Japanese households more likely to have a high tech toilet than a computer according to research

"sophisticated lavatories have become a national institution,
found in 70% of Japanese homes.
Until recently more households had one than had a computer”



Source:Flush with ambition, Jul 23rd 2009
From The Economist print edition
http://www.economist.com/people/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14082288&Fsrc=mgttkgnwl




Further reading:








See the real Japan at Motorcycle Japan

Japanese customers to Victoria, Australia show a 24 percent drop in May 2009

"Australian Bureau of Statistics figures for May(2009) showing the number of Japanese tourists fell 24.1 per cent to 22,300."


Source:Victoria: diseased one day, deserted the next,
Mark Russell, July 26, 2009.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria-diseased-one-day-deserted-the-next-20090725-dwwb.html




Further reading:









Learn more about Japanese customers at JapaneseCustomer.com

Japanese researchers improve invisible fabric for new augmented reality & future commercial applications

Source:Invisible fabric ups safety,
Jul 27, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=108638


Further reading:












See the real Japan at Motorcycle Japan

Number of homes in Japan increased 6.9% from 2003

”The number of houses in Japan totaled 57.59 million,
an increase of 3.7 million, or 6.9 percent, from 2003”



Source:Ratio Of Vacancies To All Houses Hits Record 13.1%,
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/e/fr/tnks/Nni20090728D28JF462.htm




Further reading:






See the real Japan at Motorcycle Japan

Japanese Customer: "Japan has an extremely high proportion of brands that have come off patent - 41 per cent "

"Japan has an extremely high proportion of brands that have come off patent - 41 per cent - but an extremely low generic penetration on the market - at only 3.4 per cent."




Source: Japan needs innovation to maintain pharma foothold
By Kirsty Barnes
12-May-2008
Outsourcingpharma.com
http://www.outsourcing-pharma.com/news/ng.asp?n=85184-apan







Further reading:


Book - The 2007-2012 Outlook for Pharmaceutical Preparations for Human Use Acting on Skin in Japan








Learn more about study in Japan at Study Abroad Japan

The number of Japanese students studying abroad is declining

"the number of Japanese students studying overseas has been on the decline since 2004, when a record 82,945 students sought education at foreign institutions."


Source:Fewer Japanese studying abroad
Jun Sugimori / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Apr. 30, 2009,
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/language/20090430TDY10001.htm



Study Abroad Japan - Be part of the "Asian Century"

Japanese Manga a $4.2 billion dollar industry and cultural icon to the world

Manga in Japan a "$4.2 billion-a-year industry"

Source:Japan, Ink: Inside the Manga Industrial Complex,
Daniel.H.Pink, 10/22/07
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-11/ff_manga?currentPage=all



See the real Japan at Motorcycle Japan

Japanese Customer: Japanese customers demand high product standards according to JETRO survey

Photo: Flowers growing in Tokyo

A survey undertaken by by JETRO, Impediments to Business in Japan "The survey results with respect to impediments to investing in Japan are as follows. Of the following impediments were identified by more than half (50%) of the responding 864 companies responding to the questionnaire, 806 companies provided some kind of response in relation to business impediments." “high product standards demanded by users” (59.6%)





Source: Survey on Attitudes of Foreign-Affiliated Companies
toward Direct Investment in Japan 2007
March 2008
Japan External Trade Organization
Invest Japan Department
http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/stats/survey/pdf/2008_01_fdi.pdf






Further reading:



Book - Market Entry in Japan: Theory and Management in a Turbulent Era

Japanese customers travelling overseas more with rising yen

"destinations that Japanese travellers want to visit in 2009, Italy ranked at the top with a 38.7% share, followed by Austria (36.4%), France (32.8%), Spain (29.9%) and Hawaii (Oahu) with 27.7%."


Source:Yen appreciation spurs Japanese travel – 08/07/09,The Moodie Report
By Martin Moodie, Thursday 16 July 2009
http://www.moodiereport.com/document.php?c_id=1113&doc_id=21188




Further reading:

Welcoming the Japanese visitor






See the real Japan at Motorcycle Japan

Japanese Customer: "Japanese girls in their teens have been tirelessly advancing trends in fashion" Patrick Macias

"Japanese girls in their teens have been tirelessly advancing trends
in fashion and cutting edge culture for decades now"




Source: No Heels, No life
by Patrick Macias
Metropolis, Magazine, 2006
www.metropolis.co.jp





Learn more about Japanese street fashion








Want to study in Japan? Visit Study Abroad Japan

Japanese women are the largest spenders per capita on skin care in the world

"Japanese are the highest spenders per capita on skin care, 50 percent more than the next market, France, and four times more than the United States"



Source:"Staying in for the long haul in one of the world’s most lucrative cosmetics markets"
Executive Interview -- Mark Loomis,Estée Lauder KK
June 11, 2009, J@pan Inc Magazine Articles
Magazine No 86, By Chris Betros
http://www.japaninc.com/mgz86/mark-loomis



Further reading:

Japanese customers ranked number one tourists third year in a row by Expedia.com

"Japanese tourists - seen as clean and tidy, polite, quiet and uncomplaining - came top for the third year running".


Source:Rude' French are worst tourists,
Friday, 10 July 2009 12:05 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8143780.stm


Further reading:




See the real Japan at Motorcycle Japan

Japanese Customer: Japanese travellers spend big in Hawaii but numbers down

Photo: Palm tree

"Japanese travelers spend nearly $100 more
per day than visitors from other U.S. states"




Source:Fewer Japanese tourists expected for Hawaii
Mainichi Japan,
April 26, 2008
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080426p2a00m0na003000c.html




Further reading:


Book - Welcoming the Japanese Visitor: Insights, Tips, Tactics

Review of Canon Wordtank V90 Japanese - English - Chinese dictionary

Review – Canon V90 Wordtank
Japanese - English - Chinese Dictionary

By JapaneseCustomer.com

Native English speakers studying Japanese are always looking for the best tools to help them study Japanese. In this article we review the Canon V90 Wordtank Japanese dictionary and discuss the pro’s and cons.

Where to buy

These days you are best looking for electrical products on the Internet as you can search fast and get a range of prices but it still pays to visit the shop, learn more about the company selling the item and to see the product first hand. When buying online make sure to ask if the model is new or used, some companies sell new but used dictionaries with short warranties. If you have a Japanese friend ask them to help by searching for the product in Japan on Japanese websites such as Amazon Japan, Yahoo Japan and other sites to find the best price.

Whats in the box

Inside the box is :

• A manual but it only has a few pages in English. For a better explanation in English contact Canon for a copy of the V80 Wordtank manual which has a more detailed English explanation of the basic functions.

• A pair of headphones, 2 x AAA sized batteries

Using the dictionary

First step is to put the batteries in the rear and to set up the menu.You can have either Japanese or English which is handy. For native English speakers the Genius Japanese – English dictionary is a good place to start for looking up words. The dictionary allows you to input in romaji and as you type the letters appear at the top of the screen and a list of close words appear until there is a word match. For example: to look up the word "tekito" (measurable) you just touch the Genius Japanese –English blue menu button and it takes you directly to the dictionary, then type in the word. It provides the word in hiragana, kanji and an English definition. Under the definition you have a symbol in the shape of a pencil. If you touch it with the stylus it expands to show the sentence written in Japanese and with an English translation below.

Features for native English speakers

• Stylus – that allows you to write characters on the screen as you see them written.

• Jump button that allows you to jump to other dictionaries

• Word memo - Memory for saving words you have looked up

• Example sentences of how to use the word in Japanese script

• Japanese – English, English Japanese (Genius) English dictionary and thesaurus (Oxford), Katakana dictionary, Kanji dictionary, Super Daijirin dictionary, Four Kanji Phrases and Proverbs and sayings.

• Approximately 90 hours battery life and sturdy construction.

Road Test

Pros

• The stylus is very accurate when you write a kanji on the screen

• The Word Memo is a handy way to review what you have studied at the end of a session

• Stylish design in matt black

• Allows you to enlarge the size of the characters on the screen

• Jump function and wild card are useful

• If your partner is Japanese they can also use the dictionary

• Genius, Japanese - English, Concise Katakana, Kanjigen for word classification

• word classification (noun, verb, adjective adverb)

• has a lot of Japanese grammar definitions & is great if you also want to learn Chinese
  

• low price compared to other alternatives & can be easily carried.

Cons

• large compared to other models and heavy (but sturdy)

• screen not back lit & slow to start up.

• when you enter basic kanji words, eg, two kanji using the stylus pen the dictionary of words is limited in English mode, ok in Japanese mode.

• Instruction book in English doesn’t fully explain all functions and symbols used on the screen

• When looking up kanji by on and kun, kanji is limited in ENglish mode but ok in Japanese mode
  

Overall summary

This model has 21 dictionaries included and is advertised to Japanese customers as a dictionary for learning Chinese.

It is not built for native English speakers learning Japanese but if you can bear the limitations it can still be of use to your learning goals.

This dictionary is really suitable for intermediate and advanced students of Japanese (level N3,N2 & N 1 JLPT ) who can read hiragana, katakana, have an understanding of grammar and can read full Japanese sentences. It is not really suitable for beginners with little language experience.

It is not the perfect tool but a tool that will improve your ability to look up vocabulary, grammar, and reading over time. As with all new items you need to allow up to a month of daily use to really get use to it. It is cheap for a Japanese electronic dictionary and can be easily carried compared to paper dictionaries. So it is ideal for use outside of home or the office


Weblinks

• See the full specifications of the dictionary here English & Japanese

• CNNMoney.com review here

• Forum review of V90 here

• Japan Shop Review here
  

Study Aid:

Want to study in Japan? Visit Study Abroad Japan

Copyright JapaneseCustomer.com,2010. All Rights Reserved.

Japanese customers reduce Australian orders for imports in the first five months of 2009

"Our exports to Japan collapsed in the first five months of this year.
From more than $6 billion a month in November and December
they fell to $3 billion in April and $2.5 billion in May."



Source:China burns off Japan in exports, Peter Martin
July 3, 2009, theage.com.au,
http://business.theage.com.au/business/china-burns-off-japan-in-exports-20090702-d6mb.html




See the real Japan at Motorcycle Japan