by carterjmrn | Oct 16, 2015 | Carter Group Viewpoints
Anyone paying attention to the stock market over the past six months will have borne witness to the incredible run up of the price of electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors, Inc. Back in March the stock was trading in the mid thirties, but had reached almost $170 by...
by carterjmrn | Sep 16, 2015 | Carter Group Viewpoints
Many a time, it has been said that Japan likes to do things its own way. And nowhere is this truer than in the music business. In the past decade in Western markets we have witnessed an almost complete transformation in the landscape of the music industry. Starting...
by carterjmrn | Jul 10, 2014 | Carter Group Viewpoints
Having spent the past 28 years observing the Japanese market and its trials and tribulations, I am always amused by the “is Japan back” question, which I have heard on a number of occasions over the years. Did anyone really ever think that Japan had gone “somewhere...
by carterjmrn | Jun 26, 2014 | Carter Group Viewpoints
After years of reporting on a Japanese consumer in retreat, we believe we are starting to see a sea change. Even in recent weeks, the tone of our conversations with people around us has become much more positive. The cautiously optimistic are turning into the simply...
by carterjmrn | Feb 14, 2014 | Carter Group Viewpoints
The beginning of 2014 marks the end of my fifteenth year in Japan. That’s more than enough time in one place for any self-respecting expat so, on visits back home, despairing friends and relatives will often ask what on earth I’m still doing here. I just point to my...
by carterjmrn | Jun 27, 2013 | Carter Group Viewpoints
Those of us who have lived in Japan for some time will often marvel at how quickly and definitely the seasons change. One day it’s winter and the next it’s spring — such is the speed with which the seemingly entrenched weather pattern can change. So also it seems with...
by carterjmrn | Jun 24, 2013 | Carter Group Viewpoints
On a recent business trip to Singapore I was taken aback when told by someone well connected in the American business community there, “Japan? Oh that’s just a niche market, nobody’s that interested in it anymore”. What a wake up call for anyone who has devoted his...
by carterjmrn | Nov 24, 2012 | Carter Group Viewpoints
There’s no polite way of saying it. It seems to me lately that Japan is turning into a nation of cheapskates. But, truth be told, Japanese have always adopted a defensive stance when it comes to spending money. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to...
by carterjmrn | Nov 24, 2012 | Carter Group Viewpoints
At the beginning of 2011 The New York Times wrote a piece with a headline “Facebook Wins Relatively Few Friends in Japan.” At the time, it seemed like Facebook had failed to ignite anything like the kind of addictive behaviour it had everywhere else in the developed...
