irritate me the most. They cannot live without technology and bring mobile phones, pagers, iPads and laptops to meetings, where they access their e-mails every few minutes. It’s not only a distraction for the user, but for others at the meeting.

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 29

THE A-LIST OF BUSINESS SUPPORT & OUTSOURCING

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We operate in 48 locations in the Asia Pacific and our worldwide operations span 33 countries. We find permanent jobs for more than 15,000 people a year and temporary and contract assignments for more than 25,000 people annually, of which we employ more than 10,000 at any one time.

Company Name:

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Address:

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QCIC is here to help you with all your back office needs. We are a business consulting and business process outsourcing (BPO) firm in Japan for local offices of foreign-capitalised businesses. We bring the breadth of professionalism and depth of experience to your needs in the Japanese market. Our team of professionals combines many years of professional experience, applying our insights, local knowledge and extensive expertise in their respective fields to provide customised solutions to your business.

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Robert Walters is one of the world’s leading specialist professional recruitment consultancies for permanent and contract recruitment.

Robert Walters Japan possesses the distinct advantages of size and a proven track record, allowing you to tap into an unparalleled global network that enables clients and candidates to come together in the most efficient and productive way possible.

Our Tokyo and Osaka-based offices have been active in building integrated partnerships with clients and bilingual professionals—consistently delivering the most relevant match of skills and culture. This remains our ultimate goal as recruitment and sourcing specialists.

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30 | BCCJ ACUMEN | DECEMBER 2012

AREAS OF EXPERTISE • • • • • • • •

Advertising & media Asset management Banking & securities Chemicals Consulting & related services Entertainment Healthcare Hospitality

• • • • • • • •

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Dr Kim Yoon:

“[Novauris] was fortunate to meet trade officers who not only had the local knowledge and the necessary connections, but also had a genuine interest in our technology and helping us”.

Japanese business culture—concerning NovaSearch Compact. It is so advanced We support life and general insurance, re-insurance, actuarial consultancy and business cards, for example—is useful, that, on a smartphone, it can recognise brokerage firms. but there is, of course, also a language any street address in the US spoken as a barrier. Apart from that, our experience single input, and it can respond in about Company Name: TIG Japan KK AREAS OF EXPERTISE is that cultural differences between the two seconds.

Address: #903 BUREX Toranomon UK and Japan are not enormous”, he executive search (CEO, CFO, COO) “We find that business Japan, as • Retained C-level 2-7-5inToranomon • Exclusive arrangements for multiple placements / team building added. “In fact, my British colleagues in other Asian countries, is heavily Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0001 • Asia and Tokyo insurance market updating find dealing with Japanese counterparts based on trust, and that trustMacKinlay in turn Contact: Andrew • Pre-search consulting for talent management no more challenging than dealing with depends on getting to Director know the decision• Actuarial and risk management Telephone: 03-5510-3201 many Americans. makers in Japanese companies, often in • Accounting, compliance and legal “There is much to be• said for business development and commercial underwriting informal said Kim, who is Email: surroundings”, amackinlay@theinsurancegroup.jp Corporate • Operations operating in Japan, including the and IT based in Silicon Valley.

“The local UKTI Website: www.theinsurancegroup.jp culture of politeness, trustworthiness trade officers helped us to understand and reliability”, he said. “Given the that and helped us to develop those innately careful and conservative personal relationships”. nature of Japanese businessmen, And given that available helping hand, especially in larger organisations, I Kim believes that other British firms would caution other British companies should be more confident about coming of the need for patience, perseverance forward and looking to get a presence in and understanding of a culture that the Japanese market. pursues perfection”.

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E-mail: info@computec.co.jp Tel: +81-(0)3-5225-7017 Fax: +81-(0)3-5225-7015 MARCH 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 23

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To apply, simply send an email by 21 December 2012 to: editor@custom-media.com Winners will be picked at random.

32 | BCCJ ACUMEN | DECEMBER 2012

BCCJ ACUMEN WISHES THE SEASON’S GREETINGS TO ALL OUR READERS! These companies send their best wishes and thanks to their clients and BCCJ members:

Wishing all BCCJ members a happy holiday season.

We thank you for your support during 2012. glaxosmithkline.co.jp

www.aineo.com

www.bbr.co.jp

www.bbr.co.jp

www.theinsurancegroup.jp

www.standardchartered.co.jp

www.smis.ac.jp

www.pearsonkirihara.jp

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 33

CHARITY

Wreaths were laid before the Cross of Sacrifice.

Father Barrie Cairns reads Psalm 130.

Shoulder to Shoulder …

Revered body fights fall in membership Text and photos: Julian Ryall

W

hether it is heard at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Belgium or at any of the dozens of war cemeteries from Normandy to Singapore and beyond, the Last Post bugle call being played on 11 November never fails to move those who hear it.

34 | BCCJ ACUMEN | DECEMBER 2012

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month was again marked at the only annual Remembrance Day ceremony in Japan, held at the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Hodogaya, Yokohama.

Along with representatives of most commonwealth embassies, the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan, the British School in Tokyo and a number of military associations, Arthur Hawtin, chairman of the Tokyo branch of the Royal British Legion, placed a wreath of poppies before the Cross of Sacrifice in the cemetery.

The ceremony, he later agreed, is always immaculate and poignant.

“This is a very significant war cemetery because it is the only one in Japan”, said Hawtin, a chartered quantity surveyor by profession. “It was constructed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for servicemen from commonwealth nations who died in Japan as prisoners of war (POWs) or while they were here with the occupying forces after the conflict”.

Since 1972, when the Tokyo branch was founded, the Legion—motto: “Shoulder to shoulder with all who Serve”—has always been represented at memorial events and, to this day, assists with visits by former POWs or their relatives.

“We are the custodians of remembrance and are very pleased to place flowers on the graves here for people who can’t make the journey by themselves any more”, he said. “The widows of the POWs are all very elderly now, so on birthdays or other special occasions, we will lay flowers, place a cross, a ribbon and a poppy on a grave, take a photo and send it to the widow”.

A member of the branch for 28 years, Hawtin is hoping to attract new members to the Legion, whose membership has dwindled from a peak of around 80 in the early 1980s.

“A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that you had to have been in the services yourself to join the Legion, but that’s not the case at all”, said Hawtin.

“Membership has also declined in the UK so there is a broader membership drive. We have been asked to come up with a three-year plan to increase numbers in Japan”, he added.

Member nations of the commonwealth take turns to conduct the Remembrance Sunday event in Yokohama, with this year’s service organised by the Embassy of India, Tokyo.

Representatives of four religions gave commemorative addresses, with Father

CHARITY

One of many graves in the Yokohama War Cemetery.

Barrie Cairns delivering Psalm 130 and Rabbi Antonio Di Gesu reading Psalm 23—which in part states, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil”.

A moving verse from Laurence Binyon’s poem For the Fallen was then read, followed by the crisp notes of the bugler’s Last Post and a two minutes’ silence. Bagpipes were played while the dignitaries placed their wreaths.

The cemetery contains 1,555 commonwealth war burials and commemorations of WWII, including the remains of 53 individuals who have not been identified, as well as numerous special memorials to casualties whose graves have not been located. It also has one grave from WWI and that of a Dutch national, as well as 171 burials from after the war.

The most recent interment is that of Len Harrop, the Australian who was in charge of opening the cemetery and who died aged 95 in February 2011.

The epitaph on his gravestone is a translation of the Latin inscription on English architect Sir Christopher Wren’s memorial in St Paul’s Cathedral: “If you seek his memorial—look around you”.

The cemetery is a carefully tended oasis in the heart of the city, with trees from every member nation of the commonwealth carefully sited around the edges to preserve the tranquillity.

Among regimental badges from the Royal Engineers, the Royal Scots, the Middlesex Regiment and the Royal Navy is that of RAF Aircraftsman Second Class JE Higginbotham, who died on 4 December, 1942, aged 20.

Below it is an inscription that reads, “Whatever else we fail to do, we will always think of you. Mum, Dad and Elsie”.

Piper Frank Hunter

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.

—from For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon

www.britishlegion.org.uk/branches/tokyo

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 35

CHARITY

Tree of Hope

RIJ President Jane Best and Princess Akishino

Text and photos: Megan Waters

R

efugees International Japan (RIJ) held the opening ceremony of its 23rd Tree of Hope campaign in Akasaka’s Karajan Plaza, Ark Hills on 27 November.

The Light Up the Life of a Refugee Child ceremony marked the beginning of a number of activities to be held throughout December at the outdoor plaza. The events will include a variety of festive performances and Saturday markets.

The non-profit organisation, which began its work in 1979, provides hope for refugees by funding projects that help rebuild lives and restore human dignity in a sustainable and communityorientated way.

The Tree of Hope with local school children’s decorations.

The St. Mary’s International School Men’s Choir opened the ceremony with a selection of seasonal-inspired songs, while the RIJ Tree of Hope was illuminated by Princess Akishino. It was the 21st occasion on which the princess had attended the event. The tree, adorned with decorations inspired by local school children, will remain in place until 6 January.

The charity’s approach to the projects it takes on is to focus on the specific needs of a community and the sustainability of the changes wrought.

RIJ President Jane Best MBE believes that some of the most effective programmes are those in which children spread a social message through art, song or dance, allowing them to have fun as well as play a valuable role in the community.

“Children need a secure environment and adult support as they grow and learn, building on layers of experience and learning”, Best said.

“Helping refugee children meet their physical and social needs means providing support to families and communities. This is the basic tenet of RIJ’s work”, she added.

All proceeds from the event will be used

by RIJ in their work to assist refugees who have lost everything as a result of war and conflict.

Tree of Hope fundraising Saturday markets: 15 December (10am–4:30pm) 22, 29 December (10am–2pm) More details: http://refugeesinternationaljapan.org/ tree_of_hope

St. Mary’s International School Men’s Choir sang seasonal songs.

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 37

MUSIC

By Julian Ryall • Came to Tokyo penniless aged 24 • Formed firm here with Simon Le Bon • Makes music for corporations and stars

N Nick Wood is a producer, songwriter, musician and award-winning composer of commercials.

Synergy and Synthesis Punk-era rebel thanks Japan for opportunity and inspiration

38 | BCCJ ACUMEN | DECEMBER 2012

ick Wood can trace his musical career back to the day at boarding school when he realised that students who signed up for piano lessons were excused from prep.

Once he had completed his escape from the allocated homework time, however, the 12-year-old Wood knew that music was really what he wanted to do.

“There was a community of people playing and composing, so I was hooked very early”, he told BCCJ ACUMEN. “This was in 1977, so punk rock had just started and it was all very exciting and rebellious”.

Today, Wood is a producer, songwriter, musician and award-winning composer of commercials. He founded Syn Productions in Tokyo with Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran and the frontman’s wife, Yasmin, in 1991.

Wood has since worked with artists ranging from Robert Palmer, Maxi Priest and Dr. John, to Tetsuya Komuro and Julian Lennon. Wood joined Lennon, Komuro and Grammy Award-winning producer John Jones to raise money for quake relief, through a song called Hope, which premiered at the BCCJ’s Road to Recovery event in March. And he wrote Last Run for a video of the fifth annual BCCJ British Business Awards, held in November: http://bit.ly/bba2012 After boarding school, Wood attended the renowned Mabel Fletcher College of Music and Drama in his native Liverpool, before moving to London and getting a job with a friend at the Marcus Studio.

“That studio became our home and we used every spare moment that we had to develop our own sound, which was Appassionata”, he said.

MUSIC

While drum machines and computer-programmed synthesizers are mainstream in the music industry today, in the early 1980s, bands such as Depeche Mode, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Duran Duran were experimenting with the new technology.

The band was then signed to Virgin Records and Wood found himself rubbing shoulders in the studio with industry giants such as Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin and record producer Trevor Horn.

“Appassionata didn’t last very long, but it was an amazing time for our education”, he said. “There was a constant stream of classic rock and modern artists working there—and we were using it for free”.

While drum machines and computerprogrammed synthesizers are mainstream in the music industry today, in the early 1980s bands such as Depeche Mode, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Duran Duran were experimenting with the new technology.

After meeting Simon Le Bon, the two became friends. Le Bon asked Wood to write and produce a song to accompany Drum: The Journey of a Lifetime, a documentary featuring the musician and the 1985 Whitbread round-the-world sailing race. The result was the track called Grey Lady of the Sea. Buoyed by this success, Wood found himself in Tokyo in 1987 with his model girlfriend and put his growing reputation and Virgin connections to work.

Within weeks, he had written and produced Glamorous Jump for the hugely popular Japanese musician Koji Kikkawa.

Returning to London was a let down after the highs of Tokyo.

“England felt dull in comparison”, he said. “I had thought that I needed to make it in London, but I knew there were opportunities in Japan. I split up with my girlfriend and there was nothing to keep me in England. I was 24 and I wanted an adventure”.

Le Bon came up with the name for their joint venture—the letters “S,Y and N” stand for Simon, Yasmin and Nick, but also incorporate the idea of synergy and synthesis.

Wood returned to Japan in February 1989 with little more than the firm’s logo and a suitcase.

In the time that he had been away, Glamorous Jump had taken off and was being used in a huge advertising

campaign that was fronted by Kikkawa for telecommunications operator KDDI. At that time, British pop stars did not get involved in commercials, so the idea struck Wood as innovative.

After Wood’s stint as in-house composer for Virgin, he saw Syn Productions swiftly take off.

The hundreds of firms that have since commissioned music from Woods’ studios make up, almost literally, an A to Z of the biggest corporations in the world, including adidas, Cartier, Kirin Brewery Company Limited, Mercedes-Benz, Nike, Inc., Sony Corporation, Unilever and Walt Disney Japan.

In 2002, Passion, the theme for Kirin Beer’s Love Sports campaign, reached number one in the Japanese charts and remains the most popular sporting anthem in Japan. Seven years later, Wild at Heart was selected as the main theme for the Coke Zero nationwide football campaign supporting the Japan national football league, J. League.

Wood began composing movie scores for the Wim Wenders production Dream Island and has since worked on a number of award-winning films and documentaries, including the animated Coo: Toui Umi Kara Kita Coo. Syn employs 12 full-time staff and a number of freelance contributors across its four divisions: Songs, Studios, Entertainment and Create.

The Songs division covers licensing and rights clearances, label operations and publishing. Studios oversees the music studio, production and editing, while Entertainment looks after event production, live music entertainment and artist bookings.

Syn Create is tasked with branding, marketing, graphic design, public relations and concept development.

“Japan gave me a chance when I was a 24-year-old”, said Wood.

“The landscape here was very different when I first arrived; there were not many foreigners or professional musicians.

“This country opened its doors to me and, in return, I will never let it down”, he added.

“I consider it my duty to do the best I can.

“Japan has allowed me to do so much professionally, personally and creatively”, he said. “And I still find Tokyo the most inspiring and magical city”.

Like the vast majority of firms, Syn struggled in the immediate aftermath of last year’s Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Firms stopped commissioning cheerful tunes to sell their products and hotels placed on hold contracts with foreign musicians, another area in which Syn is involved.

“If anyone had asked me on 10 March [2011] how things looked for the business, I would have been quite optimistic”, Wood admitted. “It was pretty devastating and, when we came back to work a week later, I realised that if we didn’t do something drastic then, there was a good chance that we could go out of business”.

The firm moved to new premises, in Tokyo’s Jingumae district, and business has since recovered across all four divisions.

The events of 2011 also encouraged Wood to look at new markets and fresh challenges. In the past 12 months, he has spent a large amount of time in Los Angeles creating new opportunities for the Syn brand.

“We’re not known over there, so it’s a little bit like having to start all over again—and that’s quite hard after 20-plus years, but I also find it very motivating”, he said.

“We haven’t cracked it yet, but I believe there are great opportunities for Syn in the future—in Japan, Hollywood and the rest of Asia”, he explained.

“We are entering a period in which people know our name or are learning about us. They’re seeing our expertise and our credentials, and I find that exciting”.

Simultaneously, Wood is working on a solo album that is being recorded in Tokyo and Los Angeles. It is scheduled to be released in 2013 and will feature two songs with Simon Le Bon’s vocals.

www.syn.co.jp/

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 39

TECHNOLOGY

Who Needs Referees?

Sony helps Winchester firm market device to end line call errors Custom Media

W

hen Frank Lampard let fly from 18 meters, smashing the ball onto the underside of the crossbar and over the white line in the knockout stages of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, everyone could see he had scored a spectacular equaliser.

Everyone except the Uruguayan referee, that is.

England went on to lose the match against Germany in Bloemfontein, South Africa, and were condemned for once again raising the hopes of their long-suffering fans, only to blow it at the moment of truth.

England lost 4–1 but, had Lampard’s 39th-minute effort been correctly judged to be over the goal line, the score would have been pegged at 2–2. And England might—at last—have got one over their old foe.

The only English winner from that match was Hawk-Eye Innovations Ltd. The Winchester-based firm has developed a complex computer-based system designed to visually track the trajectory of a ball and help a referee determine whether a goal has been scored.

Although the concept behind the technology is straightforward, making it work has proved tricky.

40 | BCCJ ACUMEN | DECEMBER 2012

Based on the principles of triangulation, Hawk-Eye’s technology uses images shot from different angles and timing data provided by an array of high-speed video cameras located in different positions within the stadium.

In each frame sent from every camera, the system is able to identify the group of pixels that corresponds to the image of the ball. It then calculates for each frame the three-dimensional position of the ball by comparing its location on at least two of the cameras simultaneously.

Hawk-Eye’s technology uses images shot from different angles and timing data provided by an array of high-speed video cameras located in different positions within the stadium.

A series of frames builds up a record of the path along which the ball has travelled. It also “predicts” the trajectory of the ball and where it will interact with any of the features already programmed into the database—such as the goal.

The system generates a graphic image of the ball’s path and the playing area, meaning that information can be provided to the referee, television viewers or the coaching staff almost immediately.

Impressed by the invention, Sony Corporation paid an undisclosed sum for the firm in March 2011 and is further developing the system.

“Sony has contributed in many ways to improving the Hawk-Eye technology”, Koichi Yamanaka, deputy general manager of Sony’s Sports and Stadium Business Development Office, told BCCJ ACUMEN. “That support makes our operations and global marketing much easier.

“Sony believes that sport is key entertainment content, and the HawkEye data calibration technology will bring interesting synergies with Sony’s legacy video technology—such as cameras—from the perspective of providing content”, Yamanaka said.

The system already has a solid track record, having been used by the UK’s Channel 4 as far back as May 2001 to follow the ball in a cricket test match between England and Pakistan.

TECHNOLOGY

(Left) Hawk-Eye cameras are placed at strategic spots; (above) Many sports could adopt the technology.

By 2008, the International Cricket Council had introduced a referral system whereby Hawk-Eye could be used by a third umpire to adjudicate in a leg before wicket decision.

The same device was tested in 2005 by the International Tennis Federation in New York, and since has been deployed at The Wimbledon Championships, the Queen’s Club Championships and the Australian Open.

After the debacle in South Africa, FIFA President Sepp Blatter was finally convinced that technology needed to be introduced to stop errors blighting football. The decision was made to have a system in place by the next football World Cup (2014), to be held in Brazil.

A friendly international match between England and Belgium made use of the

“Sony believes that sport is key entertainment content, and the Hawk-Eye data calibration technology will bring interesting synergies with Sony’s legacy video technology”.

Hawk-Eye system in June this year, while an alternative product, GoalRef, is also undergoing testing.

As part of the introductory process for the new technology, Hawk-Eye was used at the 10-day Club World Cup in Japan, which started on 6 December.

The tournament brought together the champions from each of the continental federations.

And, with supreme irony, the European federation was represented by the winners of last season’s UEFA Champions League—Chelsea.

One of the players who was set to come to Japan was none other than Frank Lampard.

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 41

ARTS EVENTS Compiled by Yoko Yanagimoto | yoko@custom-media.com

© 2011 COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC. AND BEVERLY BLVD LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

FROM 22 DECEMBER Anonymous

This political thriller and pseudo-historical drama is a fictionalised version of the life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, and Elizabethan courtier, playwright, poet and patron of the arts. The film suggests that playwright William Shakespeare was a fraud and presents Lord Oxford as the true author of Shakespeare’s plays.

TOHO Cinemas Chanter 1-2-2 Yurakucho Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

http://shakespeare-movie.com/

FROM 18 JANUARY 2013 Albert Nobbs

Based on a novella by Irish novelist George Moore, this film shows that gender and social/sexual roles can be more apparent than real, even for 19th century Dublin. Glenn Close won the best actress award at the Tokyo International Film Festival 2011 for her depiction of the main character, Albert Nobbs.

© MORRISON FILMS

TOHO Cinemas Chanter 1-2-2 Yurakucho Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

http://albert-movie.com/

© 2012 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

FROM 1 FEBRUARY The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Based on the novel These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach (2004), this British comedy-drama features Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson and Penelope Wilton who, as a group of British retirees, move to a hotel in India.

TOHO Cinemas Chanter 1-2-2 Yurakucho Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

www.foxsearchlight.com/thebestexoticmarigoldhotel/

42 42 | | BCCJ BCCJACUMEN ACUMEN | | DECEMBER DECEMBER2012 2012

19 JANUARY 2013 Record Concert Vol. 2

In this concert, the Opera Intermezzi by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 (4th movement) will be played through two classic British loudspeakers: Bowers & Wilkins’ 800 Series Diamond and a speaker by Scottish firm Tannoy Limited, manufactured in the 1960s.

Yokosuka Arts Theatre 3-27 Honcho Yokosuka 238-0041, Kanagawa

Bowers & Wilkins’ 800 Series Diamond speaker

2pm Adults ¥500 Preschool children will not be admitted 046-828-1602

www.yokosuka-arts.or.jp/en/e_index.html

16 NOVEMBER–15 FEBRUARY US by fabric

This exhibition by fabric, the London-based nightclub and live music venue, features images that have been carefully selected by fabric founder Keith Reilly and his team from the 13-year history of the “fabriclive” series, different nights promoting distinct types of music.

Diesel Art Gallery Cocoti B1F 1-23-16 Shibuya Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

11:30am–9pm 03-6427-5955

http://www.diesel.co.jp/art/concept_en.html

12–24 DECEMBER Cinderella

Choreographed by Frederick Ashton, a leading British choreographer of theatre revues, opera and film, this ballet premiered in 1948. Performed

by The National Ballet of Japan, Ashton’s Cinderella is still one of The Royal Ballet’s key productions in their repertoire and continues to enchant audiences.

New National Theatre, Tokyo 1-1-1 Hon-machi Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0071

15,16,18, 22, 23, 24 December 2pm 21 December 7pm Closed on 17 December From ¥1,500 03-5352-5735

http://www.nntt.jac.go.jp/12cinderella

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 43

COMMUNITY BCCJ

Masato Ito, manager of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited and head of the Sustainable Property Promotion Team (Real Estate Advisory Department) addressed Property Forum members on 6 November at the offices of en world Japan K.K.

BCCJ Executive Director Lori Henderson (centre) at the BCCJ’s Golf Day on 9 November at Tsutsujigaoka Country Club, Tochigi Prefecture.

ANTONY TRAN

CHARITY

London Olympic marathon runner Mara Yamauchi (centre) was a special guest at the eighth annual Financial Industry in Tokyo for Charity event held at Tokyo’s National Kasumigaoka Stadium on 18 November. Some 7,082 individuals raised about ¥61mn for local causes.

Pieroth Japan K.K. and Shine On! Kids (Tyler Foundation) drew women leaders of the winemaking industry to their Ladies Winemakers’ Event at the Tokyo American Club on 23 November. More than ¥1.5mn was raised for the charity through wine sales and a silent auction.

FASHION

44 | BCCJ ACUMEN | DECEMBER 2012

MADAM TUSSAUDS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Attending a 21 November awards ceremony at the Scottish Development International’s New Basic Wardrobe from Scotland event held at Tokyo’s Aoyama Geihinkan were (from left) Tsuyoshi Ode, senior managing editor, WWD Japan; Kaz Yamamuro, editorin-chief, WWD Japan; Hirofumi Kurino, senior creative adviser, UNITED ARROWS LTD.; David Breckenridge, chairman, Textiles Scotland; Brian Wilton, director, Scottish Tartan Authority; and Hiroshi Onishi, president & CEO, Isetan Mitsukoshi Ltd.

LAUNCH

Wax figures of Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge were unveiled at the opening of the Madame Tussauds Tokyo wax museum in Odaiba on 28 November.

COMMUNITY MUSIC

Marking the release of their 18th album, Pop Tune, and their 31st year as a band, Japanese rock band Shonen Knife played at a sell-out gig at Cargo London on 1 November as part of their European Pop Tune tour.

The Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers, the UK’s longest established taiko (drum) ensemble, took part in the Lord Mayor’s Show held on 10 November in London.

MUSIC

FILM

Attending a 19 November Japan Premiere of Skyfall in the Yurakucho Marion Building, Ginza, were (from left) Ashley Harvey, head of VisitBritain, BCCJ Executive Director Lori Henderson and Vishal Sinha, British Airways manager for Japan and Korea.

PAT LYTTLE

JAPAN ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION

SPORT

Naomi Suzuki sang at J-Pop Go, held at Vibe Bar, east London on 18 November.

Britain beat Japan 2–1 on 11 November to advance to the final round of the Olympic ice hockey qualifying game for the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games to be held in Sochi, Russia in 2014.

DECEMBER 2012 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 45

BCCJ ACUMEN has one copy of this book to give away. To apply, please send an email by 31 December to: editor@custom-media.com. Winner will be picked at random.

BOOKS

Review by Ian de Stains OBE

The Greatest Movie Never Made?

Akira Kurosawa was without a doubt one of the finest directors to work in the Japanese film industry. He was also one of the very few whose oeuvre won worldwide acclaim.

His mastery of the medium together with his reputation in Japan for being a demanding perfectionist led to him acquiring the nickname “the Emperor”.

So it is perhaps not surprising that in 1966, when Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation was contemplating making a film about the notorious 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour as examined from both American and Japanese perspectives, the producer, Elmo Williams, recommended Kurosawa to direct the Japanese sequences.

Kurosawa was suitably courted and set about working with his usual attention to detail. Not only did he work with the writers of the film script, but he also drew his own storyboards showing how each shot in every scene should look.

Shooting began in December 1968 but, three weeks later, the celebrated director was summarily dismissed and expelled from the studio.

Almost immediately there was a media outcry and rumours were rife. It was said by some that Kurosawa had had a nervous breakdown—there were countless stories of his eccentricities on the set—while others believed it was a plot by his associates who were bent on betraying him, and some even blamed a Hollywood conspiracy.

Ironically, the tragic thread that Kurosawa had seen in the story of Pearl Harbour—almost Lear-like in its poignancy—was playing out in real life— his life.

This was a classic example of what happens when two cultures clash: miscommunication, unread assumptions, and misunderstood expectations.

Hiroshi Tasogawa, the author of All the Emperor’s Men: Kurosawa’s Pearl Harbor, is singularly well placed to write this definitive book. A seasoned journalist who has reported for NHK (the Japan Broadcasting Corporation) and The Associated Press, and who was

46 | BCCJ ACUMEN | DECEMBER 2012

Applause Theatre & Cinema Books $29.99

a professor of media at Tokai University, Tasogawa served as translator, interpreter and researcher to Kurosawa at the time he was engaged with the film.

Tasogawa’s earlier work, Kurosawa vs.

Hollywood: The True Story behind Tora!

Tora! Tora!—written in Japanese—was widely acclaimed and won no fewer than four prestigious awards.

But his current publication is not a translation. It is a completely reworked manuscript that draws on previously unavailable documentation from Twentieth Century Fox and other archives.

All the Emperor’s Men has the support of the Kurosawa family, who collaborated with the author and thus enabled him to produce a definitive account of what happened on and off the set of what might have been one of Hollywood’s greatest films.

Chapter by chapter, Tasogawa sets out in meticulous detail the events that led up to the momentous decision to dismiss “the Emperor”.

The reader is let in on internal meetings and exchanges of correspondence at the film studio; invited onto the carefully constructed—and often reconstructed— sound stages in the Kyoto film studios; and catches glimpses of Kurosawa’s shooting scripts.

Often courting controversy, Kurosawa, on this occasion, dismayed the world of Japan’s professional actors by casting non-professionals to play the leading naval characters and invited ridicule by parading them in public in their costumes.

But there were other more worrying eccentricities. These the author deals with in a detached but sympathetic way, inviting us to form our own judgment: was Kurosawa mentally unstable or otherwise ill? The expert medical evidence is examined for the first time.

This is a compelling piece of investigative reporting that sheds completely new light on the controversy that surrounded the aborted partnership between one of Japanese cinema’s leading masters and one of Hollywood’s giants.

It is written with authority and compassion and will appeal to anyone with an interest in the world of Japanese cinema.

Far more reaching than that, however, it will draw the attention of anyone who has an interest in cross-cultural communications and wonders why, sometimes, the best of intentions are simply not enough to achieve a common goal.

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! u o Y k Than

GlaxoSmithKline K.K.—2012 Company of the Year GlaxoSmithKline K.K. (GSK) is honoured to have been judged “Company of the Year” at the British Business Awards (BBA), organized by the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan on 2 November 2012.

GSK would like to thank BCCJ members, BBA judges and organisers for their generous support and a memorable occasion.

We believe we have earned this recognition not only for our recent activities, but through our long history of contributing to the health and improving the quality of life for people in Japan through business and our “Team Orange” volunteer activities.

With the introduction of our innovative pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer products

GlaxoSmithKline K.K. GSK Bldg. 6-15, Sendagaya 4-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-8566 Japan http://glaxosmithkline.co.jp

and by collaborative efforts with global and Japanese partners, we will continue to fulfill medical needs in Japan. Our performance here will be testimony that the award was deserved.

GSK is dedicated to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer through innovative products.