September 2012
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Tokyo Farmer's Markets
Why take the extra time to visit a farmers’ market when supermarkets and convenience stores are on nearly every corner in Tokyo and food co-ops deliver right to your door?
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Paul Kerr
London-based Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) is all about helping small, independently owned luxury hotels by providing economies of scale similar to those achieved by the large international hotel chains, while allowing them to maintain their individuality and independence.
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Attitude Makes Altitude
Getting someone to buy whatever you are selling can be fraught with difficulty. Sales managers and teams need to succeed or it’s game over for them.
Brompton Bike's Biggest Market
A folding bicycle manufacturer’s biggest export market is Japan, The Daily Telegraph reported on 21 August.
Sweets Firm Tastes Sales Success
Foundry to Export Bells
The world’s most famous bell foundry in the UK is to manufacture bells for export to Japan, the London Press Service reported on 7 August.
Fashion for Mohair Socks
A huge demand for mohair socks in Japan has helped a small Northumberland firm to increase its profits, The Journal reported on 25 July.
Which MBA in Japan?
It was not so long ago in Japan that business know-how gained on the job was considered to be more important than anything learned from books.News in Brief
Your monthly digest of UK-Japan news
New Approach to Testing English
Global jinzai (human resources) has become a buzzword used in discussions about Japan’s international competitiveness. Japan’s private and public sectors wish to increase this by educating people with the required skills to succeed in the international workplace.
The Namamugi Incident
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Namamugi Incident, the conflict in which samurai killed a British trader, resulting in feudal Japan being brought into the modern era.
Future of Japan's Jobs Market
At a glance, Randstad’s slogan might seem somewhat overused. “Good to know you” encapsulates more than 50 years of a firm’s ethos that places value on understanding its clients and candidates. It is also an appropriate adage for the far-from-rosy future of Japan’s employment market.
On Safari with Urban Snappers
A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. Attend one of Alfie Goodrich’s roving photography classes and you’ll get the thousand words thrown in, as advice on how to capture that perfect image.
Diversity Survey Results 2012
For its recent diversity survey, Hays Specialist Recruitment Japan KK polled 1,000 hiring and line managers, as well as female candidates, all of whom, in November and December 2011, had been placed in a new role, or who had been looking for a new position.
Globalisation through Gender Diversity
Diversity in the workplace has become an authentic tool to drive business growth in Japan.
The Death of on-the-job Training
A silent, tectonic shift is taking place in Japan. The so-called lost decade—that commenced in the 1990s with the collapse of the nation’s asset prices—is now into a third decade. The period has seen stasis in many areas, including investment in human-capital productivity.
Diversity: What's the Point?
The concept of diversity—from gender, age and sexual orientation, to cultural background, education and handicap—is largely embraced and actively encouraged today by Western firms.
Fight or Flight
Japan’s recruitment market is experiencing severe challenges due to the shift in demographics currently taking place. Research indicates that, by 2060, Japan’s population will have shrunk by one-third, while the number of people aged 65 or over will almost have doubled.
More to Rugby Than a Ruck
Rugby Union has a long and distinguished history in Japan, and there are high hopes that the sport, at all levels, will experience a further boost in the run-up to Japan hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2019.
Creating Classic Cuisine
In the 11 years since chef Ian Tozer opened Roti, a US-style grill and rotisserie, he has noticed big differences in the way in which a substantial portion of the restaurant’s clientele likes to eat.
Merging Music
Susanne Bayly was pregnant with Diana Yukawa on 12 August 1985, when Japan Airlines flight 123 from Haneda International Airport to Osaka crashed into Mt Osutaka in Gunma Prefecture. Diana’s father Akihisa was among the 520 people who did not survive the worst single-aircraft crash in history.
What You Missed in the Japanese Press
When Diversity Upsets the Workplace, Who Gives the Best—and Worst—Service?, Konbini Wired for Sales, Items Sold Abroad Online
Flying the Flag for Fashion
The unmistakable red, white and blue of the UK’s Union Jack flag has become de rigueur in Japanese fashion circles, usurping the Stars and Stripes of the US as the design in which to be seen.
Book Review
Products such as the Amazon Kindle and Apple iPad have changed the way many people enjoy the reading experience.
Arts Events
Arts events compiled by Shoko Sekiya.
GlaxoSmithKline plc
Innovation is the bedrock on which GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) plc. is built. Nearly 300 years after the founding of the pharmacy from which the modern firm has evolved, GSK remains committed to exploring directions that others in the sector choose to ignore.
