[:en]Kickstarter and Pebble Watch Success: Could this Work in Japan?[:ja]キックスターターとスマートウォッチ「ペブル」の成功例：果たして日本でも通用するか[:]
[:en]Some months back I spent around one hundred dollars for a watch that I had never seen, that did not yet exist, to be made and delivered by a bunch of people I had never heard of. Sound crazy? Well, I wasn’t alone. Over 69,000 people decided to do the same thing. That is the story of the Pebble smartwatch for which over $10 million dollars was raised through Kickstarter crowd funding, a record amount. (I read that the original funding target had been $100,000!) I received my Pebble last week, and I have to say I think it is a beautiful product, and very cool with its connectivity with […]
[:en]‘Project 45’ transformed into ‘Project 10’[:ja]プロジェクト４５からプロジェクト１０へ[:]
[:en]Currently ranked at number 11, Kei Nishikori is poised to become the first Japanese tennis player to enter the top 10 in the world. Prior to Nishikori, no Japanese tennis player had ranked higher than 46. So for a while, Kei had a much hyped goal to beat that record dubbed ‘Project 46.’ Now ‘Project 46’ has become ‘Project 10.’ Kei Nishikori recalls ‘Project 45’ as being “no pressure” for himself, as if playing tennis had been “just a hobby.” Not so for Project 10.‘ And what comes after ‘Project 10?’ `Perhaps ‘Project 1?’ In business, we set lofty goals for ourselves and our companies, and often achieve them. But […]
[:en]Abenomics and the ‘Honne’ and ‘Tatemae’ of Growth and Change[:ja]アベノミクスと成長・変化にまつわる本音と建前[:]
[:en]The recent Upper House elections resulted in a resounding victory for the Liberal Democratic Party, and is ostensibly a mandate of support for Abenomics. The question remains whether Prime Minister Abe will use this political capital to implement the real change that Japan so desperately needs. So far what we have seen is a recycling of what made Japan, Inc. successful in the past–a low Japanese yen to help spur exports and government spending to support the domestic economy. However, Abe seems reluctant to take on real reform to support economic growth that would require uncomfortable changes in attitude and practices. Such reforms include liberalizing the agricultural sector, bringing more […]
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