by carterjmrn | Oct 1, 2012 | Carter Group Viewpoints, Society and Culture
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, Society and Culture
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, Society and Culture
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, Society and Culture
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 | Apr 21, 2012 | Carter Group Viewpoints, Society and Culture
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...
by carterjmrn | Jan 24, 2012 | Carter Group Viewpoints, Society and Culture
Coming from a land of suburban castles, it’s sometimes a little surprising for Americans to see the relative lack of focus Japanese place on their homes as a form of self-expression. While it would not be uncommon for ordinary home owners in western countries to spend...
