TT-419 -- Climate refugees

Terrie Lloyd's picture
Submitted by Terrie Lloyd on May 7, 2007

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been hitting the news a lot recently, with dire predictions for Africa, Australia/New Zealand, and South and South East Asia, as well as more extreme weather for
the rest of us. Although the current summaries from the report don't yet enlarge on the threat, Japan was identified as one of the 8 most affected...

Newsletter:

Tags:

JIN-412 -- Mobile Savior or Satan?

Submitted by Japan Inc on May 1, 2007

One morning on a packed train from port to capital a 'salaryman' whipped out his mobile phone. 'So-and-so passed away,' he said to the other party. 'The wake will be at so-and-so funeral parlor, with the service at so-and-so
temple the next day.' He proceeded to inform others of the man's passing. I was mortified. A public space seemed inappropriate for such a...

Newsletter:

Terrie's Job Tips -- Negotiating Initial Terms and Conditions: Part Five: More Expat Perks

Submitted by Japan Inc on April 26, 2007

By my estimate, considering the number of members of chambers of commerce and the Tokyo American Club, there are probably around 12,000 – 15,000 expatriate employees of Multinational Foreign Corporations (MNFCs) in Japan – most of whom are based in Tokyo. This week we finish up with some of the additional benefits that only expats can enjoy and the rest of us can look on in wonder.

Newsletter:

Terrie's Job Tips -- Negotiating Initial Terms and Conditions: Part Four: The High End – Foreign Hires

Submitted by Japan Inc on April 25, 2007

By far the most entertaining side of negotiating benefits is for foreign hires coming in as expatriate managers (“expats”). These people are generally already well advanced in their careers and typically occupy CEO and director positions. They are dispatched by head office to fill an oversight and parent company representation role, and by virtue of the high profile of these people, status and comfort figure high in the remuneration package, as does tax work-arounds.

Newsletter:

TT-418 -- Take a walk on the For-side

Terrie Lloyd's picture
Submitted by Terrie Lloyd on April 23, 2007

In a move reminiscent of Livedoor's Horiemon, at 04:00 am on March 1st this year, mobile content company For-side.com announced that it would downgrade its earnings for FY2006 (ending Dec. 31, 2006) to a massive JPY60.6bn (US$51.4m) loss. The company blamed the result mostly on an extraordinary JPY71.3bn (US$60.4m) loss on its sale of UK subsidiary iTouch. For-side's stock price as of last Friday (April 20th) was just JPY3,780, about 85% lower than a year ago, and less than 2% of the company's peak back in October 2002. So what went wrong with this once high-flying firm? Most analysts agree that...

Newsletter:

JIN-411 -- Fibers Finger Gropers

Submitted by Japan Inc on April 23, 2007

The other evening I squeezed into a train homeward-bound from Tokyo. Pressed against the door like a butterfly pinned to the leaf of a specimen book I could only watch the nightscape scrolling past the window. Not until I overheard a guy tell his girl, 'We're on the women-only car' did I sense something strange. I looked around. Sure enough he and I were the only men, my having followed him like a lemming. My being the last on board, few riders...

Newsletter:

GW-269 -- Logitec LDS-iALARM, Panasonic Toughbook CF-08,Panasonic Viera PZ700 series

Submitted by Japan Inc on April 17, 2007

The Gist: Logitec aims to replace even your alarm clock with the new 'LDS-iALARM,' a take-off on the standard iPod dock. The iALARM more closely resembles an alarm clock than it does anything else. The concept is straightforward: just insert your 4th gem or greater iPod or 1st/2nd generation iPod nano into the
iALARM's Dock connector. The iPod itself has an alarm function, but such a function is slightly hard to use with headphones alone. The iALARM acts as a speaker, so you... Read Now

Newsletter:

Tags:

JIN-410 -- The Teflon Governor

Submitted by Japan Inc on April 16, 2007

Shintaro Ishihara, who recently won a third term as Tokyo Governor, is not one to hold his tongue. In his years as governor he has spooked foreigners with a warning to beware rioting 'third country nationals' (code for Koreans) in the aftermath of a natural disaster in Tokyo; raised Francophone hackles with the comment French is not...

Newsletter:

TT-417 -- What if you land in jail?

Terrie Lloyd's picture
Submitted by Terrie Lloyd on April 16, 2007

Ten days ago, the foreign Vice President of Dior Japan and his wife were charged with possession of drugs here in Tokyo. Apparently he tried mailing cocaine from a Paris address to his home in Tokyo and Customs tipped off the
Police. The Police raided his home and arrested his wife after...

Newsletter:

Terrie's Job Tips -- Negotiating Initial Terms and Conditions - Part Three: The High End – Local Hires

Submitted by Japan Inc on April 13, 2007

Now let’s look at the types of “benefits” that you would want to negotiate as a senior manager, say director level, CxO, or President and above. You are likely to want benefits that go well outside the usual employee’s experience, based usually on the fact that you also have significantly more responsibilities and in some cases, as the company’s official face, you have to project an image for the company.

Newsletter:

Pages