Japanese Customer News November 21st 2015

Japanese Customer News November 21st 2015

Japanese Customer News November 21st 2015

● “Japan grows more slowly than other countries at the best of times, largely because its work force is shrinking, so even small setbacks can easily send it into reverse. The latest recession was its fifth since the global financial crisis of 2008, though by some measures, including unemployment, the picture looks less dire”
Source: Japan Economy Contracts 0.8%, Returning to Recession, By Jonathon Soble, New York Times, November 15th, 2015.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/16/business/international/japan-economy-contracts-0-8-returning-to-recession.html?ref=asia



● “(Most popular boys name in 2015 was) the kanji for “harbor/port” (and three different ways to read it) takes the number one spot this year. Perhaps it’s the parents’ desire for their child to travel the world? …. (Girls names) The most popular names are Sakura (“cherry blossom”) and Riko (“lavender child” in this instance). These weren’t even on the list in 2013….Sakura appears again at number five with a kanji (the top-slot one, you’ll notice, forgoes Chinese characters altogether and is instead written in phonetic hiragana script) shows just how popular the name is.”

(Japanese parents not only pick out a name they like for their child, but, in the majority of cases, kanji characters they like as well.)
Japanese Baby Names 2015

Boys names 2015, 1. Sou, Minato, Ichika, 2. Itsuki, Tatsuki, 3. Ren, 4. Hinata, Haruta, 5. Asaghi, Haruki, Tomoharu,. Girls names 2015, 1. Sakura, 2. Riko, 3. Aoi, 3. Wakana, 5. Sakura, Sara.”

Source: Japan’s top baby names for 2015, by Scott Wilson, RocketNews24, Nov. 16, 2015.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/japans-top-baby-names-for-2015



● “The number of Chinese travellers to Japan in October helped push the total number of foreign visitors during the month to 1.83 million, the second – highest on record for a single month. That brought the total for the first 10 months of the year to 16.3 million…Chinese tourists accounted for nearly half of the Y1 trillion ($AUS 11.3 billion) that foreign visitors spent in the country from July through to September ( The Japan Tourism Agency)”

Source: Middle-class Chinese beef up Japan’s tourism push, by Jun Hongo, The Wall Street Journal, The Australian, Friday November 20th, 2015, page 25.



● “The sales goal set by Toshiba for its Internet of things – related business by 2010 estimated Y300 billion”
Source: The Small Print, November 19th 2015, by Steve Trautlein, Metropolis Japan, www.metropolisjapan.com

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Japanese manufacturers retooling for vegetables

Picture: Japanese green grocery stall

“Panasonic, Toshiba and Fujitsu have converted former electronics manufacturing sites for the production of vegetables, using hi-tech clean rooms” 

Source: ‘Made in Japan’ hopes revived by Eric Pfanner, The Wall Street Journal, The Australian Newspaper, Tuesday January 20th, 2015 p22.


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Japanese Customer News November 14th 2015

Japanese Customer News November 14th 2015

   

Japanese Customer News November 14th 2015

● “Australia has entered a wide range of bilateral agreements ….in a web of special deals which underline the complexity of the TPP agreement text released on Friday…The letter about how Japan is supposed to have an open tendering process to buy Australian rice, runs to five pages outlining six tenders a year, how Japan can set a maximum price and how the minimum quantity in any tender is 17 tonnes”

Source: Letters form subtext of TPP deals by Greg Earl, Australian Financial Review, Monday 9th November, 2015, page 7.

● “The number of Japanese tourists visiting Australia is growing…”we will see growth of approximately 30 per cent in aviation capacity by the end of this year” John O’Sullivan, Tourism Australia, Managing Director. The latest ABS data shows the number of Japanese visitors rose 18 per cent to 29,000 in September.”

Source: Tourists from Japan take advantage of extra flights , by Jamie Freed, Australian Financial Review, Tuesday 10th November, 2015, page 6.

● “The number of Australians heading to Japan….30,600…visited Japan in September, up 19.5 per cent from a year earlier”

Source: Tourists from Japan take advantage of extra flights , by Jamie Freed, Australian Financial Review, Tuesday 10th November, 2015, page 6.

● “The number of multipurpose industrial robots (all types) per 10,000 employees in the manufacturing industry – 2014

Republic of Korea 450

Japan 350

Germany 300

US 150

Australia 66

Source: Bank of America Merrill Lynch”

Source: Robots threaten jobs of bankers, lawyers, by John Kehoe, Australian Financial Review, Thursday, 12th November, 2015, page 14.

● “Japan grows more slowly than other countries at the best of times, largely because its work force is shrinking, so even small setbacks can easily send it into reverse. The latest recession was its fifth since the global financial crisis of 2008, though by some measures, including unemployment, the picture looks less dire”

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Toyota to share hydrogen fuel cells IP

Video: Toyota's Mirai Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car

Source: wochit tech you tube channel

“This year Toyota is making a small number of (AU$70,750), US$ 57,500 hydrogen fuelled Mirai FCV’s (fuel cell vehicles) available globally, and plans to slowly ramp up sales as refuelling stations come on line…Toyota says it will share its 5700 patents related to hydrogen fuel cells with other car companies without charging a royalty fee hoping to speed the introduction of the technologies that the Japanese, carmaker has put its weight behind”





Source: Toyota to share green car patents with rivals, By Mike Ramsey, The Wall Street Journal, 
The Australian Newspaper, Wednesday January 7th, 2015 page 20.


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Japanese Customer News November 7th 2015

Japanese Customer News November 7th 2015

Japanese Customer News November 7th 2015

● “According to Euromonitor data, Japanese people eat about 96 kilograms of vegetables and 34 kilograms of fruits per person per year. The cut vegetables and fruits market has been one of the significant booms in Japan, worth around US$750 million, due to the growing number of single-person households and ageing population, as well as strong demand for convenience foods”

Source: JAEPA opens opportunities for Australian vegetable exporters, Australian Trade Commission, Wednesday 4th November, 2015, Export Update, November 2015 edition


● “Self-sufficiency of food production in Japan also remains relatively low. The rate on a calorific basis in 2014 was 39 per cent – the same rate since 2010.”

Source: JAEPA opens opportunities for Australian vegetable exporters, Australian Trade Commission, Wednesday 4th November, 2015, Export Update, November 2015 edition



● “Japan retains impressive power resources. It is a democracy that has been at peace for 70 years, with a stable government and a high standard of living. Its per capita income is five times that of China”

Source: Japan sold short but Abe must push beyond comfort zone, By Joseph. S. Nye, Jr., The Australian, Wednesday 4th November, 2015, page 10.



● “Japan Post Bank controls more than Y200 trillion (AUS$2.3 trillion) in assets. Making it one of the worlds largest asset managers. Its main profit comes from what it earns on those assets. About half the money is in Japanese government bonds”

Source: Japan Post prepares to deliver $12 billion IPO, by Atsuko Fukase, The Wall Street Journal, The Australian, Wednesday 4th November, 2015, page 24.

● “The kotatsu is a table with an electric heater underneath and a heavy blanket on top. You’ll never need to leave your bed again with this Japanese innovation. It combines your bed, lounge seating and table into one incredibly cosy piece of furniture.”

Source: The Japanese innovation that lets you stay in bed all day by Madeleine Wedesweiler, The Age Newspaper Online, Nov 4, 2015 http://www.domain.com.au/news/the-japanese-innovation-that-lets-you-stay-in-bed-all-day-20151104-gkqp9q/





● “The listing of Japan Post Holdings and its banking and insurance units is the world's biggest IPO this year and Japan's biggest since 1998. More than 80 per cent of the shares are being sold to individuals as the government hopes the $US12 billion privatisation will spur households to put more of the country's enormous pool of household savings in to the stock market….The offering put 11 per cent of each company in private hands. The government plans to eventually sell all of the bank and the insurer through additional offerings and retain a third of the parent. Some of the proceeds will be used to rebuild areas in the northeast that were damaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami”

Source: Japan Post surprises with strong debut, The Age Newspaper Online, Bloomberg, November 4, 2015 http://www.theage.com.au/business/markets/japan-post-opens-sharply-higher-after-us12b-float-20151104-gkqbxe#ixzz3ql4cTyWq



● “Compared with seven years ago, people in Japan sent three billion fewer letters, packages and postcards in the year ending in March, according to Bloomberg. Japan Post is focusing on freight transport and expanding abroad. It bought Australian logistics company Toll Holdings this year for $6.5 billion (US$4.6 billion), its biggest acquisition.”

Source: Japan Post surprises with strong debut, The Age Newspaper Online, Bloomberg, November 4, 2015 http://www.theage.com.au/business/markets/japan-post-opens-sharply-higher-after-us12b-float-20151104-gkqbxe#ixzz3ql4cTyWq







● “Eighteen months after opening its first store in Australia, Uniqlo has unveiled plans to open stores in Indooropilly next month and in Brisbane and Chatswood early next year, taking the number of stores to 10… Uniqlo generated sales of $33 million in the first five months after opening its first store in Melbourne's Emporium in April last year, according to ASIC filings, but sales for 2015 have not been released”

Source: Turning Japanese: Uniqlo unveils 10th Australian store, by Sue Mitchell, The Age Newspaper, November 5, 2015
http://www.theage.com.au/business/turning-japanese-uniqlo-unveils-10th-australian-store-20151103-gkq9gv

● “Toyota, Nissan and Honda, all hope to bring a car to market about 2020 that the driver can switch to autopilot mode and want to use the Tokyo Olympics as a platform to unveil their cars of the future…. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will also ease regulations to allow small drones to deliver packages in three years, which could encourage innovation in another field that Japan has lagged behind in recent years”

Source: Japan looks to self-driving cars, drones to spur innovation, by Stanley White and Takaya Yamaguchi, The Age Newspaper Online, November 5, 2015, http://www.theage.com.au/business/world-business/japan-looks-to-selfdriving-cars-drones-to-spur-innovation-20151105-gks294.html#ixzz3ql4Oduax







● “Hiroko Masuhara and Koyuki Higashi arrived at city hall in the trendy Shibuya district early in the morning to collect the certificate that will allow them to rent an apartment, visit each other in hospital and gain a variety of other benefits as a couple…The certificate is not equivalent to a marriage certificate but does recognise the pair as a couple for benefits and hospital visitation purposes. Shibuya and Setagaya, considered the wealthiest of Tokyo's 23 wards, began issuing the certificates on Thursday..”

Source: Tokyo issues Japan's first same-sex partner certificates, by Shiori Ito, The Age Newspaper Online, November 5, 2015,
http://www.theage.com.au/world/tokyo-issues-japans-first-samesex-partner-certificates-20151105-gkrx6a.html

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What is Omotenashi - Japanese Customer Service?

Omotenashi - Japanese Customer Service 

Japanese Customer News October 31st 2015

Japanese Customer News October 31st 2015

Japanese Customer News October 31st 2015

● “Australians consume 300kg of dairy product per person every year, while the Japanese are up to 80 kg each, China is still at 30 kg a head: the opportunity for growth is huge”

Charlie McEhone, International Trade Manager, Dairy Australia

Source: Big-cheese ambition is a feta accompli, by Sue Neales, The Australian, Monday 26th October, 2015, page 2.



● “Sony is likely to strengthen its image sensor business by acquiring a competing arm from Toshiba sources say. Sensors are a core component of digital cameras…Analysts say market for sensors is likely to grow, in part because of smartphone demand”

Source: Sony pursues Toshiba sensor unit as camera focus intensifies, Wall Street Journal, The Australian, Monday 26th October, 2015, page 22.



● “Japanese newspaper Yomiuri reported that Nippon Life was set to acquire 80 per cent of National Australia Bank’s (NAB) life insurance unit for Y220 billion (AUS$1.2 billion)”

Source: NAB set for $2bn sale of life unit, by Michael Bennet, The Australian, Wednesday October 28th, 2015, page 19.


● “Top export destinations (for Australian dairy products)

Thailand $200 million

Japan $400 million

China $600 million

Source: Dairy Australia “

Source: Milk it for all its worth: farmers urged to expand and meet Asian demand, by Sue Neales, The Australian, Wednesday October 28th, 2015, page 19.


● “Japanese companies selling in China have benefited from bargains created by the cheaper yen. Shares of Okamoto Industries, Japan’s dominant condom maker hit a record high this month and have jumped 183 per cent this year. AT Japanese duty-free, store Laox, $US 800 (AUS$1100) rice cookers and $US500 toilet seats are selling briskly”

Source: ‘New China’ firms going strong in a weak economy, by Wei Gu, The Wall Street Journal, The Australian, Wednesday October 28th, 2015, page 24.


● “Nintendo said yesterday that its first mobile application would be called Miitomo … (making) the leap to smart phones…Nintendo could generate Y6billion (AUS$70 million) in operating profit a year from one smart phone game” said Osamu Kamada an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Securities”

Source: Nintendo puts its game face on, by Mayumi Negishi and Takashi Mochizuki, The Wall Street Journal, The Australian, Friday October 30th, 2015, page 24.


● “One of the most daunting cities for foreign visitors, Tokyo is a manic, hyperactive assault on the senses…Japanese addresses are often confusing”


Source: Everything is better in the East, by Ingrid Williams, Australian Financial Review, 30th October – 1st November, 2015, L17, Life & Leisure.



japan, japanese, consumer, customer, news, picture, quote, business, marketing, insights, technology, trends, behaviour, www.japanesecustomer.com, @jcustomers, #japan. #japanese, #customer, #consumer, #news, #podcast, #video

Japanese Customer News October 23rd 2015

Japanese Customer News October 23rd 2015

Japanese Customer News October 23rd 2015

● “Investment from Japan into Australia is growing at 11 per cent a year”

Source: Japan tops Asia travel queue, by Rick Wallace, The Australian, Tuesday 20th October, 2015, page 2.

● “Japan’s most profitable high-speed rail operator, JR Tokai, is building a maglev system between Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka without government subsidies. The system relies on superconducting magnets to lift, stabilise and propel trains at 500km/h within a guide-way”

Source: We will get better cities if we have more of them, by Brian Toohey, Australian Financial Review, Tuesday 20th October, 2015, page 55.

● “Japan …Three companies disclosed internal malfeasance in the space of 24 hours last week…Toyo Tire and Rubber...Asahi Kasei and Matsumoto Kiyoshi …optimists see it as a positive sign that companies are publicly admitting to problems; pessimists say companies are engaging in more bad behaviour without consequence”
Source: Japanese corporate scandals erupt like Whack-a-mole’, by Chris Cooper, Bloomberg, Australian Financial Review, Wednesday 21st October, 2015, page 12.

● “LNG made from coal seam gas (CSG)…low energy value (gas)…the low calorific value LNG….many Japanese importers could only accept gas with a higher energy value…market perceptions of CSG based LNG has changed markedly….and the Japanese are adapting to the new norm”

Source: ‘Girly Gas’ opens new LNG export markets, by Angela Macdonald- Smith, Australian Financial Review, Friday 23rd October, 2015, page 24.

● “More than 50% of Japanese hotels and ryokans nationwide bar entry…by guests with tattoos according to a survey by the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA)”

Source: 56 per cent of hotels in Japan bar visitors with tattoos from bathing facilities, October 22nd, 2015, Japan Today
https://www.japantoday.com/mobile/view/56-of-hotels-in-japan-bar-visitors-with-tattoos-from-bathing-facilities




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Japanese Customer News October 17th 2015

Japanese Customer News October 17th 2015

 Japanese Customer News October 17th 2015

● “Asia investment into Australia 24 months (Q3/2013 - Q2/2015)

Origin (US$M)

Singapore 6849

China 6263

Malaysia 1371

Hong Kong 1183

South Korea 306

Japan 241

Taiwan 60

Brunei 10

Source: Knight Frank”

Source: Wave of Asia cash floods market, by Samantha Hutchinson, The Australian, Thursday October 31st, 2015, page 31.



● “Japan’s manufacturing and exports sectors, for example, have borne the brunt of emerging markets slow down…BOJ…”The slow down in emerging economies” was weighing on the nations exports and production”

Shares of exports to emerging markets (2014)

US 46.6%

Japan 45%

Eurozone 24.6%

UK 20.2%

Canada 10.4%

Source: Wall Street Journal

Source: China slump hits rich countries by Anjani Trivedi, The Wall Street Journal, The Australian, Friday 16th October, 2015, page 25.



● “Toyota..has focused on hybrids..Toyota’s Mirai fuel-cell car can run 500km with a full tank of hydrogen, based on US testing standards. Rival Nissan’s Leaf electric car has an average range of 135 km with a fully charged battery”
Source: End of the road for petrol, diesel: Toyota, The Wall Street Journal, The Australia, Friday October 16th, 2015, page 25. 

● “(Japan Post IPO)..Pricing at the top end of the range would raise roughly 1.4 trillion yen (AUS $16.2 billion) making the floatation the biggest in the world this year”

Source: Retail orders fuel surprising demand for Japan Post IPO’s by Leo Lewis, Financial Times, Australian Financial review, Friday October 16th, 2015, page 25.




● “Nikkei’s flagship financial newspaper has more than 3 million print and digital subscribers”

Source: Nikkei’s survival tied to US$1.3b, Financial Times deal by Tony Boyd, Australian Financial review, Friday October 16th, 2015, page 29.

● “Japan’s capacity to influence regional events is limited by the struggles of “Abenomics” to restore economic health”
Source: US asserts Asia-Pacific shift by Rowan Callick, The Australian, Monday 12th October, 2015, page 9.

● “About 49% per cent of retailers (in the USA) now offer free return shipping according to a study by the National Retail Federation…Many surveys have shown that consumers will often judge a company on its return policy”

Source: Retailers count costs of free return shipping by Loretta Chao, Wall Street Journal, The Australian, Tuesday October 13th, 2015, page 25.

● “Japan contributed (AUS$42 million) to UNESCO in 2014. UNESCO’s budget for the two year 2014 - 2015 period is (AUS$892 million)”

Source: Japan threat to cut funds to UNESCO, The Australian, Wednesday October 14th, 2015, page 8.

● “(Australian) Lion group which is owned by Japanese food and beverages giant Kirin…has a significant presecence (in) the Asian dairy sector with more than 20 per cent of the Hong Kong premium dairy segment and 19 per cent of the premium segment in Malaysia”

Source: Lion in China web, distributor alliance, by Damon Kitney, The Australian, Wednesday 14th October, 2015, page 21.

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Video: Japanese RIZAP TV commercial 2015

Video:   Probably the most creative Japanese advertising campaign in 2015

             (in Japanese)                                    https://lnkd.in/eHTWTGs

ライザップ RIZAP CMまとめ

YouTubeライザップ RIZAP CMまとめ

Japanese Customer News October 10th 2015

Japanese Customer News October 10th 2015

 Japanese Customer News October 10th 2015

● “The Trans- Pacific Partenrship deal signed between 12 Pacific Rim nations in Alanta this week is a historic pact…Australian farmers will benefit from Japan’s agreement to cut tariffs on a wide range of agricultural products including wheat, pork, beef and chicken”

Source: Future is in our hands: historic pact will step up Australia’s trade links by Glenda Korporal, The Australian, Wednesday October 7th, 2015, page 29.

● “The Japanese car industry has hailed the (TPP) trade agreement which would phase out the 2.5 per cent US duty on imported cars over 25 years, benefitting companies such as Toyota and Subaru…Japanese carmakers have already shifted production (Vietnam) aggressively, seeking to avoid tariffs, protect themselves from currency fluctuations and shorten supply chains”

Source: Not all Asian firms win with deal, by Yoko Kubota and Eric Pfanner, The Wall Street Journal, The Australian, Thursday 5th October, 2015, page 25.


● “Trade Boost, Forecast increase in real income by 2025

Vietnam 10.25%

Malaysia 5.6%

Japan 2%

New Zealand 2%

Singapore 1.9%

Australia 0.5%

Source: Wall Street Journal”

Source: Pact lures firms to Asia TPP nations, by Jake Maxwell Watts, & Kathy Chu, The Wall Street Journal, The Australian, Friday 9th October, 2015, page 24.

● “(TPP) Japan budged little on rice…(but) agreed to create a new 6000 tonne quota for Australian rice and cut tariffs on a number of rice preparation products. This is significantly less than the 50,000 tonne quota for US rice exports to Japan…Japan is a particularly attractive export market for Australian rice farmers because mills buy premium varieties…”We have been banging on Japan’s door for 20 years (Ian Blight, Griffith rice farmer) each time we try and get in they put up quarantine rules and when we pass the tests they add in more tests”

Source: Rice farmers reckon trade proof will be in the pudding, by Jared Lynch and Julie-Anne Sprague, Australian Financial Review, Wednesday October 7th, 2015, page 1 and 9.

● “For example: Australian cheese is blended with local product when it is sent to Japan at a ratio of 2 - 1.That was expected to be increased to 3.5 - 1 and be tariff free within 11 years, but it will happen immediately once the TPP starts operating”

Source: Rice farmers reckon trade proof will be in the pudding, by Jared Lynch and Julie-Anne Sprague, Australian Financial Review, Wednesday October 7th, 2015, page 9.

● “Japan view of the TPP trade pact - Japanese car and auto=parts makers may be the biggest winners, as they get cheaper access to the US, the industry’s biggest export market. Japan was forced to reduce some of the protections granted to its rice farmers, creating a non-tariff import quota of 1 per cent of its total consumption. Livestock farmers may be harder hit as tariffs on beef will be cut to 9 per cent over 16 years from 38.5 per cent, while pork tariffs will also be slashed”

Source: Winners & Losers from TPP, Australian Financial Review, Bloomberg, Wednesday October 7th, 2015, page 44.

● “Japan is threatened with both labour shortages and an explosion in welfare costs as one of the worlds lowest birth rates and grayest populations is set to slash the workforce by almost half by 2060. Mr. Abe’s new plan seeks to prevent the 127 million population from sliding below 100 million, within half a century by encouraging people to have more children, and implementing measures to ease the burden on workers having to care for elderly relatives…policies to boost the birthrate and expand spending on elderly and child care”

Source: Abe targets Japan population slide, by Isabel Reynolds, Australian Financial Review, Thursday October 8th, 2015, page 18.

● “China’s renminbi has surpassed the Japanese yen to become the world’s fourth- most-used payments currency, despite an unexpected devaluation and concerns about slowing Chinese growth”

Source: Renminbi over takes yen for payments, trails big three, by Gabriel Wildow, Financial Times, Australian Financial review, Thursday October 8th, 2015, page 37.

● “Japanese Nobel Prize Winners 205

“Physics - Takaaki Kajita shared with Arthur McDonald for the discovery of neutrino oscillators, which shows that neutrinos have mass.

Medicine: Satoshi Omura shared with William Campbell and Tu Youyou for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites”
Source: Wikipedia, accessed October 10th, 2015, www.wikipedia.com

You might also be interested in our analysis of 

"How Japanese consumers will benefit from the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal"

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Japanese Customer News October 3rd 2015

Japanese Customer News October 3rd 2015

Japanese Customer News October 3rd 2015













● “The school uniform has taken on its own meaning of eternal youth in Japan, so even older people who’ve graduated are wearing a uniform because of a feeling of not wanting to give up their youth”

Toco Nikaido - creator of Rebirth

Source: Food and water feed a feast of uniform chaos, by Jeremy Rochow, The Australian, Thursday 1st October, 2015, page 15.




● “It (Japan) can’t compete against China in terms of price…Japan should shift away from building plants and railways, and toward building human capital such as through education”

Kenichi Ohno, Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo

Source: Rail deal heads to Middle Kingdom, by Mitsuru Obe, The Wall Street Journal, The Australian, Thursday October 1st, 2015, page 24.





● “Toyota has started selling a safety device that allows a car to communicate with other vehicles or traffic lights….costs about US$250 and is available only in Japan….allows cars to exchange data with other cars or infrastructure such as traffic lights via radio waves”

Source: Cars ‘will talk to each other’ by Yoko Kubota, The Wall Street Journal, The Australian, October 3rd, 2015, page 33.



● “China and Japan are locked into each other economically. The bilateral relationship is the third largest in the world with $US 340 billion in trade in 2014…Japan is China’s second largest (trading partner)…Japan is the largest investor in China, with a stock of direct investment at more than $US100 billion in 2014 ”

Source: China - Japan economic embrace thaws politics by Shiro Armstrong, Australian Financial Review, Monday 28th September 2015, page 12.



● “China is the second -largest destination for Japanese students- studying abroad, after the United States. Japanese students are the third largest cohort of foreign students in China”
Source: China - Japan economic embrace thaws politics by Shiro Armstrong, Australian Financial Review, Monday 28th September 2015, page 12.



● “2.4 million Chinese tourists visited Japan in 2014, with another % million waiting for visas”

Source: China - Japan economic embrace thaws politics by Shiro Armstrong, Australian Financial Review, Monday 28th September 2015, page 12.





● “Prime Minister Abe’s plan to cut mobile phone rates charged by companies including NTT Docomo could put further downward pressure on prices while making the fees closer to those in overseas cities….”the fact is that the carriers dominance has kept prices high and the reduction is going to help increase households purchasing power” Azusa Kato, BNP Paribas

Source: Abe’s inflation goal slips away, by Kevin Buckland and Shigeki Nozawa, Australian Financial Review, Tuesday 29th September, 2015, page 13.



● “Japanese beer giant Asahi has scooped up its second Australian boutique brewer…(it) bought the Cricketers Arms brand in April ,2013….The purchase continues the consolidation that has swept through the craft beer sector….In 2013, Lion - a subsidiary of …Kirin…poured $60 million into a new brewery at Geelong to produce its Little Creatures”

Source: Japanese Asahi buys Australian craft beer brewer Mountain Goat, by Jared Lynch, Australian Financial Review, Tuesday September 29th, 2015, page 17.

● “Question: The worst place you have been lost?

Answer: Tokyo, where I was on a bus with my whole team. It took us 3 hours to get to our destination”

Steve Redman, VP, Asia Pacific, Palo Alto Networks

Source: Traveller, Australian Financial Review, October 3rd, 2015, page L9.




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Picture: Japanese shampoo dispenser

Picture: Japanese shampoo dispenser

Learn more about 

Japanese shampoo dispensers

  here

 #japanesecustomer, #japan, @jcustomers, www.japanesecustomer.com, #shampoo, #dispenser, #innovative, #picture

Japanese Customer News September 19th 2015

Japanese Customer News September 19th 2015

 

Japanese Customer News September 19th 2015

● “Japan’s Inpex has announced a 10 per cent cost blow out to US $37 billion and a six to nine month delay at Ichthys LNG and oil project being built in Darwin”

Source: Ichthys faces delays, blowout, by Matt Chambers, The Australian, Monday September 14th, 2015, page 18.

● “In terms of spending, Japan’s 247,000 troops make up the seventh-richest armed forces in the world…the Self -Defence Forces (SDF) is struggling to find the 14,000 new recruits it needs every year”

Source: Idea of war has Japan up in arms, by Richard Lloyd Parry, The Times, The Australian, Wednesday 18th September, 2015, page 14.

● “As more Japanese spooked by a multi-year weakening in the yen turn to insurance denominated in dollars (US and Australian dollars)…A 10 year Australian government bond was yielding 2.74 per cent on Friday (11th September) compared with its Japanese counterpart’s 0.343 per cent”

Source: Yen dip spurs flight to insurance, by Eleanor Warnock, The Wall Street Journal, The Australian, Wednesday September 16th, 2015, page 28.

● “A raft of weak data had ramped up pressure on the central bank to expand its Y80 trillion annual asset-buying scheme to stimulate the sagging economy…Inflation has remained close to zero, keeping Japan teetering on the brink of a dangerous cycle of deflation where consumers put off spending in the hope of cheaper prices, hurting businesses and sapping government coffers”

Source: BOJ holds fire but further stimulus on the agenda, AFP, The Australian, Wednesday 16th September, 2015, page 32.

● “(S+P down graded) Japan’s Sovereign credit rating from AA-/A-1 to A+/A-1 from 2011-2014 S+P said average per capita income slipped to $US 36,000 (AUS$50,000) from close to $US 47,000”

Source: S+P downgrades weakening Japan, by Rowan Callick, The Australian, Firday September 18th, 2015, page 20.

● “Forecast change in (coffee) cups per capita consumption 2014 - 2019

China 18%

Britain 13%

Japan 3.5%

US 0.9%

Australia -2.8%

Source: Euromonitor International”

Source: Chinese realising coffee’s their cup of tea, by Lucy Craymer, The Australian, Friday September 18th, 2015, page 25.

● “Body Parts donors per million population 2012

Spain 34

Australia 10

USA 21

Japan 2

Source: International regis”

Source: Donor list offers twice -in-a-lifetime-chance, by Simon King, The Australian, Thursday September 19th, 2015, page 5.


● “US Export - Import Bank Loan Activity, 2014 loan authorisations for selected countries

China US$ 402.8 Billion

Korea US$ 180 Billion

Japan US$ 69.3 Billion

Source: Export- Import Bank”

Source: Bank row forces GE jobs offshore, by Nick Tiniraas and Ted Mann, The Wall Street Journal, The Australian, Thursday September 17th, 2015, page 24.

● “Consumer demand for diamonds, by region 2018

US 41%

China 19%

India 9%

Gulf 7%

Japan 4%

Source: Barclays”

Source: Tough times for the rocks market, by Helen Thomas, The Wall Street Journal, The Australian, Thursday September 2015, page 25.



● “Japan Post is one of the country’s biggest employers with more than 200,000 staff in 24,000 offices and branches nationwide. It’s banking unit has about Y 178 trillion in deposits”

Source: Japan Post draws $160 billion value, by Takahiko Hyuga, Bloomberg, Australian Financial Review, Weekend Edition, 12th- 13th September, 2015, page 12.

● “Mitsui Australia, Chief Executive, Yasushi Takahashi,,,said a new drone technology developed could ‘drastically improve many stages of mining operations…called “Smart Construction”. it uses a drone to measure a sites configuration in 10 to 15 minutes compared to conventional procedures that take two to three months”

Source: Mitsui sees a new drone tech as key to productivity gains, by Amanda Saunders, Australian Financial Review, Friday 18th September, 2015, page 19.




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