FirstPoint Japan
  • What's New
  • Table of Contents
  • Overview
  • Japan Expert Insights
  • Japan Expert Interviews
    • Listen To The Experts (audio / video)
    • Are You A Japan Expert?
    • Prepare For Your Interview
  • Japan Market Entry
  • For Japan Hiring Managers
  • For Japan Training Managers
  • For Japan Recruiters
    • Introduction
    • What We Address
    • Recruiter Jobs
  • Recruiters & Executive Search
  • Training & Development
  • Coaches & Consultants
  • Human Resources Consultants
  • Japan Jobs & Careers
  • Japan Events
  • Our Sponsors
  • Advertise on FirstPointJapan
  • Newsletters & Alerts
  • The Japan Business Blog
  • Resources
    • Japan Labor Standards Office (English Helpline)
    • Tozen Union
    • Nambu Union
  • Glossary of Terms
  • Content Archives (Full)
  • About
    • Leadership & Advisory Board Members
    • Advisory Board Members Application Form
    • Content Contributors & Vendors Application Form
    • Terms Of Service
    • Privacy Policy
    • Policies: Challenges, Rebuttals & Retractions
    • Contact Us

Japan As A Supertanker Laden With Oil

10/2/2014

0 Comments

 
By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, SiliconEdge


Japan is like a supertanker laden with oil.

It's very valuable but its contribution is often underappreciated or even unappreciated.

It's slow to turn, hard to maneuver but it's buoyant and true.

And once it gets moving and its course is set you better get out of its way. :)
0 Comments

The Japanese Mind: Does A Fear of Failure Hold Back Entrepreneurs & Leaders?

9/29/2014

0 Comments

 
By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, SiliconEdge


That Japan like any country, be it developing or developed, has her share of problems is not in the least bit surprising or at least it shouldn't be.

However, what has surprised me over the years is how many foreign "Japan watchers" and "Japan pundits" always seem to miss the crux of what's really going on on the ground in Japan and more importantly what's going on in the mind of the Japanese.

...
...
With that said,  there is another popular myth and meme that comes up regarding the lack of Japanese startups and that is the idea that the Japanese have an almost in-born fear of failure.

I'm not here to argue that Japanese don't have a fear of failure because they do. We all do. Just as most other peoples around the world do, including those in the US and even including those working in Silicon Valley.

People fear failure. 

But to hear the pundits tell it, "Japanese need to get over failure and embrace it". These pundits act like the fear of failure in Japan is simple a psychological construct* like it is in parts of the West like in the US.
Japanese psychology & The Fear of Failure
0 Comments

TV As A Mirror Of Society

8/12/2014

0 Comments

 
By Mike Rogers, MarketingJapan, Universal Vision Ltd., and Smart Research 
& James Santagata, Principal Consultant, SiliconEdge

TV as a Mirror of Society

I met the boss of the biggest international television network in the world the other day. He is a Canadian. He travels all over the world and, because he is in the TV business, he told me that one of his favorite things to do in every country was to judge by TV commercials what things were important to that particular society. 

Japan's TV commercials? Insurance for this or that; home sales; automobiles; financial instruments and plans; candy, cosmetics, fast food... Companies like Zurich, Sekisui, Kanebo.... Japanese commercials that soft sell and are emotive commercials.

I think that's right. 

He also told me that he was "astounded" by just how many over the counter drug medication commercials there were on US TV all the time. US TV commercials? Drugs, Cholesterol, Machismo ("my ding-a-ling is bigger than yours" commercials); fast food; commercials to make your dick hard, make it soft, put you to sleep, keep you awake, lower blood pressure, lose weight; not to mention commercials galore for people with extreme anxiety and panic attacks.

Oh, and don't forget the side effects disclaimers! Cholesterol, etc.
[read more] tv as society's mirror
0 Comments

The Sun Also Rises (陽はまた昇る): Japanese Leadership & Innovation

7/15/2014

0 Comments

 
The Sun Also Rises (陽はまた昇る), starring Ken Watanabe (Westerner's will know him from The Last Samurai and Inception) is a great movie showing Japanese Leadership & Innovation at its finest -- in this case concerning the development of the VHS tape standard and VHS Video Tape Recorder by Victor Japan (JVC).

Picture
0 Comments

FirstPoint Japan's James Santagata Speaks At After JET Conference (Yokohama Japan)

2/26/2014

0 Comments

 
Last week, FirstPoint Japan's Publisher, James Santagata, participated in the 2014 After JET Conference's Career Panel which was held at the Pacifico Yokohama (Yokohama, Japan) on February 21st.  Follow the links for full details and pictures.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

2014 AfterJet Conference (Yokohama, Japan)
0 Comments

Are You Tired of Reading About Japan From The "Japan is Weird" School of Journalism?

9/29/2013

0 Comments

 
Are you tired of reading about Japan from the "Japan is Weird" school of journalism?

You know, such as the debunked story about the supposed "Japan eyeball licking" craze.

So are we.

Interested in real, actionable expert advice on Japan? 

You'll find it here.

The fact is news on Japan, from the Western media and Western perspective, normally falls into one of two categories, basically it's a bi-modal distribution that looks like this:

1. Japan is a cyberpunk weirdo country, where eyeball licking is the country's new favorite past time.

...or...

2. Japan is a robotic, lobotomized colony of Borg, ala the "Japan, Inc." or earlier "Yellow Peril" memes.

It's no wonder, then, that so many foreign firms underperform or fail in Japan.

But now there's a third school of journalism about Japan -- from the FirstPoint Japan school of journalism and it features actionable, ROI-based, expert advice.

It may not be as sexy or titillating as the eyeball licking or Akihabara maid cafe stories but it'll help you grow and accelerate your business in Japan at best and in the very least it'll ensure you keep your job.
0 Comments

    About FirstPoint Japan

    "Where Japanese Business Begins™"
     
    FirstPoint Japan™  is the first and only English-language portal that helps you accelerate your Japanese Business with expert advice. 

    We advise and guide Japan-based, Japan-facing or Japan-related companies, subsidiaries, senior executives, hiring managers, HR professionals, executive search consultants and others seeking to enter the Japan market, build-out existing operations or accelerate business growth or that are looking to acquire, retain, train or outplace bilingual talent in Japan.

    Archives

    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Advisory Board
    Asia
    Business Japanese
    Business Mixer
    Business Networking
    Ethical Recruiting
    Ethical Recruiting Alliance
    Event
    Expert Interviews
    Firstpoint Japan
    Firstpoint Japan Advertising
    Firstpoint Japan Announcements
    Firstpoint Japan Website
    Hr
    Hr Events
    Human Resources
    I18n / L10N
    Internationalization
    Interviews
    James Santagata
    Japan Advertising
    Japan Auto Industry
    Japan Auto Industry
    Japan Banking
    Japan Buildings
    Japan Business
    Japan Business
    Japan Careers
    Japan China Relations
    Japan-china Relations
    Japan Culture
    Japan Depositions
    Japan Earthquake
    Japan Ecommerce
    Japan Economy
    Japan Economy
    Japan Education
    Japan Entrepreneurs
    Japan Entrepreneurs
    Japanese Agriculture
    Japanese Careers
    Japanese Consumers
    Japanese Creativity
    Japanese Creativity
    Japanese Culture
    Japanese Culture
    Japanese Diversity
    Japanese Diversity
    Japanese Education
    Japanese Food
    Japanese Food Products
    Japanese Gaming
    Japanese Innovation
    Japanese Innovation
    Japanese Investments
    Japanese Language
    Japanese Leadership
    Japanese Leadership
    Japanese Life Science
    Japanese Military
    Japanese Mobile Gaming
    Japanese Navy
    Japanese Pharma
    Japanese Politics
    Japanese Politics
    Japanese Population
    Japanese Population
    Japanese Security
    Japanese Trends
    Japanese Trends
    Japanese Universities
    Japanese Venture Capital
    Japanese Venture Capital
    Japan Exchange Rates
    Japan Executive Search Firms
    Japan Expert Insights
    Japan Expert Insights
    Japan Fashion
    Japan Finance
    Japan Foreign Law Firms
    Japan Hr
    Japan India Relations
    Japan Infrastructure
    Japan Internet
    Japan Interpretation
    Japan Israel
    Japan Legal
    Japan Litigation
    Japan Luxury Goods
    Japan Manufacturing
    Japan Market Entry
    Japan Marketing
    Japan Monetary Policy
    Japan Patent Litigation
    Japan Recruiters
    Japan Rental Space
    Japan Retail
    Japan Sightseeing
    Japan Startups
    Japan Startups
    Japan Taxes
    Japan Tech News
    Japan Tours
    Japan Translation
    Japan Venture Capital
    Japan Venture Capital
    Jet Programme
    Kim Pedersen
    Korean Business
    Korean Population
    Korean Startups
    Language Acquisition
    Languages
    Localization
    Myths And Memes
    Myths And Memes
    Office Relocation
    Office Space
    Rakuten
    Real Estate
    Recruiting
    Recruiting Events
    Recruiting Japan
    Rumors
    Singapore
    Social Networking
    Softbank
    Sponsors
    Startup Nation
    Succeeding In Japan
    Toefl
    Toeic
    Tokyo American Club
    Toyota
    Videos
    Work Culture
    Work Environments
    Yahoo Japan

    RSS Feed

Picture
Picture

© Copyright 2007-2023 SiliconEdge™ Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.