EURObiZ Japan April 2011

Recovery The huge task ahead

04

2011

THE MAGAZINE OF THE EUROPEAN BUSINESS COUNCIL IN JAPAN / THE EUROPEAN (EU) CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN JAPAN

8

FOCUS

The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami 8 European business responds

By EURObiZ Japan

12 Eyewitness

By EURObiZ contributors

20 Reporting catastrophe?

Media coverage of the crisis

By David McNeill Cover photograph Damon Coulter

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April 2011

15 Q&a Atsuhiko Hata, Japanese Red Cross Society 16 Q&a EU Ambassador Hans Dietmar Schweisgut 17 The EBC disaster relief fund 18 EBC proposals to accelerate relief and economic recovery

Rob Gilhooly

COLUMNS 7 From the Editor

41 Shop Window

23 Executive Notes

Japan’s department stores have hidden strengths. By Roy Larke.

Dan Slater on the world’s costliest natural disaster.

42 Event Report

46 Lens Flair After the earthquake millions of Tokyo commuters struggled to return home.

Real Estate and Property Services

FOODEX Japan 2011 seminar on regional brands, Makuhari Messe.

By Alena Eckelmann

39 Chamber Voice

43 Upcoming Events

The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan president, Francesco Formiconi.

Europe and Japan business-related events

26 Who’s Who Directory

Departing British Chamber of Commerce executive director, Ian de Stains.

By Rob Gilhooly.

48 Work Place Charles E. McJilton heads NGO Second Harvest Japan.

44 EBC Personality

The Mission of the European Business Council To promote an impediment-free environment for European business in Japan.

April 2011

3

Publisher Vickie Paradise Green

European Business Council in Japan (EBC)

paradise@paradigm.co.jp

The European (EU) Chamber of Commerce in Japan

Editor-in-chief Tony McNicol

The EBC is the trade policy arm of the seventeen European national chamber of commerce and business associations in Japan

tonymcnicol@paradigm.co.jp

Senior Editor David Umeda

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Big in Japan: Hope

Contributors Rob Gilhooly reports from Tohoku, page 12

Rob is a UK-born photographer and writer based in Japan for 15 years. He has contributed to publications worldwide including Time Asia, The New York Times, The Guardian and The Australian. He is a former staff writer at The Japan Times and David writes for The Independent and Irish Times newspapers, and is Japan/Korea correspondent for The Chronicle of Higher Education. He also contributes regularly to several other publications, including The Japan Times. He is a coordinator of the online journal www.japanfocus.org and teaches a course on media and politics at Tokyo’s Sophia University.

“I think I probably over-egged my own coverage when the crisis was at its peak and

Paddy o’Connor is the art director of EURObiZ Japan Dublin-born and bred, Paddy has been an art director at Paradigm since shortly after moving to Japan in 2004. His passion for all things design is possibly only equalled by his love of a good beat and distance running.

in 2005 completed post-graduate studies in photojournalism under the tutelage of Vietnam War photographer Tim Page.

“In the 18 days since the quake and tsunami struck on 11 March, I have spent 13 in Tohoku, documenting the destruction from the tsunami as well as visiting the exclusion zone around the Fukushima nuclear power plant and meeting members of the so-called Fukushima 50. yet, my enduring memory is of the Japanese people who lived through the horrors of the twin disasters, losing homes and loved ones, but emerging from the depths of disaster with great dignity and grace.”

David mcneill writes on media coverage of the crisis, page 12

everyone around me was screaming panic, but it was hard to get the balance right.”

“This month we received the most powerful images I’ve seen in my time here.

Getting the tone right has been quite a challenge. But I have a Post-it on my monitor with a helpful quote from British editorial designer Mark Porter to remind me what it should be about. “Good editorial design is firstly about making people want to read, and then about telling stories. Most readers aren’t interested in design, and when they look at a page they should see ideas, people and places, not graphic design.”

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FROM TH E EDiTOR

One month later

By the time you read this, cherry blossom will have appeared in Tokyo. It will reach Japan’s north a little later. But few people anywhere in Japan will have the stomach for festivities this year.

Since the earthquake and tsunami, our thoughts have been with the tens of thousands of victims, and the plight of the survivors, many of who have lost absolutely everything. The early days after the earthquake, with heartbreaking TV pictures, anxiety over radiation, and food and electricity shortages in Tokyo, were an experience none of us will easily forget. I am sure I was not the only person who felt powerless in the face of events. yet many EBC companies launched aid initiatives almost immediately. One firm with an operation in Kobe sent goods with hand-written messages of encouragement from customers and staff. EU companies with offices in Sendai witnessed the disaster first hand and started relief efforts on their doorstep. Several of our contributors were among the first journalists into the disaster zone. One told me how he came home a week later and “hugged his children till they went blue”.

Amidst huge disruption across eastern Japan, EU companies put business continuity plans into action, moving operations west. Many among the foreign business community took the advice of HQs and their embassies, not to mention panicky relatives and friends back home, by temporarily leaving Japan.

At the time of writing, life and

business life in Tokyo is slowly returning to normal. We can only hope for a minimum of disruption from power cuts and the still perilous situation at the Fukushima nuclear power station.

ikEa customers write messages of support on goods for the disaster zone

Overseas commentators have been unanimous in their admiration for Japan’s resilience and solidarity during this crisis. Japan’s stoicism has indeed been astonishing. In what other nation would citizens punctually submit their tax returns during a nuclear panic?

At the height of the Fukushima crisis, I received a carefully hand-addressed letter from TEPCO apologising for not checking my electricity meter that week. I didn’t know if to laugh or cry.

What lies in store for the Japanese economy? Dan Slater addresses that topic in his column this month. Data collected before the disaster show that the economy was actually picking up. The immediate challenges for the economy will be huge. But in the medium and long term, so too will be the opportunities for change.

Even as we struggle to come to terms with these tragic events, we can and should hope for reform and an opening

up of the Japanese economy. The government has already relaxed import regulations on certain emergency goods and allowed a team of foreign doctors to practice in Japan. The swift acceptance of emergency support from not just Europe, but also many other countries, is a hopeful sign of a new openness.

Japan needed change before 11 March, and needs it even more now. The EBC has already drawn up a list of draft regulations to speed both immediate relief and long term economic recovery.

It barely needs saying that a healthy economy will help everyone in Japan.

There will be many ways for EU companies to contribute.

Speaking personally, during a decade in Japan, I have seen a slow but unmistakable decline in Japan’s economy and self-confidence. It was hard not to think that Japan had lost its way. yet, this issue has the word “recovery” on its cover because, as well as recovery from the immediate devastation, there is a chance for a more profound renaissance in Japan. I’m sure that EURObiZ readers want to see that happen – and be part of it.

Above all, the events of the last week have been a reminder of Japan’s innate strength. When all the debris is finally cleared away, Japan will surely show the world of what it is capable.

Tony McNicol Editor-in-Chief

tonymcnicol@paradigm.co.jp

April 2011

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The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami European business responds Text EURObiZ Japan

“The EBC would like to extend our deepest condolences to the people of Japan, especially those who have lost loved ones in the earthquake and tsunami. We commend the Japanese people for their resilience during this extremely challenging time of multiple disasters. We believe that under the leadership of Prime Minister Naoto Kan and with the full support and solidarity of the international community, the Japanese people and government will be able to overcome this crisis.�

The European Business Council in Japan 8

April 2011

F ocus Lufthansa and the EU Commission’s relief flight

Jutta Immanen-Pöyry, head of the Sendai-Finland Wellbeing Center, was just weeks away from the end of her one-year stint in Sendai when a colossal earthquake struck in northern Japan.

“During my one year in Japan I have felt earthquakes; but this was very big,” she recalled.

Mercifully, no one among the center’s staff of over 120 elderly residents was injured in the earthquake and the buildings were structurally undamaged. Immanen-Pöyry and her colleagues immediately put well-rehearsed emergency plans into action.

Those patients who were able moved to an evacuation area; staff stayed with the bedridden.

The center, however, had no water and gas for several days, and an emergency generator was only able to run intermittently, due to a shortage of petrol. But Immanen-Pöyry says that the elderly residents endured the privations with admirable calm.

She left Japan for Finland on 15 March, but hopes to

come back. “We will continue our cooperation,” she vowed.

Yet, Immanen-Pöyry’s ordeal is just one story among millions of others from this unprecedented natural disaster.

The 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck 129km east of Sendai is the most powerful recorded here, and strong enough to have swayed skyscrapers in Tokyo, 373km away. It generated a tsunami up to 30m high that devastated a huge swathe of Japan’s north-eastern coast.

Television pictures showed entire communities swallowed by a black tide that reached kilometres inland. It set off huge conflagrations, swamped coastal defences and triggered a crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power station that is still dangerously unresolved at the time of writing.

The number of dead and missing is already in the tens of thousands and sure to rise.

Hindering attempts even to count the casualties is the fact that, in many cases, no one is left to report the missing. Entire towns have been

On 15 March, the company set up a team to handle relief efforts. The dispatch of goods in a 10-ton truck packed with Unilever products such as Lipton Tea, Vaseline and deodorants left on 18 March for Miyagi. Although fuel shortDisaster zone ages initially hindered the Unilever is one of several truck’s return, the company European companies with managed to send a further six an office in Sendai. Both trucks during the following that office and their office in week.

Utsunomiya, Tochigi pre“The theme of the week fecture, suffered extensive was how to actually get the damage. goods to the affected areas,” Ray Bremner, Unilever’s said Dylan Scudder, the senior vice president for company’s crisis response North-East Asia, said that after the earthquake the com- coordinator. That required not pany’s immediate priority was just a truck and fuel, but also a permit to get into the area, to confirm the safety of their a partner at the other end staff – something a mobile and goods that people actuphone message system ally want. allowed it to do almost He explained Unilever’s instantly. plans for a “One Million Cups “After each major quake or of Tea” campaign to provide tremor we send out an auto hot drinks for evacuees. The message to all employee company also hoped to help mobiles to ask them to evacuee children with books, confirm their safety status computers and parties. and location,” said Bremner.

“Children will be in those “On the 11th this allowed us shelters for a long time,” said to confirm the safety of 80% Scudder. “That’s a dreary kind of our employees within 15 minutes.” No employees were of existence so we want to lighten it for them.” injured in the earthquake. washed out to sea, along with administrative buildings and records. Hundreds of thousands of deeply traumatised refugees face an uncertain future.

April 2011

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Unilever’s Sendai office after the earthquake

Lend Lease Japan also has an office in Sendai with 68 employees who were unharmed in the earthquake and tsunami.

Despite damage to their office, within days of the earthquake, staff were helping repair mobile telephone networks, reported the managing director and CEO, Andrew Gauci.

“Our people have visited some of the hardest hit coastal areas, assessing damage and working with our clients to put plans in place to repair damaged parts of the network,” said Gauci. The company also opened up their Sendai office to officials from three embassies to use as a base to search for nationals of their countries.

Tokyo Meanwhile, in Tokyo many companies were working to raise money and organise urgent relief shipments to the north.

On 16 March, IKEA Japan sent its first shipment of 600 duvets to evacuees in Kesennuma, Miyagi prefecture.

IKEA stores in Kansai, 10

April 2011

Unilever relief goods for the earthquake zone

including its Kobe store, also allowed customers to buy items such as cushions, rugs, plastic utensils and torches at half price and send them to afflicted areas with personal messages written on the packaging.

Apparel retailer H&M donated 100,000 garments to the Japan Red Cross soon after the earthquake. Lufthansa Cargo provided a relief flight from Frankfurt to Tokyo with 70 tons of emergency supplies. The flight, in collaboration with the EU Commission, arrived on 24 March with goods from Denmark, The Netherlands and Lithuania.

On 17 March, as the situation at the Fukushima nuclear power station worsened, French energy company Areva dispatched a Japanesespeaking radiation protection expert to Japan. Over the following days, the company sent supplies that included 11,000 hazmat suits, 972,000 protective masks, 40,000 gloves and over 85 tons of boric acid.

Said AREVA Japan president Rémy Autebert: “Since the begining of the disaster, AREVA has been providing

to the disaster zone, as well as safety vests for NGO workers.

“For some items, such as gas canisters, we needed approval from the Defense Ministry, but for simple items we did not,” he said. The other problem was that shelters only accepted deliveries in certain amounts. “If there were 100 people in the shelter but you only had 30 pairs of gloves, they wouldn’t accept them.

“The problem is that the government was not coordinating collections. There was no one place for information, and you had to do all the research by yourself. That Logistic headaches took time and often led to Nevertheless, the scale of the frustration.” disaster, the confusion in the Chambers of commerce affected areas and a bottlefaced similar problems. But neck in donations made it one that quickly found itself difficult for many companies in a position to do more than to respond as quickly as they most was the British Chamber would have liked. of Commerce in Japan.

Wuerth Japan’s president, The BCCJ’s executive direcMichael Loefflad, said that in tor Lori Henderson was in the first few days after the only the second month of her quake it was almost impossible to send goods north. It was new job, and soon to finish only with the help of the NGO her cross-over period with outgoing head Ian de Stains Second Harvest Japan and who left at the end of March. the Japan Red Cross that his company was eventually able (De Stains was in the middle to deliver some 10,000 gloves of an interview for a EURObiZ Japan with all possible humanitarian and technical help, in particular significant quantities of nuclear safety equipment and experts to assist TEPCO.” European automobile manufacturers contributed to a total €6.2 million in cash donations from overseas automobile importers and manufacturers. MercedesBenz Japan offered shelter in Aichi and Chiba prefectures to 70 refugees, while Volkswagen Group Japan lent three Vanagon vehicles to help with rescue activities.

FOCUS

Second Harvest Japan volunteers load a Tohoku-bound truck

profile when the earthquake struck).

In anxious days after the earthquake and as the Fukushima nuclear power plant crisis developed, the chamber’s main focus was relaying information from the British embassy, said Henderson. As the foreign community in Tokyo became increasingly alarmed at the situation, detailed and calm evaluations of the nuclear risk

by John Beddington, the UK’s chief scientific officer, were invaluable.

“We also kept abreast of the ways companies could help the relief effort,” said Henderson. “Small companies especially needed our support to help get goods to the disaster area.”

She summarised the BCCJ’s efforts during the crisis as “Keep calm and carry on, help those in the north, and business as usual in Tokyo”.

Thanks to an existing relationship with the NGO Second Harvest Japan, the BCCJ started working with the food bank the day after the earthquake, collecting disposable household items such as baby wipes, face masks and

diapers for babies and the elderly.

Second Harvest’s CEO Charles McJilton arrived in the city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, on the Monday after the quake. “It was just massive destruction; cars strewn all over the place, tipped upside down; a house smashed into another house,” he recalled. All the residents had gone, and the only people there were looking for belongings in the ruins of their homes, or for bodies.

Second Harvest Japan used its agreements with 500 Japanese and foreign food companies to deliver 46 tons of food during the first week after the earthquake and tsunami. Since its charter allows it to help with disaster relief – as it did during the 2007 Niigata earthquake – the NGO’s trucks were able to quickly enter the disaster area.

Long term The Netherlands Chamber of Commerce (NCCJ) is supporting a long-term project to build a child refuge centre in Yamada, Iwate prefecture. The town, which has

Lend Lease Japan’s Andrew Gauci visits an evacuee centre

a historic relationship with The Netherlands going back to the 17th Century and a twin-town relationship with Zeist, was almost completely submerged by the tsunami.

Eighty percent of the population remains unaccounted for.

The centre will provide physical and psychological help to children who have lost parents, relatives, teachers and friends.

“Rather than merely raising funds, we feel we should do as much as we can to make our relief efforts as direct and personal as possible,” said NCCJ board member Martin van der Linden. “If any readers wish to offer help via their company, volunteer or join our task force, please get in touch.”

The EBC itself is also working in a number of ways to help victims.

As well as setting up a relief fund (page 17), the EBC has drawn up a comprehensive list of recommendations to the Japanese government (page 19), aimed at increasing the efficiency of relief efforts, and speeding economic recovery.

“The EBC is working around

the clock with Japanese authorities to simplify customs procedures and exempt relief goods from tariffs and consumption tax,” said EBC executive director Alison Murray.

It is obvious that recovery from what Prime Minister Kan has described as the worst disaster in post-war Japanese history has a long way to go.

McJilton noted that, at the end of March, the most urgent needs of victims had been met.

But for over 400,000 evacuees in temporary shelters, the ordeal was just beginning.

His advice to companies wishing to help was to think ahead.

“If you have a cut on your arm and you put a bandage on it, it is still going to take a long time to heal,” he said.

“First identify an NGO or other organisation you want to work with, then be prepared for a long-term effort.”

EURObiZ Japan would like to thank the many companies that sent details of their relief efforts.

We are sorry that we were not able to include them all in this article.

April 2011

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Eyewitness EURObiZ contributors describe the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

David McNeill, The Independent and The Irish Times newspapers Once I’d recovered from the shock of the quake, I knew I’d have to continue functioning as a journalist – no matter what was going on in my private life. So when The Telegraph’s Julian Ryall called, I jumped in a car with him and photographer Rob Gilhooly and headed northeast early on Saturday morning.

We were some of the first Western journalists to arrive in Minamisanriku.

The scene there will stay with me for life. The tsunami had left the town in ruins, reducing wooden houses to matchsticks, twisting metal girders as

12

April 2011

if they were strips of liquorice. Cars, along with everything else, were pushed two kilometres inland before coming to a muddy stop. Gas cookers, children’s toys, photograph albums and trucks are among the detritus deposited all along the tsunami’s trail. And an estimated 10,000 people had simply vanished.

We stood near the top of the town, our eyes following the tsunami’s trail of muddy destruction towards the sea.

The spindly, post-apocalyptic landscape was eerily reminiscent of a Tim Burton animated movie. Two young men approached. They had grown up in the town together and came from Sendai to find their kin. It was clear that there was nothing left of their homes, or their families. But there were no tears, only stony faces and a terse reply to the question: Are you hoping to find anything? Kakunin shimasu. “We have to make sure.”

Rob Gilhooly, photojournalist Early in the morning on the day after the earthquake and tsunami, we travelled up to the worst affected area by car, first stopping off in Iwaki city, Fukushima prefecture, and then on to Sendai and beyond. Overall, I spent about eight days up there, passing through the most incredible scenes of destruction imaginable.

The human grief was unbearable. At one small fishing community, yoriiso, on the Oshika peninsula I came across Takayoshi Watanabe, 54, and his griefstricken son Kenichi hunting through the wreckage that was their village.

F ocus Rob Gilhooly Rob Gilhooly

Each day since the quake, they had made sweeps of the ruined waterfront for Kenichi’s mother and grandmother.

So far, they had found four bodies, but not their loved ones. “We will keep searching until we find them,” said Takayoshi.

Meanwhile, among the ruins of a battered community in Ishinomaki I was accosted by a bespectacled middle-aged lady dressed in a blue surgeon’s apron and rubber boots. Yoko Nasa led me across the most incredible site of devastation imaginable to where she had found an elderly lady “crying tears of blood” dead in the rubble. Then she took me to her husband’s relatively undamaged gynaecology surgery.

“Here, at 14:46 on March 11, just as the quake hit,” she says,” “a baby boy was born.” Mother and child survived the quake and the subsequent tsunami.

April 2011

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DAMON COULTER

The wind off the sea is ruffling the old man’s hair, but he can no longer feel it.

His head is resting on his forearm, which is draped over a low wall that was once part of the foundations of his home.

His other hand trails in the cloying mud brought here by the tsunami. Half-buried in the silt are household items – a tin of fruit slices, a spatula, a saucepan – that may have belonged to this man, but may just as easily been in the kitchen of one of his neighbours when the wave came.

It is impossible to tell because there is little left that is recognisable in this district of Ishinomaki.

Cars are on their roofs and have their windows staved in. Clothing, children’s books and television sets are strewn across the shattered landscape. The tsunami was six-metres high when it broached the sea wall at the end of the dead man’s street, and it swept all before it reached the bottom of a hill that rises from the waterfront district.

There, the water piled everything it had gathered into a chaos of people’s lives. A patterned rug that is drenched in mud, an oil barrel and a child’s toy car. A glove and a girlie mag.

A narrow path has been cleared through the wall of debris to a small temple. The interior is coated in mud – the tatami mats, the gold statues on the altar – but the structure is still standing. The man lying in the mud outside cannot be helped, but one has to hope that this community will one day be back on its feet again.

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April 2011

Gavin Blair, freelance journalist

Damon Coulter, photojournalist

Covering a disaster of this scale it was hard not to feel like a vulture swooping in and feeding on the misery.

And yet the people who had been hit hardest continually amazed me with their seemingly unshakable kindness, respectfulness and consideration for others, even the media intruding on them as they faced unimaginable hardships.

When we visited an evacuation centre on the Oshika peninsula, the part of Honshu that was closest to the quake’s epicenter, refugees there attempted to give us drinks out of their meager supplies. As we went to leave, after politely refusing their offers, our shoes had been neatly arranged to face the door. This from people who had lost loved ones, had their houses destroyed, and were living on subsistence rations.

Elsewhere, in Kamaishi, an old man surveying the wreckage of what had been his workplace told me I had done well to make it from Tokyo to cover the disaster. As his eyes filled with tears, he turned and walked away, but not before wishing me “good luck” in English.

Above all, it is this indomitable spirit and decency that will help Tohoku rebuild, and Japan recover from this most terrible of times.

The scenes that greeted us when we reached the coast were hard to comprehend. Each devastated town, each cliff top vista of flattened villages drove home the power of the tsunami.

We had been sent to interview the survivors. I hope people found it cathartic to talk to outsiders. When your friends’ and neighbours’ troubles are equal to or worse than yours, how else do you release the pain? We talked to many people including an 80-year-old Hiroshima survivor who worried about being photographed with no make-up on – until it struck her that she had no make-up anymore.

DAMON COULTER

Julian Ryall, The Daily Telegraph newspaper

We came across a man collecting insurance documents from his car – that had been left leaning at a 45-degree angle against a ruined house in Kamaishi. He joked with us about claiming the money back. We were unprepared for the revelation that he’d lost his wife and parents. He was still looking for their bodies. As he said goodbye on his way back to the refugee centre he carefully shut the door to his car and locked it.

Q&a

Atsuhiko Hata Deputy director general of public relations, Japanese Red Cross Society This interview took place on 22 March 2011

What is the situation in northern Japan now?

Many people are being evacuated to areas outside the disaster zone, but for the people still there, the main problem is the extreme cold. Warm clothes and heaters to warm the evacuation centres are needed. Fuel is an extremely urgent requirement, as there isn’t enough petrol for cars to transport emergency supplies.

We are just at the stage where roads have been cleared so relief can reach affected areas. Hot food recently started to reach some of the people in evacuation centres, but there are people in their own homes without electricity or gas.

They are going out to look for food or share what there is with other people.

How many staff do you have in the disaster area?

We weren’t able to send many people until very recently, but the first we sent were medical staff. Teams headed for the area the day of the earthquake. From about the fourth day, we sent teams of counsellors. Now we have 249 teams of six or seven people there.

We have a Red Cross hospital in Ishinomaki that was relatively undamaged, still with water and electricity.

Immediately after the earthquake it received a great number of patients, far more than it was built to accommodate. Our teams are supporting that hospital, and travelling throughout the disaster zone.

Local medical facilities have been destroyed and many people who were taking medicine regularly had it swept away with their homes. We are still prioritising treatment for those patients who will die if we don’t attend to them immediately, even if we have to do so at the entrance of the hospital.

What kind of help will survivors need over the medium term?

It will be necessary to set up temporary accommodation for evacuees. People will want to look after themselves so they will need things such as cooking utensils, as well as radios and televisions to get information. Just having a house won’t be enough.

Right now, the problem is that victims of the earthquake don’t have any privacy, but when some of the old people start living alone, the problem will be how to look after them.

How is this disaster different from others with which the Red Cross has dealt?

The tsunami was far larger than we foresaw – far larger than the Red Cross, the prefectures and the government had anticipated. Miyagi prefecture’s Pacific coast has suffered from many tsunami in the past. That is why they had 10-metre sea walls. But the tsunami went straight over the top.

Because the tsunami swept away local government offices, the registers of residents have gone too. We don’t know how many people are missing. The organisations that would normally help coordinate relief have gone.

In addition, there is the damage suffered by the Fukushima nuclear power plant, and the evacuation area surrounding it. There are people still there but we can’t operate in the area. This is the first time the Japanese Red Cross has come up against a nuclear incident.

April 2011

15

Q&a

Hans Dietmar Schweisgut Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the EU to Japan This interview took place on 23 March 2011

16

What was the EU Delegation’s response to the earthquake and tsunami?

For member states, it was essentially an issue about protection of their citizens.

For us, the most important thing was to assure the Japanese government and the people of Japan of the sympathy and solidarity of the European Union. That message went out immediately from President Van Rompuy. There was also a need to coordinate foreign aid, so we had numerous meetings immediately after the earthquake.

We also received an outpouring of sympathy and response worldwide, including from the European Union. A number of member states sent rescue teams to help afflicted areas.

We are now organising disaster relief, with civilian teams there organising and monitoring the European response.

We have a plane coming in tomorrow [24 March]. President Van Rompuy and Prime Minister Kan spoke by telephone yesterday.

On the one hand, we are offering all the assistance and support we can, while on the other we are looking at the longer-term agenda. The EU is not only a strategic partner, but also a close friend of Japan. We are looking forward to the EU-Japan Business Round Table in Rome in April.

from that of EU member states that needed to offer consular assistance in the Kansai area, either because there are large communities of their nationals there, or because nationals were leaving Japan through Kansai International Airport.

What we did was to provide some contingency planning. Therefore, we opened a small temporary office in the Kansai area. Here in Tokyo, the Delegation mostly has been working continuously on a round-the-clock basis. We have reduced our staff slightly, and some family members have gone home.

a number of member-state embassies have moved to the kansai area. Have you relocated any of your operations?

We see our situation as a bit different

During the last comparable disaster – the Great Hanshin Earthquake – the Japanese government was heavily criticised for rejecting foreign help. Has the

April 2011

Many foreign business people left Japan during the days after the earthquake. Do you have any concern for the reputation of European business here?

It is important to say that the commitment of Europe and its business community to Japan remains completely unchanged. What I keep saying to our Japanese friends is that it’s normal in situations like this for foreign communities to take precautionary measures that go beyond those of the local community.

I suppose that Japanese business would react in a similar way in a crisis overseas.

There is no doubt about the long-term commitment of the EU business community here, and its wish to become fully operational as soon as conditions allow.

situation been different this time?

There has been a huge change. Lessons have been learned from the Hanshin earthquake. Aid generously offered from abroad – not only limited of course to the European Union – has been accepted.

There was also a fundamental change in terms of the immediate response, namely bringing in foreign task forces in large numbers.

But I would like to add that the resilience and strength of the Japanese people, and the way that they have dealt with this situation, has won the admiration of the world, and especially of Europe.

Recovery from the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear emergency is just beginning.

What role can the European business community play?

It would be useful if we could become involved in reconstruction. We were there at the level of individual member states with rescue teams. We are going to contribute by delivering relief. But soon we will enter the next stage, which is reconstruction. The European business community could also make a great contribution by sponsoring individual projects. That would be an indication of the long-term commitment of Europe and its business community to Japan.

This crisis is certainly going to lead to changes in the Japanese economic environment. It could be a chance for both sides to take a fresh look at how we can work together in the future.

EBC Disaster Relief Fund

Following the devastation in north-eastern Japan, and in recognition of the huge task facing Japan as hundreds of thousands of people rebuild their shattered lives, the European Business Council in Japan (EBC) has established a disaster relief fund.

We hope that, through the fund, the resources of European businesses in Japan will be utilised to make a significant contribution to the massive relief effort that is now taking place.

We appreciate that many companies and chambers have their own initiatives but also feel it is absolutely necessary for Europe to unite in its support of Japan. Please note that contributors to the EBC relief fund will be able to claim tax deductions from the Japanese tax authorities on their donations.

A task force drawn from the EBC’s Executive Operating Board was established following the earthquake to ensure that we raise as much money as possible by the end of May. The task force will work with the full EOB to ensure that the funds are used with maximum effectiveness, and directly help those in greatest need.

In addition, the EBC Task Force is also looking for effective ways to offer advice and support regarding

practical ways to get relief to the most needy, as well as get the economy back on track. Any suggestions or support you can give will be welcome. Please send your ideas to the EBC as soon as possible (ebc@gol.com).

As time is of the essence, we would greatly appreciate your prompt consideration and look forward to your generous contribution as part of a European response at this enormously challenging time for Japan.

Direct payments can be made to this account.

Bank: Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ / 三菱東京UFJ銀行 Bank Branch: aoyama-dori Branch (084) 青山通支店 SWiFT Code: BOTkJPJT account Name: EBC alison Murray Shinsai Gienkin-guchi

イービーシー アリソン マリー 震災義援金口 account Type: Ordinary 普通

account Number: 0105511

Please see the eBC website for further details: www.ebc-jp.com

April 2011

17

EBC proposals to accelerate relief and economic recovery Provisional draft, 1 April, 2011 During this unprecedented crisis, the EBC wishes to reaffirm our long commitment to Japan and our conviction that we can offer valuable expertise in these difficult circumstances. Many EBC Member companies have experience of working with governments in disaster situations and understand how resources and expertise can best be deployed in both relief and reconstruction efforts.

Furthermore, many European companies offer products and know-how vital to local authorities, service providers, firms and individuals seeking to rebuild communities and lives. Drawing on this, the EBC is eager to share with the Japanese Government our recommendations for ensuring Japan has the best possible platform for speedy recovery.

The EBC recommendations encompass all areas where, working within our fields of expertise, we feel action is most crucial at this time. At the time of writing, some of our recommendations are already being implemented, but many have yet to be addressed and all are urgent.

It is our hope and belief that these recommendations can be of real value to the Japanese Government at this difficult time. We stand ready to discuss our recommendations in more detail as well as any other ways in which we may be able to help.

Relief efforts 1. Simplify customs procedures and temporarily exempt imported relief goods from tariffs and consumption tax.

2. Temporarily relax importation rules and required documents for pharmaceuticals brought in by NPOs, NGOs, legitimate volunteer organisations and charities (such as those registered with the UN or other nationally accredited bodies) so that these pharmaceuticals can be swiftly distributed to areas where they are most needed.

3. Give emergency fast track customs clearance to all packaged food relief donations coming from the EU that do not require refrigeration.

4. Provide lists of essential food items likely to be in short supply in other areas as a consequence of the disaster and its aftermath (such as UHT milk, water, etc.) and temporarily remove any applicable import bans/quotas/tariffs.

5. Have a single source of information from the authorities, the Red Cross and other relief NPOs detailing the items they need and ease the process for donating items, for example by setting up more collection points that are easily accessible.

6. Allow NPOs, NGOs, legitimate volunteer organisations and charities (such as

those registered with the UN or other nationally accredited bodies) to enter Japan swiftly.

7. Provide ultra-low-interest emergency loans for working capital and/or asset recovery funds for affected businesses.

8. Exempt fixed property tax, corporate tax and the like for businesses in the affected areas.

Reconstruction efforts 9. Ease importation procedures for products critical to reconstruction.

10. Introduce a temporary earthquake/ disaster levy and raise the consumption tax to help finance reconstruction in the affected regions.

11. Review all Government/DPJ policies and realign where necessary to new economic challenges.

12. Establish more energy friendly homes and stimulate the use of solar and wind power.

Tackling radiation risks 13. Create an ongoing dialogue with European governments aimed at managing risks surrounding the Fukushima nuclear power plant and averting longterm problems.

14. Adopt standards and rules for radiation

Isabelle Hupperts EBC chairperson (1999 to 2001) “I would like to extend my heartfelt sympathy to all those whose lives have been shattered by the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.

On behalf of all European nationals in Japan, I wish to commend our Japanese friends for their 18

April 2011

incredible resilience, composure and courage during this extremely challenging time. Our hearts and prayers go out to you. In the face of such disaster, we are all Japanese.

As a long time observer of Japan, I am convinced that the Japanese people

detectors, such as Geiger counters.

15. Set up an official information network in both Japanese and English to report real-time (at least hourly) measures of radiation in both air and water in each prefecture, including Fukushima, based on official, calibrated radiation detectors.

16. Establish clear rules regarding the decontamination and disposal of contaminated foods and ensure that contaminated foods unfit for human consumption are not used in food mixtures for animals.

17. Continue to increase availability to the non-Japanese speaking media of the latest official information in English.

18. Establish an independent authority to provide oversight of the nuclear power industry in Japan.

19. Provide an optional service to measure levels of radiation on freight prior to shipments from Japan at airports and major sea ports as a precautionary measure.

20. Introduce daylight saving time.

21. Shift to a unified national energy grid.

22. Widely publish more specific and accurate information concerning the energysaving rolling blackouts in advance.

23. Start including more of the 23 wards of Tokyo in the rolling blackouts rather than waiting until summer time as proposed at present.

will demonstrate a fantastic spirit of cooperation and revival in rebuilding the north-east. Their strength will show Japan at its best.

I also believe this tragic succession of disasters will release tremendous positive energy within Japan, giving young people goals and dreams to take Japan on to new creativity and success.

Japan will undoubtedly come out of this nightmare stronger, as it always has emerged from previous

catastrophes with discipline and determination.

Last but not least, on behalf of all of us who care deeply for your country, I would like to reiterate to the Japanese people that Japan is not alone. We Europeans are here with you.

Please let us share the burden of reconstruction and allow international solidarity and friendship to prevail in assisting those who now desperately need assistance.�

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Now more than ever The American School in Japan is striving to live up to its mission of “developing compassionate, inquisitive learners prepared for global responsibility.” The ASIJ community around the world has truly come together to do what it can to help those affected by the earthquake and tsunami. At ASIJ, we are highly dedicated to service yearround, but the devastation in the north of Japan has called on us to go above and beyond to dedicate ourselves to helping the country we are so fortunate to live in.

All of us have watched over and over again the power and destruction of the tsunami that struck the northeast coast of Japan as a result of the massive earthquake. While we mourn the over 30,000 people lost, we feel a deep human need to reach out and help the more than 200,000 displaced people who have lost literally everything in the wake of this destruction. To put it simply, the people of Tohoku need our help and our compassion.

Our alumni quickly spearheaded fundraising efforts around the world and have already given over $1.5 million to the relief efforts through various initiatives.

Marcus and Andrew Ogawa challenged the community to donate to the Red Cross

and have offered to match any gifts given up to $500,000. ASIJ has also launched a Japan Relief Fund which will support our own direct relief efforts.

On the ground, our alums have acted as translators and reporters to facilitate relief efforts and report on the situation to the world. Many more have helped locate family members for other alumni with relatives in the stricken area.

In the weeks following March 11, ASIJ partnered with Tama Church and Second Harvest Japan to deliver emergency aid directly to the effected regions. Members of the ASIJ community have not only donated supplies, but are also volunteering their time to deliver them. Several faculty members have already spent time working in the Sendai area assisting with the cleanup operation and providing hot meals at an evacuation center. As time goes on more groups of faculty, students and parents will participate in the rebuilding as the school refocuses its normal service activities such as Habitat for Humanity, the Student Councils, Global Initiatives Network and other student groups on grass roots projects in the area.

It is clearer than ever that the ASIJ community is caring, connected and compassionate.

Service plays an important role in life at The American School in Japan throughout the year and at all grade levels. ASIJ believes that the emphasis we place on service helps students form connections between school activities and the outside world, whether it is helping make rice balls for the homeless or participating in a Global Initiatives Network conference.

The school’s varied service programs help give students the sense that their actions do count in helping create a better community and while much of the service work takes place outside the school, the concept of serving others must begin at home. For example, students are expected to help keep the school building and grounds, as well as the surrounding neighborhood, clean and neat. Service in a family or community setting is another way to meet ASIJ’s service commitment.

Pre-K through grade 12. Accredited by WASC. For complete admissions information please visit: <http://community.asij.ac.jp> or call 0422-34-5300 ext. 720

Reporting catastrophe?

20

April 2011

Getting the balance right in coverage of the crisis Text David McNeill

F ocus

O

ne of the few sources of muchneeded light relief for Tokyo-based foreign hacks since 11 March has been a website called Journalist Wall of Shame, which catalogues crimes against reporting in media coverage of Japan’s ongoing disaster.

Among the worst offenders is the anonymous UK Daily Mail reporter who predicted that a “nuclear plume” would hit California within days, and a typically eccentric interjection by right-wing United States commentator Ann Coulter who said radioactivity is “good for you”.

And from 16 March, there is an entry by yours truly from reporting the rumour that Emperor Akihito had left Tokyo; I scored a 9 (out of 11) on the site’s offence Richter scale.

I think the compiler may have missed my point: that the rumour, not its (unlikely) veracity, was evidence of the huge unease felt by Tokyo citizens. But in any case, the list makes sometimes painful reading and demonstrates the difficulties of trying to walk the reporting line between these two extremes: foreign “sensationalism” and the more measured, even censorious, coverage by local journalists.

Japan’s newspapers and broadcasters have on the whole reported the crisis soberly, led by NHK’s almost adjectivefree reports. One of the more surprising outcomes of the crisis is how much support this approach has won among foreign reporters here. Martyn Williams, a former president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, says he has been “glued” to the once staid state broadcaster.

“Domestic media has a responsibility to report the news and important developments, but I think it also has a duty to avoid public panic. You can bet some of the media running the scare stories about Japan wouldn’t handle a similar disaster in their own country in the same way.”

The Washington Post’s Chico Harlan also praised NHK in a recent opinion

piece: “Anchors do not use certain words that might make a catastrophe feel like a catastrophe,” he wrote. “‘Massive’ is prohibited.”

Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University Japan Campus, notes the contrast, citing the example of CNN’s Jonathan Mann “hyperventilating” over news that radiation levels had increased to “10 million times” safe levels around the crippled Fukushima plant, yet completely ignoring a correction by operator TEPCO that knocked several zeroes off that estimate.

“There are many more egregious instances of foreign media exaggeration and misrepresentation, fueled by parachute journalism,” he says. “My sense is that NHK may be reticent about connecting the dots, not telling viewers what all the info adds up to, but I found it a welcome voice of reason amidst all the hyper-babbling that passes as journalism overseas.”

Perhaps. But as Kingston and others also point out, Japan’s media pulled its punches for years in its coverage of the nuclear issue before the earth shifted on its axis on 11 March. Who were the journalists questioning the logic of building 55 nuclear reactors in one of the world’s most seismically unstable countries?

On the whole, the media here agreed with the government line that Japan’s nuclear plants are safe, and that the government’s nuclear programme was the only solution to a chronic shortage of natural resources. I remember a few years ago researching an article on the Hamaoka plant in Omaezaki, Shizuoka prefecture – many seismologists predict another huge quake in the area – and being astonished to find not a single newspaper article.

The broader point was made very clearly, I think, by Leo Lewis of The (London) Times: “Of course I am not defending exaggeration, but I would rather have a vigilant press whose worst failures are sensationalism than a passive, acquiescent press whose worst failure is complicity.”

That failure is evident, even on NHK, where stories for the domestic service

two extremes: foreign “sensationalism” and the more measured, even censorious, coverage by local journalists still often cleave closely to the line pumped out by TEPCO, regulator METI and the government. Satoko Norimatsu, who writes an influential and critical blog on the failures of reporting about the nuclear crisis (www.peacephilosophy. blogspot.com), has sometimes penned furious broadsides about NHK. Lewis’ colleague at The Times, Richard Lloyd Parry, says sampling both sides is the only way to get a balanced picture.

NHK has been “outstanding” in its timeliness and comprehensiveness, he accepts, but adds: “Given their massive superiority over everyone else in resources, manning and preparation, it would have been a disgrace if they hadn’t led the way.”

Like many Tokyo-based correspondents, he believes he would have felt poorly informed had he relied exclusively on the Daily Mail, CNN – or NHK. “It is difficult to disentangle the soberness of Japanese reporting from a reverence which constrains the mainstream media from questioning decisions and policies which should be questioned.

“NHK can feel proud of its day-to-day disaster coverage,” he adds. “But where, in all these years, were the in-depth documentaries questioning the wisdom of building nuclear reactors close to vulnerable coasts and fault lines? Where have been the analyses of the failings of TEPCO? To put it mildly, they have been inconspicuous. For that, even NHK should feel a little ashamed.”

Do you have an opinion on this topic you’d like to share?

Please post comments at www.eurobiz.jp or send them to eurobiz@paradigm.co.jp

April 2011

21

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EXE C UTi V E N OTE S

The economic fallout Recovering from the world’s costliest natural disaster What of economic growth, following the triple disaster Japan has suffered? Let’s check our metrics first. We should remember that GDP growth is a flow indicator (it measures economic activity, not the stock of wealth in a country).

When a disaster happens, some economic activity will increase on the back of rebuilding and stimulus packages.

Thus, in the quarter following the Kobe earthquake in 1995, economic activity turned positive. But the damage from Kobe was estimated at the equivalent of 2.5% of GDP, or $100 billion. In other words, the stock of wealth went down very painfully.

We could have a similar surge in activity now, in reconstructing the Tohoku region. The 4% excess supply in the Japanese economy will surely contract (a good thing) with the extra demand from the disaster areas. But make no mistake, the stock of wealth in this country has been hard hit, and the human cost is almost unbearable.

In addition, because nuclear energy is so important to Japan, we are looking at a more difficult scenario than the sharp rebound after Kobe. Some 35% of Japan’s energy is nuclear, and there are 55 plants. We know at least two are out of action (out of four power stations in total along that coastline), and many others will be checked. That, and the astonishing absence of a national power grid in Japan (the whole of Europe has a unified power grid) will cause power outages.

Next, many companies are closing down their plants in Tohoku. Many of the region’s car factories are being closed down, for maintenance or because they have been damaged.

This is important. Car factories are essential to Japan’s growth, because the car industry provides around half of Japan’s GDP growth. (you can think of it this way: exports are basically the only growth driver of the Japanese economy.

Within those exports, cars are the biggest component. In terms of cars, Toyota is the biggest producer. Not for nothing is Toyota the bellwether stock of the Japanese economy).

With Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda and Nissan announcing in the aftermath of the earthquake that they will suspend all their Japan plant operations, we are seeing a hiatus in a major source of economic activity. Tohoku suppliers need to be checked and new supply chains set up. Plus, the ports in Tohoku for exporting these cars are wrecked. Two thousand cars were smashed by the tsunami while waiting to be loaded at the port of Hitachi, for example.

Will Japanese personal consumption slow down? One of the wonders of Japanese consumption is how steady it has been over the past decades, despite the slow economic impetus of the economy. At 60% of the economy, however, it’s not a growth driver. The uncertainty caused by the earthquake

MAKE NO MISTAKE, THE STOCK OF WEALTH IN THIS COUNTRy HAS BEEN HARD HIT, AND tHe HUman Cost is almost UnBeaRaBle will not cause an increase in the consumption of high-value durable goods, especially given the end of the government stimulus, such as the eco-points scheme.

Government investment, another traditional growth driver in Japan, has been trending down ever since Koizumi (there are fewer “bridges to nowhere”). However, government consumption on healthcare and pensions has been picking up the slack. We will definitely see an increase in government investment. After all, those rural areas are outrageously well represented politically, thanks to the skewed electoral map.

Bottom line: our GDP forecast for the year is 1.7%, but it could fall well short of that. There is an outside chance of the government launching a trillion dollar emergency budget, but I see too much fear of dramatically increasing the budget deficit (already 7% of GDP, one of the worst in its peer group) on Kan’s part.

The joker in the pack is a nuclear catastrophe. At the time of writing, the fear of a Chernobyl-scale accident has subsided. However, the nuclear industry’s claim that safety is assured by design employing “defence in depth” needs to be examined with a more jaundiced eye. A retired engineer from TEPCO has claimed that the company didn’t even start testing for tsunamis until he retired, and even then, the test was for a three-metre wave.

Nuclear still casts a long shadow. What happens if parts of Tohoku are basically abandoned? The region provides some 7% of the country’s GDP, but is populated mainly by old people, retired farmers and small shopkeepers. Nobody knows what will happen to the biggest pile of radioactive waste in history (at least three reactors will be abandoned, if not four). Thirty years later, Chernobyl is still surrounded by an eternal exclusion zone. In Japan, the presence of dormant but dangerous reactors will be a malevolent reminder of this disaster for a long time to come.

Dan slateR Dan Slater is director of the Economist Corporate Network (www.corporatenetwork.com) in Tokyo, and you can reach him at danslater@economist.com

April 2011

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Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Who

Real Estate and Property Services in Japan

26

April 2011

J

apan is the high-tech manufacturing economy par excellence – monozukuri – and proud of it. Poor in natural resources, the country’s manufacturing base requires large investments in infrastructure, transport, energy and logistics.

This monozukuri economy is in transition, however. In Japan there is not so much a radical shift to services as a shift within the manufacturing sector, referred to as kudoka – hollowing out.

The highest-value components are still developed and manufactured in Japan.

Lower-value components are now made abroad and imported back when needed.

There is a large stock of ageing, underutilized manufacturing buildings.

Manufacturing facilities tend to be very specialised, not easily tradable like office or residential buildings, and so unsuitable for most investors. The warehouse sector, by contrast, is expanding and attractive for investors. With

hollowing out has come an increasing demand for space to house imported components.

There has also been a shift in the way logistics space is provided. Rather than build-to-suit for single tenants or owners, many recent facilities share characteristics of the office market: They are built on spec and in search of multiple tenants.

The recent earthquake and tsunami, not surprisingly, are expected to have a negative impact on overall growth.

The capacity of the manufacturing backbone of the economy is impacted directly by damage to facilities and indirectly by problems with transportation and energy supply.

In the areas hardest hit by the disaster, of course, both new and old facilities will need to be rebuilt. Elsewhere, owners of newer logistics facilities with up-to-date specifications are likely to see increasing demand for their space, while older competing facilities may

Who’s Who // Real Estate and Property Services

An eye on logistics

John Mader Senior Project Manager Lend Lease Japan, Inc.

leave the market. It is too early to say whether higher rents or a spike in new warehouse construction will result, but sophisticated investors with an eye to what makes the current situation unique should keep an eye on logistics facilities.

Response to recovery

T

he recovery effort in construction is ongoing, addressing the needs of both corporate and public institutions, such as hospitals and schools. There are a number of factors that come into play.

Cost-efficiency and functionality, for example, require a level of expertise familiar with localised conditions.

Urgency has become another critical factor in addressing the immediate needs of entire towns levelled by the 11 March Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

In the case of industries that once thrived along the north-eastern coastline, from fishing to automobiles, flooring is essential. Forbo Flooring Systems is a global market player in linoleum floor coverings, where we enjoy a market share of over 60%. The reconstruction work in the seven prefectures impacted by the tsunami requires specifications that meet particular industry criteria – not a one solution for all. Our resources encompass a portfolio

of products, including environmentally sustainable Marmoleum and specialist commercial vinyls and carpet solutions designed for office, education, retail, health and aged-care construction projects.

Evacuees are determined to return and rebuild their communities – together. It is imperative that in any reconstruction endeavour, there are implemented high-quality designoriented solutions offering low lifecycle costs, durability and world-leading environmental performance. Forbo Flooring Systems continues to place the highest priority on delivering such quality. As part of the Swiss Forbo Group, we have at our disposal 14 manufacturing plants and branches in 32 countries worldwide.

For more than a century, we have responded to the demand for linoleum flooring using eco-friendly building material that is durable, biodegradable, and offering a long life and excellent

Eric De Groot Branch Manager Forbo Flooring B.V. Japan

performance. Another important consideration is providing a rich range of colour patterns from which to choose.

As Japan and the world continue to unite in the recovery stage, the response to reconstruction will surely bring out the best in the industry.

April 2011

27

Who’s Who // Real Estate and Property Services

EA International LLC

EFA Laboratories, Inc.

Address

F&F Royal Bldg. 5F, 2-4-6 Kanda Awaji-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0063

Address

F&F Royal Bldg. 1F, 2-4-6 Kanda Awaji-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0063

Tel

03-5289-0717

Tel

03-3526-5677

Fax

03-3252-5411

Fax

03-3252-5412

Email

kmc@ea-intl.com

Website

www.efa.co.jp

EA International (EAI) is a Tokyo-based full-service environmental engineering and consultancy company. EAI clients range from small commercial property owners to multinational manufacturing companies.

Disaster has struck northern Japan causing extensive loss of life and property damage. As Japan begins to respond to this crisis, survivors and rescue workers face another hidden threat in the debris – asbestos.

Typical EAI projects include:

In support of the Tohoku region rescue and reconstruction, EFA Laboratories Inc. (EFA) is offering its professional services free of cost to NGOs and government agencies. EFA will perform bulk and airborne fibre analyses free of charge to these teams in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures.

- - - - -

Soil and/or groundwater pollution investigations Underground storage tank management programmes Asbestos and PCB materials in investigations Hazardous material discharge & spill response actions Indoor air testing and monitoring

These issues often require immediate attention and may include regulatory negotiations to determine acceptable solutions. These problems typically result in costly construction delays, increased building management costs and potentially undesirable public attention.

EAI also provides: - Environmental and safety compliance auditing - Environmental impact assessments - Chemical health risk assessments EAI’s team of engineers, architects and scientists has more than 150 years of combined experience in solving complex environmental problems.

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April 2011

EFA provides world-class asbestos analyses to support and expedite building rehabilitation and demolition projects; product testing specifications; and air contaminants. EFA’s polarised light microscopy quickly identifies and quantifies asbestos fibres in all forms of suspect building materials.

For more information regarding our services, please call or visit us at www.efa.co.jp

Who’s Who // Real Estate and Property Services

www.tokyoapartments.jp

Address

Nomura Bldg. 2F, 4-8 Yonbancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Tel

03-6273-0181

Fax

03-3511-5810

Email

request@enplus.co.jp

Website

www.enplus.co.jp

Tokyo One Stop Housing Solution Enplus Inc., trusted by over 500 corporate accounts since our establishment in 2004, offers the ‘One Stop Housing Solution’ for incoming expatriates. Offering both short- and long-term accommodation throughout the 23 wards of Tokyo, our Bilingual Leasing Consultants will use their local knowledge to assist you in finding the Housing Solution that fits your needs. Also providing a Furniture Rental Service, and a Tokyo Relocation Service.

• Short-stay Serviced & Furnished Apartments • Long-stay Furnished & Unfurnished Apartments • Properties throughout central Tokyo • Furniture Rental Service • Tokyo Relocation Service Tokyo Serviced & Rental Apartments: www.tokyoapartments.jp Premium Rental Apartments: www.tokyo-living.com Furniture Rental Service: www.smart-rental-tokyo.com Tokyo Relocation Service: www.twainc.co.jp Please mention EURObiZ Japan upon inquiry to receive special offers.

April 2011

29

Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Who // Real Estate and Property Services

Forbo Flooring B.V. Japan

Address

28 Kowa Bldg., 2-20-1 Nishi-Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0031

Tel

03-5740-2790

Fax

03-5740-2791

Email

eric.de.groot@forbo.com

Website

www.forbo-flooring.co.jp

Contact

Eric De Groot

Forbo Flooring has been producing quality linoleum flooring for over 100 years, and is the second-largest producer of commercial flooring in Europe, with an extensive range of linoleum, carpet, carpet tiles, specialised industrial and commercial flooring, and wall-covering solutions. Our Netherlands linoleum factory was the first flooring factory in the world to receive ISO 140001 environmental accreditation, and our all-natural linoleum flooring is the only resilient flooring product backed by a thirdparty independent life-cycle assessment. Forboâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Marmoleum brand linoleum, manufactured from 100% rapidly renewable raw materials, is the recipient of many international ecological and architectural design awards, as a durable, beautiful and sustainable alternative to petroleum-based plastic flooring. There are LEED credits available for using Marmoleum and other Forbo flooring products.

Forbo Flooring B.V. Japan is part of the Swiss-based Forbo industrial group of companies with combined annual sales of over 2 billion Swiss francs and 6,400 employees worldwide.

30

April 2011

Who’s Who // Real Estate and Property Services

www.japanhomesearch.com

Address

2F EXOS Ebisu Bldg., 1-24-14 Ebisu, Shinuya-ku Tokyo 150-0013

Tel

03-5449-6061

Fax

03-5449-3267

Email

InfoRequest@morethanrelo.com

Website

www.MoreThanRelo.com

Japan Home Search is a comprehensive property search engine targeted specifically at expatriates relocating to Japan. This popular site lists thousands of rental properties for a real-time snapshot of what is available on the market today. The site also features the “Pin Pointer” tool, which allows visitors to zoom in on the areas surrounding potential properties. Powering this website, our team prides itself on promptly answering all enquiries, and strives to find properties that meet each individual client’s needs.

Anyone can find a house - with Japan Home Search you can find a home!

Japan Home Search is also part of The H&R Group. The H&R Group offers complete coordination of any move to Japan, with support targeting not only the assignees and their families, but also the companies for which they work. Personalized and reliable service, clear communication, and cost-effective service programs set us apart as the leaders in Japan’s relocation industry.

April 2011

31

Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Who // Real Estate and Property Services

Jones lang lasalle K.K.

Can you see it?

Where you need to be next.

Address

Prudential Tower 3F, 2-13-10 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0014

Tel

03-5501-9200

Fax

03-5501-9211

Email

pr.japan@ap.jll.com

Website

www.joneslanglasalle.co.jp

Contact

Neil Hitchen, National Director, Markets Ari Druker, Assosiate Director, Corporate Finance

Jones Lang LaSalle is a financial and professional services firm specialising in real estate services. We offer integrated services delivered by expert teams to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying or investing in real estate. The firm is an industry leader in property and corporate facility management services worldwide, and is one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest and most diverse in real estate. We have over 50 years of experience in the Asia-Pacific region.

The most valuable knowledge is local knowledge, especially when location is a strategic advantage to grow the value of your company and your brand. Our dedicated team of researchers anticipates market movements and tracks trends to keep you onestep ahead.

Our portfolio of services include corporate finance and solutions, CRE, facility management, hotels, investment sales and acquisitions, lease administration, project and development, property and asset management, research, tenant representation, valuation, and value recovery services.

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April 2011

Who’s Who // Real Estate and Property Services

Lend Lease Japan, Inc.

Address

Akasaka Enokizaka Mori Bldg. 3F, 1-7-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Tel

03-6866-5600

Fax

03-6866-5607

Email

bd.japan@lendlease.com

Website

www.lendlease.com

Contact

Andrew Gauci, Managing Director & CEO

With over 750 staff in nine regions across Japan, Lend Lease Japan provides consultancy, project and programme management services to public and private sector clients by a team made up of Western and Japanese construction professionals. As an experienced builder, planner and manager, we provide flexible construction advisory services tailored to the needs of each project, leveraging the capabilities and customs of the local market while adhering to international standards. Our approach has been refined specifically to respond to increasing demand for an independent “Client-Advocate”, who provides professional construction planning and project management services on a pure consultant basis.

• Integrated Project Management from pre-design to post-occupancy • Site Evaluation and Feasibility Studies • Design & Schedule Management • Cost & Procurement Management • Construction Management • Multi-site Program Management • Environmental Assessment & Remediation Consulting • Sustainable (Green Building Design) Consulting • Engineering Due Diligence • Facility Decommissioning and Divestiture Support April 2011

33

Who’s Who // Real Estate and Property Services

Nikken Space Design Ltd.

XIV Arima

La Tour DAIKANYAMA

XIV Arima

34

April 2011

Address

1-4-27 Koraku, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-0004

Tel

03-5689-3264

Fax

03-5689-3265

Email

webmaster_sd@nikken.co.jp

Website

www.nspacedesign.co.jp

NSD was established in 1994, specialising in interior design, from the Nikken Sekkei group. We have a history in interior design based on the experience of Nikken Sekkei FF&E and its interior design departments. Our three design practices are located in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya where we have approximately 70 highly experienced designers and creators. We specialise in hospitality, office, retail, hospital, school, and private houses. We design for whole environments – interior design, exterior design, specifying furniture (FF&E) and product design. We are also currently working on several refurbishments and design projects with international clients. The designers work on many projects in partnership with different artists and architects. We design projects around our belief that architecture and city planning should aid and be for people – “human scale” – and their lives. We are also currently working on long-term design concepts and management projects, improving the spatial design and its environment.

Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Who // Real Estate and Property Services

Oakwood Serviced Apartments

Address

9-7-4 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052 (Oakwood Premier Tokyo Midtown)

Tel

0120-313113 (toll free), 03-5412-3131

Fax

03-5412-3130

Email

midtown@oakwoodasia.com

Website

www.oakwoodasia.com/en/default.aspx

Contact

Eric Ishimaru, Director of Sales & Marketing

Oakwood is the perfect choice of accommodations for business and leisure travellers who want the comfort of a home and the amenities of a hotel.

Oakwood in Japan offers the finest serviced apartments for business and leisure travellers for extended stays with three choices of living: Oakwood Premier, Oakwood Residence and Oakwood Apartments. We listen to our customers and put their needs at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to excellence and always passionate about having sincerely satisfied and loyal customers.

Each apartment is complete with all the comforts of home including a full kitchen, furnishings, housewares, and onsite laundry facilities. Maid service is also available.

Uniquely placed in exclusive postal codes of central Tokyo, our serviced apartments are located selectively to accommodate the lifestyle and conveniences of our guests for their extended stays.

April 2011

35

Who’s Who // Real Estate and Property Services

Smart managed work space solutions

“The World’s Finest Serviced Offices and Virtual Offices” TOKYO | YOKOHAMA | OSAKA | NAGOYA | FUKUOKA | LONDON | PARIS | BRUSSELS | SYDNEY | MELBOURNE | BRISBANE ADELAIDE | CANBERRA | HOBART | PERTH | AUCKLAND | WELLINGTON | BEIJING | SHANGHAI | CHENGDU | HANGZHOU HONG KONG | KOWLOON | SINGAPORE | KUALA LUMPUR | BANGKOK | MUMBAI | HYDERABAD | DUBAI | ABU DHABI | MANAMA DOHA | JEDDAH | RIYADH | AL KHOBAR-DAMMAM | KUWAIT CITY | BEIRUT | ISTANBUL | CHICAGO | ATLANTA | NEW YORK LOS ANGELES | IRVINE | SAN FRANCISCO | BOSTON | WASHINGTON DC | MIAMI | DALLAS | HOUSTON | MCLEAN | PHILADELPHIA

Address

Shinjuku Nomura Bldg., Level 32, 1-26-2 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 163-0532

Tel

03-5789-5800

Email

offices@servcorp.co.jp

Website

www.servcorp.net

Servcorp offers a global network of flexible office solutions that help you cut costs without cutting corners.

• Serviced Offices: Affordable fully furnished, serviced and IT-enabled office space in top buildings in 120 locations worldwide. Ideal for the 1-10 man business.

• Virtual Office, “everything but the overheads”: A great business address, receptionist answering your phone, meeting space, FREE Business Lounge usage, and a lot more. Sign-up online and be in business in minutes!

• Business Continuity: What happens if you cannot enter your office tomorrow? How long can your business survive without telephones and email? A Servcorp office or Simple Contingency Package can protect your business in case of a disaster, such as earthquake, flood, fire, etc.

Tokyo – 13 locations Yokohama – 1 location Osaka – 3 locations Nagoya – 2 locations Fukuoka – 2 locations Europe – 7 locations Over 120 top locations around the world, helping your business succeed.

36

April 2011

Who’s Who // Real Estate and Property Services

Sohgo Housing Co., Ltd.

Entrance

AZABU DAI-ICHI MANSIONS 4-2-50 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Address

2-8-1 Nishigotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo

Tel

03-3494-6761

Fax

03-3494-7357

Email

residence@sohgo-jyutaku.co.jp

Website

www.sohgo-jyutaku.co.jp

Sohgo Housing was established in 1955 by a major life insurance company in Japan. We continue to develop many luxurious apartments, including Dai-ichi Mansions, in high-class residential areas of Tokyo. Sohgo Housing is a pioneer in providing upscale accommodations for foreign diplomats, corporate executives and their families residing in the nation’s capital city. The success of serving such a discerning clientele for over half a century is measured by the satisfaction expressed by our residents.

While we have expanded our business to include development and subdivision of properties for sale, our core business remains lease and property management. Sohgo Housing offers a large choice of apartments for rent that satisfy a wide range of needs for individuals and families alike. Our properties are found in such prestigious neighbourhoods as Roppongi, Azabu, Akasaka, Aoyama and Hiroo – in the heart of Tokyo, with convenient transportation, shopping and dining.

AOYAMA DAI-ICHI MANSIONS 8-4-10 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo

AZABU DAI-ICHI MANSIONS 1-4 bedrooms / 68.83 sqm. – 301.53 sqm.

AOYAMA DAI-ICHI MANSIONS 1-4 bedrooms / 91.79 sqm. – 354.55 sqm. * Concierge service is available 24 hours

April 2011

37

Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Who // Real Estate and Property Services

sun Realty & insurance Corporation

HOMAT ORIENT

Address

Viscountess 3F, 1-11-36 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052

Tel

03-3584-6171

Fax

03-3505-0939

Email

sun@sunrealty.co.jp

Website

www.sunrealty.co.jp

Contact

Satoshi Ihara

While living here in Japan, do not miss the opportunity provided by the Homat apartment series: residences that enable you to experience a genuine Japanese environment without relinquishing your native lifestyle.

Sun Realty, the exclusive agent of the Homat apartment series, has been a respected name in Tokyo for over 50 years. We have offered the foreign community unique and unparalleled service â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the highest quality accommodations designed to enable our clients to enjoy life to the fullest.

Our philosophy of providing the very best in properties, coupled with attentive service and exceptional property maintenance, has propelled us to playing an important role in the real estate field of Japan, where we proudly remain to this day.

All of our staff are bilingual and possess many years of experience in the real estate field.

HOMAT VISCOUNT

38

April 2011

CHaMBER VOiCE

Francesco Formiconi President, The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan www.iccj.or.jp Text EUROBiZ JaPaN The environment for Italian products in Japan is nothing if not favourable, says Francesco Formiconi, chief operating officer of Giorgio Armani Japan and president of The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ICCJ). “There are more Italian flags outside restaurants in Tokyo than there are flags in Italy,” he quips.

But that’s not to say that Italian companies have got anywhere close to exhausting Japan’s business potential.

“The presence of Italian companies in Japan is still very limited,” says Formiconi, “even in sectors like fashion where you would think Japan would be a huge market.”

That’s why the chamber is working hard to “integrate Italian companies into the Japanese market”. The ICCJ hosts business-to-business events that introduce small and medium-sized Italian companies to Japanese partners, such as an event with the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Other events include the hugely popular Aperitivo della Camera, a regular networking event held at Italian

restaurants in Tokyo, now in its third year. One recent event attracted a record 300 people. “It’s becoming almost impossible to manage,” says Formiconi.

“Our events are extremely informal.

People always say that they had great food, wine and conversation.” Last September saw an ICCJ-organised seminar on Italian espresso coffee.

“For Italians, starting a day with a bad espresso means starting a bad day,” he says, laughing.

This year looks to be an important one for both the ICCJ and other Italian institutions in Japan, since it is the 150th anniversary of Italian unification.

are down, markets are shrinking and costs are going up. The only silver lining to such clouds is that tariff costs have been mitigated by the strong yen. yet, punitive and arbitrary tariffs remain a headache. Formiconi gives a couple of examples. One is spaghetti: there is a ¥300-per-kilo tariff on round spaghetti (linguine), while the tariff is ¥330-per-kilo for square spaghetti (chitarra). “Customs say that square pasta competes with soba.”

There is a ¥300-per-kilo tariff on round spaghetti (linguine), but the tariff is ¥330-per-kilo for square spaghetti (chitarra) To mark the occasion, Japanese public broadcaster NHK has scheduled a special series of programmes on Italian society, business and culture. A biennial event, Italy in Japan, will also take place this year, supported by the chamber and Italian government.

The biggest barrier to Italian business in Japan, says Formiconi, is that Japan is still “a very high-cost market”.

“We have a lot of very good products in Italy, but it is still too expensive to sell them in Japan,” he says. Profit margins

Another is that blood oranges cannot be sold in Japan due to a Mediterranean fly partial to the fruit. But the fly is, in fact, on all Italian oranges sold here.

“We believe that the EBC is the best actor to deal with this kind of issue,” he stresses.

More positively, two buzzwords for the future of Italian business in Japan are “environment” and “healthcare”, says Formiconi. These are markets in which Italian companies excel, but which are still relatively untapped.

April 2011

39

St. Mary’s International School Reading, writing, arithmetic and recreation Summer School returns to St. Mary’s International School after a four-year absence, bringing lots of opportunities for play and advancement for both boys and girls.

This year St. Mary’s marks the completion of our campus reconstruction project with the opening of the Multipurpose Hall. With the facilities complete, we are once again offering our popular Summer School programme. Boys and girls are welcome to join in the fun with creative arts, exercise programmmes or hit-the-books review courses. Our flexible schedules allow your child to combine different morning and afternoon courses, or to take the “day camp” programme.

The St. Mary’s campus is located in Tokyo’s Setagaya district and is readily accessible by train, car or school bus.

The campus offers a large athletic field, gymnasium and play areas. The classrooms are new and equipped with digital projectors and centralised wireless networking. During the regular school year, St. Mary’s is a boys’ school, host to some 950 students in Readiness Programme through Grade 12, representing about 55 countries.

Challenging students St. Mary’s International School challenges high school students with its college preparatory curriculum and optional International Baccalaureate Programme. The IB offers a rigorous two-year curriculum leading to examinations. The programme is not based on a particular country’s curriculum, but is a middle road between the specialisation required in some national systems and the breadth of others.

The objectives of the IB are to provide a balanced education and to promote international understanding. Since its founding 25 years ago, the IB diploma has become a symbol of academic

integrity and intellectual promise.

Students who receive the diploma demonstrate a commitment to learning, both in mastery of subject content and the development of skills and discipline necessary for success.

St. Mary’s high school students have many opportunities for extracurricular activities, and virtually all graduates go on to higher education, many at the finest universities in the world.

Students participate in interscholastic competitions and have won many titles.

They also enjoy intramural sports such as badminton, table tennis, floor hockey and volleyball. Fine arts and activities include school bands and our awardwinning choirs, theatre, debate and brain bowl.

Valuing teamwork Our middle school programme places strong emphasis on the development of the individual, nurturing his understanding of appropriate values, interpersonal and social skills, and spiritual development. This comes through teacher-student guidance and interaction, along with an after-school programme that includes intramural activities highlighting cooperation and participation rather than competition.

Students may also join team sports to learn healthy competition and the value of teamwork.

Tapping potential Our elementary school programme seeks to develop the whole child – academically, physically, socially, spiritually and morally. The academic programme is built upon core subjects that challenge each student to achieve his potential, the physical education programme to meet his growing needs through individual and group activities, and the religion/ethics programme to nurture his spiritual dimension in order to foster respect and understanding. St. Mary’s provides an outstanding array of specialist teachers and facilities: in painting, drawing, printing, ceramics, sculpture, vocal and instrumental music, Japanese language, computer, physical education and swimming classes.

Find out more, visit www.smis.ac.jp

SHOP WiNDOW

Department stores: hidden strength Text ROy LaRkE

Department store sales, 1990 to 2010 adjusted for inflation 100.0

75.0

Department stores (National) Department stores (National, adjusted) Department stores (Tokyo) Department stores (Tokyo, adjusted)

62.5

50.0 1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

SOURCE: JAPANCONSUMING BASED ON METI DATA.

Index of sales (1990=100)

87.5

city centre department be dominated by department 3 Results from Japanese departstores have seen sales rise stores. ment stores have been awful again, especially in the key 3 But the sector is at last changfor most of the last two categories of apparel and ing, and quickly. While the decades, down to just 66.5% accessories. headline numbers each month of 1990 sales nationally, and 3 The improvement is due to suggest sales are falling, this in Tokyo a mere 53.7%. shoppers spending again, but is in fact because department 3 Much of the blame can be also much better managestores are being closed. Since placed on intransigent manment and a focus on core 2001, 114 have shuttered, agement blind to new kinds customers. While consumpincluding 14 in 2010 alone. of consumer demand and, in tion may dip again following particular, the rise of special- 3 Because the worst stores the recent earthquake, better are being closed, the likeity stores. Speciality retailing management will stand in for-like sales performance is now the leading format for good stead what remains of of the survivors is rising. key categories like apparel and the sector.

Since September 2010, many accessories, ones that used to

JC

JapanConsuming

JapanConsuming is the leading provider of intelligence on consumer and retail markets in Japan. The monthly report provides news about, and in depth analysis of, current trends. For more information, please see www.japanconsuming.com or contact Sally Bedown at subs@japanconsuming.com

April 2011

41

EVENT REPORT

Protecting the authentic FOODEX Japan 2011 seminar on regional brands 2 March 2011, International Conference Halls, Makuhari Messe Text Alena Eckelmann

What do German Thüringer Rotwurst, French Camembert de Normandie and English Kentish Ale have in common?

The answer is their reputations are all protected by the EU’s geographical indications (GI) system. Similar in some ways to trademarks, GI designations are granted to products that come from a specific area and/or are made to agreed standards.

Geographical indications was the theme of a seminar held at 2011 FOODEX, Japan’s largest food and beverage exhibition. The seminar, co-organised by the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation, addressed Japanese producers and exporters interested in exporting their quality products to the European Union. Over 100 people, including Japanese government officials, attended the event.

In the EU, regional brand names are guarded by the protected designation of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indication (PGI)

42

April 2011

marks. GI registration helps local producers put a higher price on premium products and provides reassurance to consumers. It also protects the brands from otherwise widespread fraudulent imitation.

The first speaker of the day was Francis Fay, deputy head of unit agricultural product quality policy at the directorate-general for agriculture and rural development of the European Commission. To date 1,200 wines, 300 spirits and 970 agricultural products and foodstuffs have been registered under the GI system.

Yet, he noted that, despite the system’s success among European producers, Japanese exporters are yet to make use of it. “We have seen increasing interest from Asian producers, but we haven’t heard from Japanese producers yet,” said Fay. “We look forward to receiving our first application for GI registration from Japan.”

The second speaker, Simone Ficarelli from Consorzio del Formaggio ParmigianoReggiano, Italy, explained the

The company discovered that “authentic” Hungarian salami was produced in Australia, Singapore and the Philippines, and that Hungary was thought of as a brand name rather than a country benefits of GI for ParmigianoReggiano cheese, a PDO since 1996. Exports of their cheese have been increasing steadily and now account for 30% of their total production.

“GI helps secure jobs and promote the regional economy at large. However, the benefits of GI are seen not only in the agricultural sector, but also in the satellite industries around the PDO product. What’s more, GI safeguards the identity of our national heritage,” said Ficarelli.

The third speaker, Joanna Dopierała-Konkołowicz, counsellor at the embassy of the Republic of Poland in Tokyo, explained the difficulties that her country faced when introducing the GI system in 2004.

“The identification of traditional products that had been forgotten because of the migration of people, or which had become nameless due to years of standardisation was a real challenge,” she said.

Arpad Nagygyor, export director at Pick Szeged, Hungary, told of the dangers that a lack of protection brought to Pick Szeged salami, Hungary’s best-known food product, GI registered since 2007.

The company discovered that “authentic” Hungarian salami was produced in Australia, Singapore and the Philippines, and that Hungary was thought of as a brand name rather than a country.

Later Fay reiterated this point when he answered a question from the audience on whether famous Japanese brands, such as Kobe Beef, should be registered under the GI system in Europe.

“Reputation without protection is a catastrophe,” he said.

“Without adequate protection, the name Kobe Beef and associated marketing advantages can be used by anybody.

“In a globalised market, we have a choice to go banal and generic or to preserve at the global level what is precious and authentic. GI offers the opportunity to protect at the global level what is special and local,” said Fay. Hiroshi Tsukamoto, a general manager at the EU-Japan Centre, gave the closing remarks. “We need to find a good Geographical Indication system to protect our regional brands,” he said.

Whether Japan will follow the model of the EU’s GI system or not remains to be seen.

events

Upcoming events > Austrian Business Council www.abc-jpn.org

European chambers joint luncheon* – The new EU Ambassador to Japan First half of April, 12.00-14.00 (doors open at 11:30)

Speaker: Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, EU Ambassador to Japan, EU Delegation Venue: The Westin Tokyo Fee: ¥ 6,500 (members), ¥ 7,500 (non-members) Contact: your respective chamber representative *Austrian (main organiser), Belgian-Luxembourg, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Netherlands, Polish and Swiss chambers. (seating limited with preference given to members of organising chambers).

> German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan www.japan.ahk.de/en/

Liability exposure and protection in Japan – knowing how to deal with statutory and contractual liability in Japan 19 May, Thursday, 18:30-21:00

Speakers: Ulrich Kirchhoff, ARQIS Foreign Law Office; Ryoko Kondo, TMI Associates Venue: GCCIJ conference room Fee: ¥5,250 (members), ¥8,400 (non-members) Contact: events@dihkj.or.jp

Best practices in pricing excellence: pricing strategy – > British Chamber of Commerce in Japan deciding where to go www.bccjapan.com

Less than perfect: why Japan has a problem with English, and what government and business can do about it 19 May, Thursday, 12:00-14:00

Speaker: Jason James, director, British Council Venue: ANA InterContinental Tokyo, B1F, Aurora Room Fee: ¥5,500 (members), ¥6,500 (non-members) Contact: info@bccjapan.com

26 May, Thursday, 18:30-21:00

Speakers: Dr. Jens Müller, Simon-Kucher & Partners Japan K.K. & Dr. Reinhold Otto Stapf, Dräger Medical Japan Ltd. Venue: German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan, conference room Fee: ¥5,250 (members), ¥8,400 (non-members) Contact: events@dihkj.or.jp

> Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan www.iccj.or.jp

Crisis management and social > Finnish Chamber of Commerce in Japan media: a match made in heaven? www.fcc.or.jp/

Stora Enso cup, Sweden-Finland golf challenge 22 April, Friday, 08:30-17:00

Venue: Taiheyo Club Gotemba West, Shizuoka pref.

Fee: ¥18,510 Contact: fccj@gol.com

FCCJ Luncheon Meeting 24 May, Tuesday, 12:30-14:30

Speaker: Mika Vehviläinen, president & CEO, Finnair Venue: Hotel Okura, Kensington Terrace Fee: ¥6,000 (members), ¥8,000 (non-members) Contact: fccj@gol.com

Sometime in May

Speakers: David Wagner, director, communications training group, Edelman Japan, Adrian Roche, deputy director Venue: Ristorante Il Desiderio, Aoyama Fee: ¥4,500 (members), ¥5,500 (non-members) Contact: iccj@iccj.or.jp

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> Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan www.sccij.jp

Kansai Cultural Spring Event 12 April, Tuesday, 13:40 meet

Venue: National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto* Fee: ¥8,000 (members), ¥9,000 (non-members) Contact: info@sccij.jp *Paul Klee Exhibition, Shoren-in Temple, Kyoto City Office, and dinner at Westin Miyako, Kyoto

> The Bellwether Series: Japan 2011

L’Italia delle regioni – first Friuli The future of finance in seminar: culture, antipasto, Asia-Pacific salami & wine 23 April, Saturday, 16:30-18:30

Speaker: Paolo Colonello, chef Venue: Trattoria Verde Uno, Sangenjaya Fee: ¥3,000 (members), ¥4,000 (non-members) Contact: www.iccj.or.jp

26 May, Thursday: all day Venue: to be confirmed Fee and contact: www.economistconferences. asia/event/bellwether-series-japan-2011

Compiled by David Umeda April 2011

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Ian de Stains “The best job anyone could wish for” Text and photo ROB GiLHOOLy

T

he earth is moving, but Ian de Stains is a picture of calm. “In all my 35 years in Japan I have never known anything like this,” he says, as he and two other members of staff at the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan (BCCJ) crawl under tables to take refuge from one of the biggest earthquakes in history. “This is a day at the office I will never forget.”

The magnitude nine temblor came just days before de Stains was set for retirement from the chamber, of which he has served as executive director for almost 25 years.

The days since the quake have been spent offering information and advice to BCCJ members on the disaster situation.

“Basically we were open. It was important that we stayed as a focal point for information that was coming out of the UK foreign office and embassy, as well as what we could glean from sources such as NHK and Japanese government statements,” he says.

“The UK’s chief scientific officer did a number of briefings via Skype that we were included in, so we were able to pass on the advice about the radiation situation. We were here as a resource for members.”

During his near quarter of a century in office, de Stains has witnessed many changes. When he arrived at the BCCJ, there were fewer than 150 members.

Today there are close to 300.

“When I started at the BCCJ, there was an incredible amount of apathy in UK business toward Japan,” he says.

“Fortunately my arrival coincided with a period when the UK government recognised that Japan represented a huge opportunity and started a series of campaigns designed to get people at board level in UK businesses to seriously 44

April 2011

look at Japan as a market.”

A major step forward came in 1997 with the creation of the British Industry Centre (BIC) in yokohama. De Stains believes it was a bold initiative (undertaken by the British government, the chamber, yokohama city and Nomura Real Estate) without precedent, and not duplicated since.

“The BIC created a place where British new market companies could come into Japan at very competitive rates, with lots of hand-holding and support, such as reduced rates and subsidised rents, and so on,” he says.

Although changes in government policy meant the original business model didn’t survive, de Stains believes that all involved should be proud of that achievement.

“There were 26 new market companies who invested and all but three of them remain today,” he says.

De Stains arrived in Japan in 1976 on a secondment from the BBC, where he worked as an announcer and producer, to NHK, Japan’s national broadcaster.

Among big life changes since then is his dwelling; he started in a six-tatami mat apartment in Takadanobaba, but now lives in a house in a “leafy suburb” of Setagaya ward. Another is his adoption of Buddhist beliefs and virtues.

“I discovered quite early on that I was interested in Buddhist art and that led to an interest in what Buddhism actually meant,” he says. “I am not Buddhist in any religious sense, but in the way I live my life. The key to it, I think, is not about self-satisfaction, but what you do for others. I think the more you give to your community, the more satisfying it is to live in that community.”

Part of that “community” is of course the chamber that he has served for almost half his life, in a role he calls “the best job that anyone could wish for”.

do you like natto? title: Former executive director of the BCCJ (1987-2011), now advisor time in Japan: 35 years Career highlight: “The creation of the British Industry Centre (BIC) in yokohama in 1997.”

Career regret: “That the BIC could not continue as it had started, due to shift in government policy.”

Favourite saying: “The readiness is all [Hamlet, Act V, Scene ii]. And what comes after that is even more important.”

Can’t live without: “My daily meditation.

Have done twice daily for many years, and I don’t think I could lead an orderly life without keeping up that discipline.”

What’s the most important lesson you have learned in Japan: “Not to take myself too seriously.”

Favourite composer: “Mozart, Benjamin Britten and Stephen Sondheim.”

Do you like natto? “I do, and eat it three or four times a week. Never understood why people find it offensive. There are lots of cheeses that are a great deal more odiferous.”

“I have had fantastic support from the membership and I hope that will continue with my successor,” he adds.

What he will do in retirement is undecided. “But I am definitely open to offers,” he says. For now, however, he will continue as an advisor to the BCCJ, which is currently focusing its efforts on supporting the relief effort in the devastated Tohoku region.

“We want to take our time to think through carefully how we can make use of our resources most effectively,” he says.

“We hope to focus on one or two little projects; for example, it could be there’s a children’s home that needs supporting.

There are going to be so many needs, which is why we want to take our time rather than just give a knee-jerk reaction.”

EBC PERSONaLiTy

THE MORE yOU GIVE TO yOUR CommUnitY, THE MORE SATISFyING IT IS TO LIVE IN THAT COMMUNITy

April 2011

45

The long journey

home Photos and text Tony McNicol

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April 2011

L ens F l a i r

When the Tohoku earthquake struck at 2:46pm, 11 March, it paralysed the capital’s transport system instantly. By evening, the Shinagawa Prince Hotel’s lobby had filled with crowds of stranded tourists and commuters. Inside they sat on the floor; outside some protected themselves against a bitterly cold night with hotel duvets. Around Shinagawa station, and across Tokyo, roads became gridlocked, convenience stores emptied, and bicycle shops sold out.

The pavements were crowded with commuters making long treks home, and with the mobile networks inaccessible, long queues formed for public telephone boxes. In all of this, Tokyoites were calm and patient.

On everyone’s mind was the tragedy in north-eastern Japan only just becoming apparent, and the long road ahead for the survivors.

See all the photographs at www.eurobiz.jp

April 2011

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W or k P l a ce

Charles E. McJilton CEO/Executive Director, Second Harvest Japan Last year, Second Harvest Japan delivered over one million servings of food to people in need, such as children in orphanages and womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shelters. Following the 11 March earthquake and tsunami they were one of the first organisations to send food and supplies to the disaster zone, making use of strong links with chambers of commerce and individual companies.

Photo Tony McNicol

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April 2011

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