|
Day 1: May 22
Japan-America Societye-commerce Delegation Report
Also view our slide presentation:
9:00-10:30 am
Overview of e-commerce in JapanThe Day in Tokyo - May 22. Link after daily report below. 
The delegation's first stop was at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. The delegation received a very informative and thorough briefing on e-commerce in Japan and U.S. company progress in the Japanese e-commerce marketplace by U.S. commercial counselors and attaches: Craig Allen, Counselor for Commercial Affairs; Sam Watson, Economic Attache; E. Keith Kirkham, Commercial Attache; Frank Carrico,
Commercial Attache; and Todd Schneider, Financial Attache.
Among the many topics covered by the presenters included a macroeconomic look at Japan's economy. Discussed were the difficulties faced by the country's old economic model during the last 10 years and the successful and unsuccessful responses (and the mixed results) of past governments. Also covered were the significant reconstitution of the economy that is still going, continuing problem areas, the effects of deregulation on various sectors, and the increased competition in the economy due to increased foreign competition. In addition, the presenters discussed which sectors U.S. companies were successful in and those that are mixed or difficult.
Several presenters focused on the delegation's main interest: the high-tech sector. Covered were the effects of U.S. trade policy on this sector, the structural and cultural inhibitors to increased growth in this sector, and several new phenomena, most notably the rise of Japan's young entrepreneurs -- the "Bit Valley" phenomenon -- and the cell phone usage to access the internet.
The delegation also learned of the ways the U.S. Commercial Service at the Embassy could assist U.S. companies seeking to enter the Japanese e-commerce market. For further information on assistance, please visit the very informative and helpful U.S. Embassy (Tokyo) Commercial Service website: www.csjapan.doc.gov
A lively question-and-answer period followed, covering such topics as use of credit cards, various new payment methods, privacy concerns, and relevant taxation and regulatory issues, among others.
11:45am-1:30pm Market Entry into Japan 
Terrie Lloyd, publisher of the most influential internet/e-commerce publication in Japan, was the keynote speaker at a luncheon sponsored by United Airlines at the ANA Hotel Tokyo. After a welcome by Dan Berube, National Sales Manager for Japan of UAL, Lloyd was introduced.
Founder and Publisher of J@pan.Inc. magazine and President of LINC Media, Inc., Lloyd oversees a company of 80+ bilingual employees who publish the magazine and create and market web sites. His company has five divisions: Consulting, Media, Outsourcing, Software Development, and Technology.
Lloyd began his presentation with an overview of Japanese e-commerce, calling the internet a catalyst for significant change in the country and its empowerment through information that is the opposite of the traditional Japanese corporate philosophy.
He next focused on the tremendous success of several Japanese e-commerce sites, including the successful Rakuten shopping mall site. He also discussed how the cell phone has opened up the internet to millions of new users who either don't have personal computers or who are deterred from usuage by high interconnection rates.
After a look at one of Linc Media's companies, http://www.daijob.com, developed for Japanese who want to work for foreign companies, Lloyd discussed two significant strategies (and the pros and cons of each) for entering the Japanese market: the Partnership Strategy and the Ownership Strategy.
For additional information on LINC Media, please visit www.lincmedia.co.jp. For an online look at Lloyd's most influential magazine, please visit the J@pan.Inc. website at www.japaninc.net.
Lloyd will share his insightful views on the Japanese e-commerce phenomenon with the Japan-America Society's membership in the Fall when he will visit Seattle as the next speaker in the @Japan.com series of programs.
1:45-2:30pm Getting Started in Japan: Opening an Office vs. Outsourcing 
After the luncheon, the delegation was briefed by longtime Japan hand, William Attridge, President of High Technology Management (HTM). Attridge, who has worked in Japan since 1972, spent most of his career as a new product development manager. He has lived full time in Japan since 1982, starting the Japan Product Development and Marketing Center for Teradyne Inc.
In 1987, Attridge founded HTM to assist small companies entering the Japanese market and has worked with over 30 companies ranging from market entry companies to large, well-established multinationals.
Attridge spoke on the pros and cons of opening an office vs. outsourcing. He stressed the importance of sound practices, controls, and reporting in all back office functions. He also discussed the importance of specifics such as accounting, payroll and social benefits, finance, human resources, and legal and tax issues. Without attention to the sticky problems that can slow down or even torpedo efforts to grow a profitable business in Japan, a company risks disappointment and failure.
Attridge also focused on the regulatory maze and the difficulties it causes when setting up and running a successful business in Japan and, by comparison, much more difficult than in the U.S.
For more information on Attridge's topic, please visit the HTM website: www.htm.co.jp.
3:30-4:15pm Demographics and the Internet in Japan: B2C, B2B, and What is Selling and How? 
By taxi, the delegation ventured to its next briefing at Cyberia, an Internet café in Tokyo's "Bit Valley," hearing from Debbie Howard, President of Japan Market Resource Network (JMRN), discussing the results of a recent survey of the market scale for electronic commerce for consumers in Japan.
Howard gave a thorough report on current internet usage in Japan. She discussed several constraints to increased internet usage -- notably, high interconnection rates -- and several developments that will lead to increased usage -- notably, increased broadband services. Howard touched on several other relevant topics: falling PC prices and increased internet usage; the effect of the overall deregulatory environment on the "new internet economy" and how current regulations still hamper innovation and change; the impact of i-mode and similar wireless internet access devices; and the increasing examples of how Japanese consumers can access the internet -- most notably through convenience stores, gas stations, and internet cafes.
In addition, Howard spoke about the size and growth rates of Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) segments of the internet economy, the types of products being purchased and annual online expenditures, and the myriad of payment and delivery systems.
JMRN's new website is scheduled to be online this Summer. In the meantime, for more information, contact Howard at jmrn@gol.com.
4:15-5:00pm Website Localization: What Makes a Japanese Website Different? 
Also at Cyberia, the delegation heard from Pascale Sinnaeve Senior Consultant in International Business at Asahi Advertising Inc. on the localization of corporate websites in Japan.
Using Cyberia's personal computers, delegation members accessed the "best" and "worst" examples of Japanese websites as Sinnaeve discussed what works and what doesn't and the preferences of different segments of the population. She outlined several things to keep in mind when localizsing a website for a Japanese audience, most notably when and when not to have a "local flavor," the necessity of a high level of information, and the importance of easy navigation.
Sinnaeve instructed delegation members on what she considered the characteristics of the top contents websites in Japan, what target audiences each aimed for, and what design aspects went into construction. Sinnaeve concluded her presentation with a comparison of how major companies differentiated their .com sites and their .co.jp sites.
For a look at the Asahi Advertising website, please visit: www.asakonet.co.jp/english
6:00-9:00pm Tour of Akihabara 
In the evening, several members of the delegation ventured by subway to take the optional tour of Tokyo's famous Akihabara District to see the electronics and new Internet access devices for sale. Delegation members were led by Timm Tuttle and Lang Craighill, two computer enthusiasts who frequently haunt the shops of "Akiba."
Here is how one observer describes Akihabara today:
"Some people have lamented the passing of the "true" Akihabara - from small one-person shopping streets like this one near the station to giant faceless electronic department stores. Akiba got its start after World War II with the black market trading of radio parts. Even today stores have the word musen (wireless) in their titles, although their core business has been transformed by time. "Walking down one of these alleys is an adventure in itself, and supremely fascinating for the do-it-yourself fan. Every possible piece of the electronics spectrum is covered by at least one guy in a six foot stall, surrounded by parts and bins. People yell at each other, haggling about prices for this and that. One or two stalls look like museums, selling vacuum tubes from ex-USSR manufacturers and such, with the owner giving a small tour to anyone willing to listen. In the end, though, the world has changed - electronics is a field for consumers now, and only the small hobbyist world keeps these kind of side streets alive. Still, you can't help but be glad that these places are around..." |
|
A Slide Presentation May 23 Report May 24 Report
|
Japan-America Society of the State of Washington
Offices in the World Trade Center West
Top of Page