FirstPoint Japan

Japan As A Supertanker Laden With Oil

10/2/2014

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. :)

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

9/29/2014

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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.

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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

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TV As A Mirror Of Society

8/12/2014

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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

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

7/15/2014

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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).

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

2/26/2014

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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.

2014 AfterJet Conference (Yokohama, Japan)

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

9/29/2013

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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.

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Japan As A Supertanker Laden With Oil

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

TV As A Mirror Of Society

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

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

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

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