JIN-175 -- Opportunities in Okinawa

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J@pan Inc Magazine Presents:
T H E J @ P A N I N C N E W S L E T T E R
Commentary on the Week's Business and Technology News
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Issue No. 175
Wednesday, April 3, 2002
Tokyo

CONTENTS

++ Viewpoint: Opportunities in Okinawa
Authorities
++ Noteworthy News
- Nikko Salomon Leads Pack in First Quarter Equities
- Yozan to Offer Broadband Mobile Net Access across Tokyo
- JAL, ANA Offer More Business-Class Discounts

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++ VIEWPOINT: Opportunities in Okinawa

CSK Communications president Hisashi Kawamoto recalls the initial
reaction of his business peers when he headed to Okinawa in 1998 to
set up a company. "I was being laughed at -- some of them were
saying, 'Oh poor guy, he's been transferred to a southern island!'"

Well, guess who is laughing now? Kawamoto's company IPOed on Nasdaq
Japan last September, and Kawamoto says being in Okinawa helped him
move the IPO up by about two years. The company's stock price has
more than doubled since then and was trading at around 712,000 yen
today. He manages a staff of about 260 -- up from 40 two years ago --
and every last one of them is Okinawan.

Kawamoto is just one of a growing number of business people looking
to Okinawa for opportunities as the government pours millions of
dollars worth of funds into the island to make it an IT haven. Will
the plan work? Check out Takehiko Kambayashi's article "A troubled
island has visions of IT paradise" in the May issue of J@pan Inc, on
sale at bookstores and available on our Web site later this month.
Kambayashi talks to Kawamoto and also takes a close-up look at Nago,
a controversial little city that is not only expected to host an
offshore US military base, but is being turned into a tax haven for
IT and financial firms. There are lots of perks awaiting ambitious
companies willing to relocate to Japan's poorest prefecture,
including a pretty nice lifestyle. "This is a healing island," says
Kawamoto. "When you step out of the office, time slows down. You feel
like, OK, we don't have to work anymore today."

-- Bruce Rutledge

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++ NOTEWORTHY NEWS
(Long URLs may break across two lines, so copy to your browser.)

** Nikko Salomon Leads Pack in First Quarter Equities

Extract: Nikko Salomon Smith Barney led all other brokerages in the
first quarter with 33 percent of Japan-based equity sales, according
to Bloomberg data. The brokerage handled 13 equity sales worth a
total of $770 billion.

The rest of the list looks like this:
2. Nomura Securities, 23 percent, 540.882 billion yen
3. Daiwa Securities SMBC, 20 percent, 464.346 billion
4. UBS Warburg, 9 percent, 214.965 billion
5. Merrill Lynch & Co., 6 percent, 138.899 billion
6. Tsubasa Securities, 5 percent, 108.493 billion
7. Shinko Securities, 1 percent, 22.168 billion
8. UFJ Capital Markets Securities, 1 percent, 21.197 billion
9. Kokusai Securities, less than 1 percent, 9.076 billion
10. Tokyo Mitsubishi Securities, less than one percent, 8.477 billion

Source:
http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=Top%20Financial%20News&s1
=blk&tp=ad_topright_topfin&T=markets_bfgcgi_content99.ht&s2=ad_right1
_topfin&bt=ad_position1_topfin&middle=ad_frame2_topfin&s=APKkm.xUGTml
ra28g

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**Yozan to Offer Broadband Mobile Net Access across Tokyo

Extract: Yozan, which is set to acquire the PHS business of Tokyo
Telecommunication Network (TTNet) by the end of June, announced
yesterday that it would roll out a broadband Internet access service
in Tokyo this fall. The service would offer Net access at up to 8mbps
and would be accessible all over Tokyo. The company plans to set up
4,000 antennas around town before the launch. The company president
and CEO Sunao Takatori said customers will get Net access at speeds
of 32Kbps in Tokyo, 2Mbps outside and 8Mbps in buildings with
wireless LAN technology, according to The Japan Times.

Sources:
"No Strings Attached: Wireless Hot Spots," from the April issue of
J@pan Inc (password protected):
http://www.japaninc.com/inc/login.html?articleID=761

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nb20020403a6.htm

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** JAL, ANA Offer More Business-Class Discounts

Extract: In a bid to pick up lagging sales, both Japan Airlines and
All Nippon Airways are expanding their discount menus for
business-class passengers. JAL's discount service is about 30 percent
cheaper than full fares, according to the Nikkei, and the rate will
now be available for 106 destination cities instead of the previous
15. ANA has expanded its discount menu to include 52 destinations, up
from seven. But perhaps most importantly for the business traveler,
both airlines announced that the discounts can be received when
making reservations just three days before take-off; the limit used
to be one week.

Of course, the tickets still ain't cheap. A discounted business-class
round-trip ticket on the Tokyo-London route still costs 531,000 yen,
the airlines say.

Source:
http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/020402/16/2nbw4.html

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STAFF
Written by Bruce Rutledge (bruce@japaninc.com) and Sumie Kawakami
(sumie@japaninc.com)
Edited by J Mark Lytle (mark@japaninc.com)

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