Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor

I am writing in regards to last issue’s ‘Sending the Right Signals’ article. Joseph Greenberg makes mention in paragraph two of what seems to be a uniquely Japanese ‘shotgun approach’ to sending products to market. I have long been dumbfounded at the amount of new products that are constantly popping up at convenience stores, 100 yen shops and supermarkets around Japan. Almost every autumn I develop a taste for some chocolate bar or new drink and just as fast it is taken off the shelves (maybe for the better).

How can companies afford to take this approach? The company interviewed in the article, Kakudai, would suggest that if one of the products truly has value, it would be best to put all one’s efforts into the one product rather than the many. If one is not sure of the market value of their products, rather than produce them all and hope for the best, wouldn’t it be better to at least do some market research?

Is there an overall lack of confidence in market research in Japan? I believe it would make for an interesting article to look into this question.

Yours sincerely,
William Thompson

Dear Editor

How nice to see J@pan Inc supporting young business talent at Temple University Japan. Mr Dollar Omar sounds like a very enterprising person and the article was really well written. However, I though it was a shame that only Temple was invited to submit entries. There are many other foreign business students at other institutions in Japan and I think it would be great if you could do an inter-university business competition. As a student myself I would be very happy to participate and it would be good for Temple to face some stiffer competition.

Best regards,
Louisa Bagel

Dear Louisa

We take your point and think you have an excellent idea. We We take your point and think you have an excellent idea. We aim to run an inter-university business writing competition in the near future. Keep reading J@pan Inc to find out.

Best wishes,
Peter