nihoncritic comments

Taiwan must be recognized as it is a true friend of Japan, past and present. No other nation contributed so selflessly in the time of the tsunami. I was utterly dismayed when Japan snubbed Taiwan from the list of 'countries' due to the one China policy. I do not know whether or when Taiwan and the Mainland will reunify, there is no doubt Taiwan's friendship must be recognized and honored among the international community as equals.

@Chucky3176

SK may have been generous, but I am more than sure that Japanese were angered by blogs, youtube videos, and sign holding Koreans who continue to gloat and celebrate the tsunami and the death of tens of thousands. Does not take much to ruin the image of others, just like how you don't like the Japanese because of their fringe right wing.

@Tony Ew

If you think the Chinese can contain the USA, you are gravely mistaken. At this time, the US Navy has the capability of eliminating the entire Chinese navy within less than a week. Your over projection of Chinese military capabilities is somewhat laughable. Also, wars and provoking conflict are never good for domestic consumption or economics, as they tend to eliminate hard earned wealth of millions of citizens, both Chinese and Japanese. The Americans are mostly a rational bunch, but anger them and they will respond in catastrophic force.

Just know this, when the Chinese government usually establishes a new leadership, the words "anti-corruption" and "streamlining" means two things. Legitimately hammer down excesses to win the favor of the people (hopefully), and also eliminate your political enemies. China is at a delicate state of power transitioning from Hu and Wen's government to the vision of the new entrant Xi Jinping's. This means Xi is appointing loyalists around him and taking care of those who are not.

What I don't get is how a Non technology guy ended up being the head honcho of this conglomerate. A technology company needs to think of technology as the priority, not entertainment. Entertainment helps to sell the tech, but if the tech has no attractive value proposition then it won't be of any help. I guess Stringer did make Sony Pictures a high powered film production company, it is ultimately up to Hirai to recreate attractive products we want. There are some hopes though, in the form of PS4 and Xperia Z, a phone I actually gave a damn about in a while.

"monozukuri" can still come back to Japan, not in the field of Cheap low margin electronic products, but in the field of industrial technologies. Companies like Hitachi for instance are divesting TVs and building heavy duty factory and construction related products, which yield higher margins. Japan can go the way of the US and build more companies like GE and John Deere, or be stuck in a quagmire of electronic companies which are saturated with innovative tech companies like google and low cost competitors like Samsung.

One word to describe this scenario: Hypocrisy. Disparaging the desecration of the Korean flag without reflecting on how many times the Korean people burn flags (Japanese, American, Chinese, etc.) then calling stereotyping a culture as sick. No wonder there is no English translation. The writer ought to be ashamed.

3rd Party mediation is better than none at all. This might actually solve the problem instead of prolonging it.

What was to be expected? Immature babies only capable of pointing fingers at each other and squabbling over two rocks in the middle of nowhere. A good solution would be for those two rocks to simply explode and sink, leaving nothing for both of them. Also, 1500? what a joke, a statistically insignificant number out of a population of 50 million.

Japan is leaning more for job satisfaction than job stability. In the past, having a job is better than having none at all, but now new hires wish to utilize their talents and feel frustrated that they cannot contribute on a higher level. I had a wonderful opportunity to sit down with a COO of Viacom for lunch one time and he told me that the time for empowering youth is now. They are digital natives as opposed to immigrants from older generations who need to catch up with modern technologies. They know the trends, what is popular, and what really resonates with younger people. It's perfectly fine to have a older boss, so long as he or she understands what is at stake in the future. The worst kind of management is one which is stuck in the past and refuses to change due to selfish or misguided reasons. Japan is definitely slow in this regard but there is still some hope in its auto industry and even its traditional electronic companies. Hitachi for example is transitioning to infrastructure building over consumer electronics. The only issue is whether management can swallow its pride and treat young employees as equals and individuals with great potential instead of toady grunts who can take a beating.

This is nice of Pasona to do this for them, but I prefer that thousands of Japanese students go intern for other multinational companies. Granted foreign companies aren't always better (Libor fixing, etc.) but mingling with other nationalities and talent is significant. For future Japanese economic survival, looking outward is more important than ever.

Koreans are very nimble and adept at business. They move fast and adjust quickly. However, the other flip side of the coin is that the ability of "being nimble" mainly comes from the fact that there is virtually no competition for Korean chaebols, or zaibatsu equivalents. Samsung and Hyundai form the bulk of SK's GDP and the government will do anything it can to facilitate business for these two business groups. South Korea is doing well because of this strategy, but it also comes at the cost that should either Hyundai or Samsung slow down or lag, the rest of the SK economy will go with it. Nevertheless congrats, smart management by Samsung to invest in phones really made it for them.

Looks like it's not only Japan which seems to not be looking eye to eye with the good ole People Republic. In fact, the Senkaku (Diaoyutai) dispute is only one of the many territorial disputes that China is having with her neighbors.

Good of Mitsubishi to sell the plant without chopping up the company and laying off employees. Hopefully those workers will keep their jobs under new management.

Deserves of course. Who helped Nissan turn itself around? Who made Nissan reclaim the no 2 Japanese auto manufacturer from Honda? Who revamped the Nissan Skyline series, making the GTR one of the most cost effective beloved racing cars in the world? Who combined French design with excellent Japanese auto engineering? Carlos Ghosn is a business executive who deserves all the praise and money he can ask for. He saved a large Japanese company and made it more profitable than ever. Compare that with GM's Akerson who received 7.7 million for running a defunct, still indebted car company. Ghosn deserves every penny.

Nintendo is slumping but hey, I distinctly remember couple years back when people claimed Nintendo will collapse due to the Wii. Well, looks like the same people simply just don't get it.

Agreed with USNinJapan. A pointless summary indeed, I won't even bother repeating what has already been said by USN. As a matter of fact, the majority of Koreans were celebrating and excitingly voicing approval towards the catastrophic nature of the tsunami, all of them feeling schadenfreude at the misery of their long hated neighbor.

An interesting fact is that Japanese banks during the bubble suffered a similar situation in 89 when they were destroyed by the bubble. It seems that their efforts to build cash and pursue conservative investments in the last two decades have paid off as of now since they are not among the 15 which have been downgraded, partially a reason why the Yen remains a odd safe haven for international financiers.

I don't understand why people are attributing Tesco's demise down to a narrow variable. It is a combination of everything that could go wrong for a business. When you analyze Tesco's value proposition, if you can come up with something within five seconds which can immediately connect you with the brand, it means they did a good job with marketing, which in my case I just can't. For example, Apple=ipad and cool gadgets, McDonalds=cheap fast food, etc. Tesco is simply another generic food retailer service which failed to make the impact that Costco did in Japan and its lukewarm introduction and poor marketing really dug an early grave for the retailer. Second of all, what unique practices did the company bring for its customers? If the average obasan is used to shopping at the local grocer, Tesco needed to figure out what could incentivize her to making a switch, which they clearly failed. Arguably, there are also those who immediately point fingers at Japanese protectionism, which clearly is an issue, but as others noted, why do some multinational companies rake in the cash in Japan? It's because they have something the Japanese populace sees as uniquely valuable, an experience or product which cannot be matched by others. Tesco failed to highlight whatever unique benefits they could have offered to their customers from the start and ended up like the other failures who tried to open a business.

Side-note: the reason why large wholesale food retailers are booming in China is because the food safety standards while being improved domestically are still greatly mistrusted by the populace. Carrefour, etc. offers that badge of quality which is not easily matched in the mainland thus attracting a large group of Chinese customers.

@smithinjapan, like Olivier wrote, maybe you should pay more attention to the article before you enter into a pro-apple rant. To elaborate for you, I don't believe the iPad is “is water-proof, dust-proof and shock-proof,” can "withstand being dropped from a height of four feet (1.21 meters)," and "has a nine-hour battery life." Looks like garbage? Perhaps, but there seems to be more than meets the eye.

Microsoft better watch out with its heavy handed business unfriendly practices. It may be a giant now, but if it keeps up with its arrogance in thinking that people will continue to buy into drinking its kool aid because they command that much a presence, they better think again. I am still a windows user because I enjoy playing ROTS games like Total War which are only available on PC, but if I can find a better and seamless experience, consider me among the first to jump ship.

Toyota's CEO Akio Toyoda is a great example of a car company boss. I've never seen a company head don a racing suit more than a business suit. He is a real lover of cars and all things about and he envisions a design renaissance for the boring Toyota lineup. He is one of the rarer Japanese corporate leaders who is adept at management and is equally as passionate about the work he does. Toyota may have made mistakes and I hope they learn from them and make a new generation of high quality cars that consumers can rely on.

Consumer electronics are sexy and make the news but can collapse at any given moment. I prefer companies which create content like Disney and companies which focus on industrial applications, chemicals, aerospace, or hard industrial businesses. Furthermore, I can't say I really like AT&T and Verizon being up there considering I had nothing but headaches dealing with these over sized, inept, poor attitude companies with the absolute worst customer service.

When you accuse someone or something, you better have solid proof and evidence to back it up. Speculation is not highly regarded these days.

One man's trash is another man's treasure. Innovation is not about creating new things but can involve converting something no one thinks is vital, feasible, or unprofitable. Thumbs up if there can be a business made here.

Those with insecurities speak the loudest. If anything right-wing movement is failing to gain traction in a nation with the most politically apathetic population. Politics has failed Japan and the right-wing movement played an integral part in its dissolution.

@gurudaimon

So anyone not in the top ten 'doesn't matter? That must speak volumes about you who probably aren't top ten in anything, let alone tennis. I wish people would think a little before they post something.

I am saddened by many of these comments. I am by no means pro China, in fact I am very anti-Chinese in regards to its foreign policies and territorial issues. However, how can anyone have the right mindset to judge all Chinese with a single broad brush. I have met many Chinese, both unpleasant and nice people over my lifetime and these experiences have allowed me to stay patient and level headed despite major annoyances. I am not incorruptible but at least in my conscience I will know that judging an entire nation's people is not only unfair but immature. Likewise, I hope that while all the posters on JT, while many are biased against Japan, also find good things about the country and don't stick to generalizations and broad assumptions because of its many unpleasant aspects.

@ Dennis Bauer They still do, except they make sure to buy companies with a future and growth potential after JP companies abandoned big profile acquisitions from the 80s which did nothing to grow their business. Elpida is a lost cause, good luck to Micron, Elpida is a can of worms I do not even want to open.

@ Marion Anyone with a inkling of international relations knowledge would know that US interests directly contest Chinese interests. Furthermore, the Chinese are increasingly belligerent and have territorial disputes and frequently clash sabers with its neighbors. Ask the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Taiwan, for their opinions as well. All of those countries as well as Japan are boosting relations with the US because the Chinese are becoming increasingly irrational and aggressive. Japan may no longer be a key influencer in international politics but it remains an integral part of US foreign policy.