TOKYO (Nikkei)--The Japan Tourism Agency plans to give 10,000 foreigners free airfare to Japan in a bid to promote the country as a safe holiday destination.
A junket for those with lots of social connections. The agency will launch next spring a special Web site where foreigners will be able to submit itinerary proposals for Japanese vacations. Winners will be picked based in part on their social networking ability, as measured by blog views and so forth.
Accommodations, meals and other travel expenses will not be included in the giveaway. The agency reckons that the money the 10,000 tourists spend while on vacation will give a roughly 1.31 billion yen boost to the economy, with a knock-on effect of about 3.1 billion yen.
Similar promotional campaigns were launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S. and the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak in Hong Kong.
Nearly 25% fewer foreigners visited the country this September than a year earlier, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. The strong yen is combining with lingering unease about the Fukushima nuclear disaster to keep international tourists away.
(The Nikkei Nov. 5 morning edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Daiei Inc. (8263) and other Japanese supermarket operators are implementing an everyday low price (EDLP) strategy to attract frugal consumers and cut down on the cost of fliers. Championed by U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc., EDLP has been adopted in Japan by such supermarkets as OK Corp. and Wal-Mart subsidiary Seiyu GK. Most supermarkets in Japan promote sales with markdowns advertised via fliers and through rewards programs.
Daiei is getting staff to multitask as part of its new strategy. Daiei introduced EDLP at five existing supermarkets last month, and it plans to do so at three more locations this month. It intends to make the switch mainly at stores where a certain number of shoppers can be expected even if leaflets are no longer distributed, such as those in residential neighborhoods. Most processed foods at these stores will be priced 20-30% lower than usual.
The company tried EDLP on a trial basis at two supermarkets in the autumn of last year, ending the practice of distributing fliers two to three times a week. Personnel costs were slashed by 15-20% at these stores by having workers conduct multiple tasks, such as manning the checkout counter and restocking. Sales and general administrative expenses were reduced by about 10% at each location. Although customer traffic declined and sales shrank at first at these stores due to the discontinuation of fliers, sales bounced back as more customers became aware of the EDLP strategy. Sales for the March-August period exceeded the year-earlier figure and operating profit more than doubled. Daiei plans to have 30 stores adopt EDLP by Feb. 29, with the number to double in two or three years. Inageya Co. (8182) plans to increase the number of supermarkets using the EDLP strategy by 40% in a year to 30 by next March by converting existing stores. The low-price stores cut costs by distributing fliers once a week instead of twice and by downsizing the product lineup by 30-40% to cut down on ordering and restocking work, making price reductions of 10-30% possible. Yaoko Co. (8279) also has brought the EDLP strategy to more stores, with 35, or a third of its supermarket network, offering the pricing as of Monday, up from 25 as of March 31. It intends to continue to make the shift.
(The Nikkei Nov. 3 edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The floods in Thailand are pushing up prices of some digital camera models at online retailers and consumer appliance shops in Japan, The Nikkei has learned.
Massive floods have swamped scores of factories in the Southeast Asian country, forcing Nikon Corp. (7731), Sony Corp. (6758) and other Japanese firms to suspend operations.
According to Kakaku.com Inc. (2371), which operates an online price-comparison site, Nikon's D3100 Double VR Zoom Kit digital single-lens reflex camera is currently retailing for 55,100 yen, or 19% higher than in mid-October. And the price of Nikon's D5100 model has risen 15% since early October to 83,800 yen. At one consumer appliance retailer in Tokyo, the model was recently selling for 98,800 yen, or 2% more than in early October. Sony's NEX-5N camera, meanwhile, was recently selling for 87,800 yen at one Tokyo electronics shop, up 11% from mid-October.
Many digital camera makers have been preparing to resume production, however. Nikon, for example, recently announced that it plans to rely on an alternative means of production from December.
Yet appliance retailers are becoming increasingly concerned about falling inventories, and prices could continue to rise. "We may run short on some models toward the year-end shopping season," said a staff member at one major consumer appliance retailer.
(The Nikkei Nov. 7 evening edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The outlook for Japanese TV makers is growing bleaker, as they face slack demand in rich countries and more competition from low-cost Chinese manufacturers in key emerging markets.
Sony Executive Deputy President Kazuo Hirai, center, announces the company's latest results and a new plan for its TV business at a press conference in Tokyo on Wednesday. The domestic TV market, as expected, has slumped badly with the end of the government's eco-point subsidies for energy-efficient home appliances, and a fall-off in demand following a surge in sales of digital-ready TVs before the switch to digital terrestrial broadcasting.
Meanwhile, sales are falling in the U.S. due to the economic slowdown, and in Europe, where the sovereign debt crisis is casting a shadow.
Both Sony Corp. (6758) and Panasonic Corp. (6752) have cut their global sales forecasts for the year through March 2012.
Adding to the woes of Japanese TV firms, Chinese manufacturers, armed with low-priced models, are gearing up for a big push into their most promising territory -- emerging markets. Japanese companies are running out of time to adjust their TV businesses to the stern realities of the world market.
Fuzzy picture
Sony on Wednesday announced a new plan to right its money-losing TV business, but it ratcheted down its sales forecast. Over the last two years, the company has halved its global sales target. Sony's medium-term business plan, unveiled in November 2009, had aimed for sales of 40 million TVs worldwide in the year ending March 2013.
At the beginning of the current fiscal year, Sony had hoped to sell around 27 million sets by March 2012, up 20% from the previous year. In July, it slashed the target to the 22 million range, down 2% on year. Now it is shooting for an even more modest 20 million sets, down 11%. Assuming this latest goal is reached, it would be the first-ever year-on-year decline in LCD TV unit sales for the humbled home electronics giant.
The bad news does not end there. Sony now expects its TV business to post a record operating loss of 175 billion yen for the current fiscal year, due partly to an impairment loss on equipment and additional costs of 50 billion yen. That would be the company's eighth straight full-year operating loss in its TV business.
Sony's new plan calls for bringing the TV operation back into the black in the year ending March 2014 through reductions in purchasing, sales and R&D costs, and a review of the company's product portfolio.
"We have worked out the plan by analyzing the current business environment thoroughly," said Kazuo Hirai, Sony's executive deputy president, at a news conference on Wednesday announcing the turnaround plan. "We will make company-wide efforts to make the TV business profitable. This is a goal we must achieve at any cost," he vowed.
Sony is not the only Japanese TV manufacturer that has found the going rough. Panasonic and Sharp Corp. (6753) have also pared their TV sales targets.
Toshiba Corp. (6502), which managed to keep its TV business profitable for seven straight half-year periods, lost more than 10 billion yen in the segment in April-September this year.
How low can you go?
Despite strenuous efforts, Japanese electronics makers are finding it harder and harder to turn their ailing TV businesses around. To succeed, they must deal with the radical structural changes taking place in the global TV market.
The biggest change is stagnant demand in the developed world. At home, Japanese TV makers had ample warning of collapsing demand with the end of the eco-point program and dissipation of other factors that contributed to sales growth.
The bigger blow was weaker sales in the U.S. and Europe, which had been seen as a source of growth. The European market in particular has been depressed by continuing financial turmoil in the region. U.S. market research firm DisplaySearch predicts shipments of LCD TVs in Western Europe will drop 8% in 2011. This is shaping up as the first year when shipments of sets decline on year in Japan, the U.S. and Europe simultaneously.
"The current situation is reminiscent of the 'Lehman Shock,'" said Hisakazu Torii, vice president of Japanese TV market research at DisplaySearch. "The arrival of 3-D TVs has not led to sales growth, and the market is in really bad shape."
Japanese firms are hoping to ease their suffering by ramping up sales in emerging markets. But competition is heating up in those markets as well. Sales will keep growing, but that may not turn out to be a savior for Japanese players.
The key is excess capacity in China. Many of the LCD plants being built by Chinese manufacturers will come on stream next year. These new facilities in China will add still more to the supply side and drive down LCD prices further. Japanese TV makers fear their Chinese rivals will launch a bloody price war.
These Chinese firms have their sights set on inland China and neighboring emerging markets. Their aggressive pricing is certain to be popular with huge numbers of low-income consumers in those markets, putting downward pressure on TV prices around the world.
So-called electronics manufacturing services, or contract manufacturers specializing in consumer electronics, are also expanding capacity in China, adding fuel to the fire. "The history of LCD TVs may prove to be a replay of the cathode-ray tube TV" market, said DisplaySearch's Torii.
The world's first 20-inch LCD TV, introduced in 1999 by Sharp, was priced around 350,000 yen. Now even 30-inch sets fetch only around 30,000-40,000 yen. Some low-end models with 30-inch displays are cheaper than smartphones or compact digital cameras.
The fierce price competition in the TV market is an echo of the "electronic calculator war" that raged from the late 1960s through the 1970s.
Panasonic President Fumio Ohtsubo spoke for his fellow CEOs at top Japanese electronics makers when he lamented that flat-panel TVs have become "commodities" because so many companies have rushed into the business. Technological prowess is no longer the name of the game in the TV market, said Ohtsubo.
Japanese electronics firms face a turning point in the TV business. Unless they quickly find a new magic formula, they will have to make their money elsewhere.
--Translated from an article by Nikkei staff writer Hiroshi Sagimori
(The Nikkei Business Daily Nov. 4 edition)
TOKYO (Dow Jones)--With many Japanese exporters taking a severe hit from the yen's relentless strength, Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) Tuesday reported a double-digit profit fall for the July-September quarter.
Citing an inability to gauge the impact of the flooding in Thailand on production activities worldwide, Japan's biggest car maker by volume declined to provide a full-year earnings outlook. The company posted a net profit of Y80.4 billion in the fiscal second quarter ended September, down 19% from Y98.7 billion in the same period a year earlier.
Toyota and other Japanese car makers have been waging a desperate battle to cope with the stubbornly strong yen, scrambling to cut costs and improve production. A stronger yen bites into income earned overseas and compromises the price competitiveness of vehicles made in Japan and sold abroad.
Toyota became the latest Japanese car maker to blame the foreign-exchange environment for its problems, following many local rivals who reported profit drops for the quarter ended September. With few immediate options remaining to blunt the impact of the currency's strength, discussions are growing on whether Japanese car makers should move their production bases outside the country. Toyota and other makers had been on the verge of increasing production to make up for losses after the earthquake and tsunami in March. But they are now struggling to restore disruptions caused by the flooding in Thailand.
In the July-September quarter, sales declined 4.8% to Y4.575 trillion from Y4.807 trillion, and operating profit dropped 32% to Y75.4 billion from Y111.5 billion.
For the full business year, Toyota previously called for a net profit of Y390 billion, an operating profit of Y450 billion and sales of Y19 trillion.
Toyota reports earnings under U.S. accounting standards.
(The Nikkei Nov.8 edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Midsize accounting firms are starting to band together to support small Japanese businesses that are seeking to establish overseas operations.
Small companies have been hit hard by the strong yen and this is prompting many of them to consider moving abroad.
For example, China-focused accounting consultancy Myts Co. recently set up a special office to help Japanese companies that are trying to enter Asian markets. The office will provide services in six countries -- China, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Mongolia -- and will work with six consulting firms, including I-Glocal Co., an accounting consultancy that has operations in Vietnam and Cambodia.
In addition to consulting, Myts will support companies after initial market entry, to help them in the Japanese language with accounting, taxation and labor issues.
It will also help Japanese accounting firms and regional banks to come up with plans to assist Japanese companies with their operations throughout Asia.
Myts first entered the Chinese market in 1994. It provides accounting services for Japanese companies with operations in the country.
(The Nikkei Nov. 8 evening edition)
TOKYO (Kyodo)--Leaders and ministers from the Asia-Pacific region will gather next week in Hawaii to discuss measures to enhance regional economic integration, which may become a key stage for Japan to convey its participation in talks on a Pacific free trade initiative.
Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba speaks during a debate with scholars on whether to join a U.S.-led Pacific-wide free trade zone in Tokyo Friday.
Issues related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade initiative are likely to draw attention as nine Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum member countries, currently involved in the TPP talks, aim to agree on the broad outlines of a deal by the two-day APEC summit from Nov. 12.
Japan has yet to announce whether it will join the multilateral free trade talks, but recent comments by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda suggest he prefers that Japan take part in the talks.
Political sources say the government is making final preparations for Noda to formally announce Japan's participation in the negotiations next Thursday. Following the event, Noda is expected to convey Japan's intention to join the talks to TPP negotiating countries on the sidelines of the 21-member APEC summit in Honolulu.
The APEC nations, which account for 56 percent of the world's economic output, 40 percent of its population and 49 percent of global trade, are scheduled to hold a finance ministers' meeting on Thursday and trade and foreign ministerial meeting on Friday in the run-up to the summit.
Items on the agenda at their meetings include measures to strengthen international supply chains for industrial products after their vulnerability was highlighted by the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan in March and the recent flooding in Thailand.
Having been tasked with providing leadership and intellectual input into the process to develop the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, or FTAAP, at the previous year's summit in Yokohama, the APEC forum will explore ways to address "next generation" trade and investment issues that the envisioned vast Asia-Pacific free trade area should encompass.
The TPP, which has stirred heated debate in Japan, was designated last year as a recommended undertaking, along with other regional architectures such as the ASEAN plus three and the ASEAN plus six frameworks, for the realization of a wider FTAAP.
ASEAN plus three groups Japan, China, South Korea and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and ASEAN plus six adds Australia, India, and New Zealand to the 13 countries. The United States, which chairs this year's APEC forum, is backing the TPP free trade initiative, with President Barack Obama's administration aiming to boost exports to Asia and create jobs at home.
In addition to the United States, the TPP is also being negotiated by Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
The TPP in principle calls for tariff elimination on all products. The current negotiations cover not only tariffs, non-tariff barriers and investment but also such regulatory issues as intellectual property rights, labor and government procurement.
In Japan, the issue of whether the country should join the TPP negotiations is controversial, with opponents citing concerns about an influx of cheap farm imports that could hurt domestic farmers, as well as the entry of overseas medical companies that may result in a rise in Japanese medical expenses, among other possible consequences.
But leaders of export-oriented industries are calling for Japan's early participation as they fear that not joining in the free trade negotiations could be disadvantageous in terms of tariffs and other trade measures compared with rival economies.
In addition to the trade issues, the APEC forum is also expected to explore ways to realize more environmentally friendly economic growth while boosting energy efficiency and enhancing energy security in the bloc.
APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
(The Nikkei November 5 edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The planned income tax hike to finance post-quake reconstruction will likely be kept in place for 25 years in light of a decision by the government and ruling Democratic Party of Japan to accept demands by the opposition parties to ease the public's annual tax burden.
The government and the DPJ decided to extend the maturity of the bonds to be issued to 25 years, and presented the proposal to the opposition Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito, which are expected to support it. The focus of reconstruction funding will now shift to raising the tobacco tax. The extended redemption period will prolong what was originally planned as a temporary income tax hike to serve as the core funding source for the bonds. With the latest compromise, the tax hike bills necessary to execute the reconstruction budget are likely to pass the Diet this month.
The government had originally mulled a 10-year redemption period for the bonds. But the DPJ, eager to pass the bills under a split Diet, leaned in favor of accommodating the demands of the LDP and New Komeito, which seek smaller single-year tax increases.
An income surtax, if approved, would take effect starting January 2013 and last through 2037. The longer redemption period for the reconstruction bonds would effectively reduce the annual per-capita tax increase to 40% of that under the previous 10-year plan.
For instance, a 25-year income tax hike, combined with corporate and tobacco tax surcharges, would result in a roughly 1,200 yen tax burden on households with an annual income of 5 million yen, a roughly 1,900 yen reduction from the prior plan.
But given the LDP's opposition of a cigarette tax hike, the DPJ may still consider excluding such an increase from the reconstruction taxes.
The government and the DPJ aim to pass the fiscal 2011 third supplementary budget through the Diet as early as Nov. 17, followed by the reconstruction tax bills before the end of this month.
(The Nikkei Nov. 8 morning edition)
CANNES, France (Nikkei)--Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda vowed Thursday to gradually raise the nation's consumption tax to 10% by mid the 2010s during a summit meeting of the Group of 20 leading economies in Cannes, France.
The announcement at the summit has effectively made the tax hike an international pledge, and is expected to be included in an action program due out Friday.
Noda stressed the importance of rebuilding debt-ridden Japanese finances and told G-20 leaders that fiscal consolidation is a must "for Japan to be put back on a sound economic growth path, regardless of the debt crisis in the euro zone."
He also spoke to reporters that a Diet dissolution should be carried out before implementing the tax hike. "If we go to the people in a general election (to seek a mandate on the consumption tax hike), we should do so after passing related bills but before implementing them," he said.
As to Japan's participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact, Noda told reporters he will accelerate efforts to iron out differences within the Democratic Party of Japan, which he leads. "We have to close ranks and shouldn't be split," he said.
Noda showed his flexibility in making concessions to a controversial redemption period of reconstruction bonds aimed at funding rebuilding efforts of the March 11 disaster, in hopes of enlisting support from the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito, the main opposition parties. "Our policy chief said that we envisage a 15-year period (for the redemption of reconstruction bonds), but there's room for concessions," he said.
(The Nikkei Nov. 4 evening edition)
Apparel and other marketers are finding that some families dig the twins look
Coordinating outfits and accessories is one of the fastest-growing fashion trends among families. Even among sons and fathers - and grandfathers. But the coordinated outfits stop short of screaming family uniform. Rather, the articles share a certain design flourish or color scheme.
In a somewhat tangential trend, dads and sons are now sneaking off to the game center together. The Isetan department store chain's Shinjuku, Tokyo, location debuted a new accessory line in September - bags that have a certain feature or two in common so that moms, daughters and sisters can coordinate. One series involves the same daisy embroidery and color scheme on a school bag, a backpack, a bag used for piano or other lessons, a tote for grown-ups and a preschool bag for younger girls.
It even includes a pocket-size photo album intended for pictures to be taken on the first day of school.
This series has been a big hit. When a girl entering elementary school next spring wanted a bag that matched one her little sister had, their grandma happily bought a school bag and a lesson bag for the new first-grader as well as a preschool bag for little sis. Similarly, an older girl came to the store with her mother because she liked the school bag that her younger sister got for next April - so the mom bought a matching lesson bag.
The collection's appeal to young girls and mothers is going beyond what Isetan had anticipated, a store official said, noting that customers are asking for more coordinating products.
"We released these bags on a trial basis. But we've found strong potential demand for matching goods," an Isetan buyer said.
Sharing things
Mitsukoshi's flagship department store, in the Nihombashi district of Tokyo's Chuo Ward, in September started offering a line of jeans meant for grandpas, pas and grandsons.
The store is often packed with three-generation families on weekends, with the granddads not only pushing the strollers but paying the bills. So the department store decided to start carrying more stuff meant for gramps. Two years ago, to encourage seniors to wear jeans - which old men often say are ill-fitting and uncomfortable - it launched a tailoring service. This year, it went a step further and began offering the matching jeans.
"Nobody likes to wear obviously matching outfits," a Mitsukoshi buyer said. "But with jeans, it's hard to tell. The matching denims feature the same stitching and buttons no matter what generation pulls them on. The new location of the beautiful people fashion line that opened in August in the Tokyo neighborhood of Omotesando, offers a number of jackets that can be worn by both mothers and their daughters. One cropped-sleeve jacket is a perfect trench coat for a 12-year-old girl. While its sleeves are slim, the jacket is loose fitting and has a men's wear-type silhouette so that the area where the breasts would be for an adult female covers the belly when a preteen wears it.
The brand was initially planning to go with a snug, casual look. But mothers and daughters are "sharing things these days, so we thought they could share clothes, too," designer Hidenori Kumakiri said.
Dads will be boys
Meanwhile, Lazona Kawasaki Plaza, a shopping mall in Kanagawa Prefecture, is home to a tenant with a space where 90% of the customers are father-son duos. The tenant is Namco Wonder Park Hero's Base, and the space we're talking about is occupied by a Kamen Rider game machine. The machine is surrounded by dads and sons waiting their turn.
The game centers around battles among Kamen Rider superheroes from numerous generations, and players need dedicated cards to conjure the heroes.
"There's a constant line that does not stop from the time we open the store to closing time," an arcade official said.
A 39-year-old father and his 4-year-old son started playing the game after watching "Kamen Rider Fourze," the franchise's latest television series, which began airing in September. The first "Kamen Rider" ("Masked Rider") series hit the air in 1971, and the father remembers watching "Kamen Rider V3," the franchise's second TV series, later in the 1970s.
Having collected Kamen Rider cards, which used to come with a snack, the father is into the game more than his son. But "what I'm most excited about," dad said, "is that I can play the game with my kid and we can talk about it together."
Bandai Co., which makes Kamen Rider merchandise, saw sales of related goods grow 30%, to 23 billion yen ($302.6 million), in 2010. Now Kamen Rider is the toymaker's top-selling character. Toshiro Sato is a freelance writer contributing to The Nikkei Marketing Journal.
(Nikkei Weekly Oct.31 edition)
The Office of Commercial Affairs, Royal Thai Embassy in Tokyo, Japan
Source : http://www.depthai.go.th