by carterjmrn | Oct 1, 2012 | Carter Group Viewpoints
During the two so-called ‘lost decades’ since the early 1990s, the standard of living of the average Japanese household has been maintained, and on some counts, has even increased somewhat. Japan performs favorably on several measures of well-being, and ranks close to...
by carterjmrn | Sep 21, 2012 | Carter Group Viewpoints
Even though I’ve lived in Japan for many years now, it was only a few years ago, mainly through having seen him appear on an especially creative television campaign for Sony, that I became aware of the existence of a rock star named Eikichi Yazawa. Afterwards, I...
by carterjmrn | Aug 13, 2012 | Carter Group Viewpoints
Ispend a good part of every summer these days in a small Texas Hill Country town, 13,000 some-odd miles from Tokyo. Looking out across the buttes, with deer grazing nearby, hummingbirds thrumming their wings, and the occasional armadillo scurrying through the yard, it...
by carterjmrn | Jul 21, 2012 | Carter Group Viewpoints
One of the first things that struck me when I came to Japan as a young manager was how difficult it was to get people to leave the office at anything like what seemed to me to be a normal time. As many foreign managers will attest, this tendency to hang around the...
by carterjmrn | Jul 2, 2012 | Carter Group Viewpoints
Perhaps the most important and far-ranging phenomenon to consider when marketing any product or service in Japan is the sheer power represented by the huge and growing demographic of its aging society. With the most accelerated aging trend in the entire world, Japan’s...
by carterjmrn | May 21, 2012 | Carter Group Viewpoints
Retailers of all types are having to work harder to attract and hold consumers’ attention in the “real” versus “virtual” worlds, as consumers of all ages become increasingly engaged with all things digital. But several recent retail concepts in Tokyo show the...
by carterjmrn | May 21, 2012 | Carter Group Viewpoints
I have been following with interest the prospective launch of Jetstar Japan. Jetstar, a subsidiary of Australia’s flag-carrier Qantas, is widely recognized as being one of the most successful low-cost airline start-ups in the world. The new “Jetstar family” airline,...
by carterjmrn | Apr 21, 2012 | Carter Group Viewpoints
Nowadays, it’s often said that television is a dying medium and that newer, more interactive forms of media are taking its place. This is certainly as true in Japan as it is anywhere else. But even in the world’s biggest advertising market, the US, TV still has an...
by carterjmrn | Apr 21, 2012 | Carter Group Viewpoints
Japan’s population crisis is well documented. In a country with the highest life expectancy in the world and one of the lowest birth rates, one could expect some good business opportunities in the aged care area. However, when reading there is actually a nursing home...
