By Nicole Fall
Potential opportunities for business in Japan's fitness craze

Consumer trends and fads can be puzzling for marketers. Where do they come from? How long do their last? What risks or opportunities do they present? In identifying social shifts or 'Change Points' this columnattempts to zoom in on a particular trend and trace its potentialcon sequences on consumer decision making processes. Using research developed by the Bates Asia advertising agency, as well as a range of media reports, this issue's Change Points are related to Japan's fitness craze.

By Arjen van Blokland

In Japan, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is amongst others responsible for the telecommunications policy. A good example was the introduction last year of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in an attempt to make it easier for mobile end-users to switch carriers.

A reader who is a foreign mom married to a Japanese national posed an interesting question to me recently. She has an 18-year old who is finishing off high school and she wonders whether to send her daughter to a university in the US, or let her stay here in Japan. Her daughter is bilingual and until now has been going to a Japanese high school.

This week Terrie considers the commercial consequence of Goodwill Group's failure to renew operating licenses for their nursing homes business as well as need-to-know summaries of Japan-related news and commercial information. Read Terrie's Take Now