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Japan is recognized as a major competitor in world markets but is less well-known as an attractive market in its own right. This paper proposes that with the right strategies it is possible to successfully penetrate the difficult Japanese market. Problems and opportunities presented by the market are discussed, and some of the findings of a survey of Japanese and German mangers in Japan and German-based managers are reviewed. The paper covers the survey findings on market characteristics, barriers to entry, information requirements, factors contributing to success and methods of market entry. German and UK sources of information and advice on the Japanese market are given for those interested in pursuing the matter further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows that competition policy, rather than industrial policy, generated the rapid economic growth in post-war Japan. It also reveals that Japan’s growth rate was lowered from the mid-1970s due to newly introduced industrial policies and paucity of further competition policy. The current Abe government recognises the need for competition policies in Japan to recover from the low-growth period. The paper describes the types of competition policy carried out under Abenomics, especially in National Strategic Special Zones.Abbreviations:METI: Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry NSSZ: National Strategic Special Zones [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) is the international division of Japan Tobacco Incorporated, and the world’s third largest transnational tobacco company. Founded in 1999, JTI’s rapid growth has been the result of a global business strategy that potentially serves as a model for other Asian tobacco companies. This paper analyses Japan Tobacco Incorporated’s global expansion since the 1980s in response to market opening, foreign competition, and declining share of a contracting domestic market. Key features of its global strategy include the on-going central role and investment by the Japanese government, and an expansion agenda based on mergers and acquisitions. The paper also discusses the challenges this global business strategy poses for global tobacco control and public health. This paper is part of the special issue ‘The Emergence of Asian Tobacco Companies: Implications for Global Health Governance’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The concept of 'lifelong learning' or shōgai gakushu has rapidly become one of the topmost priorities in Japan's education policy agenda. This was considerably evident in December 2006 when the term 'lifelong learning' was added to Japan's educational charter, the Fundamental Law of Education. This paper explores, as a means to develop Japan's new lifelong learning policy, the lessons that can be learnt through an examination of the European countries' efforts to build a knowledge economy, where lifelong learning is regarded as the key solution in overcoming several important social and economic concerns. In this paper, I first examine the current situation of lifelong learning in Japan, employing the ethnographic data that I have collected since 2001. Second, I provide a brief review of the European lifelong learning policy, which is one of the priority guidelines in the European Union. Under the Lisbon Strategy, for example, the argument on European lifelong learning theoretically centres on developing human capital in order to survive in the global knowledge economy. Lastly, referring to the European experience over the past decade, I propose to directly connect Japan's latest policy development regarding lifelong learning with the trend of building human capital through lifelong learning in order to enhance its competitiveness in the era of globalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is founded upon the existing and prevalent quality function deployment (QFD) methodology. QFD provides a way to ensure customer needs; and expectations are addressed from concept to delivery. In conventional implementation of QFD, after the preparation of horizontal (i.e., customer table) and vertical (i.e., technical table), further analysis is usually done empirically and ignores the correlation triangle values of customer requirements and engineering characteristics. Limited resources, increased market competition and product complexity however demand more optimal solutions. A new approach is proposed to address the lacunas due to uncertainty and lack of quantitative methods and tools. The paper attempts to provide a ready reckoner and reference to all the followers and enthusiasts of QFD. This paper presents a mathematical solution in the form of a structured framework using correlation triangle values in conjunction with computed raw weights for customer requirements and priority scores for engineering characteristics. The development and mechanics of QFD model is discussed and quantification of findings is presented as a basis for model and this is followed by comprehensive matrix analysis. The outcome of the study is a comprehensive solution which discusses the underlying concepts, requisite steps, information needed, computations involved and post-matrix analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the evolution of competition in the Japanese tyre market from 1976 to 2010 (35 years). An innovative measure of competition developed by Jan Boone is employed, as well as traditional competition indices and price–cost margin regressions, using accounting data at the firm level. Traditional indicators such as the concentration ratio and Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI) suggest a very high market concentration. However, regressions using the two Boone measures and price–cost margin suggest that some competitive behavior in the Japanese tyre industry exists. By introducing dummy variables for the Sumitomo–Ohtsu merger and antimonopoly action by the Japan Fair Trade Commission, the Boone-style regressions also suggest that the merger had no impact, but the cartel breakup did have a statistically significant (p < 0.1) impact on firm’s profitability in this oligopolistic market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes an analysis of Japan's maritime cluster in terms of how it has been developed and whether it has a sound basis at present; and, further, what kind of institutional framework serves as a catalyst agent for cooperation among the cluster members and their workers. Versatility for applying the same to other countries will also be evaluated. In the former part of this paper, measurement of Japanese maritime cluster is attempted. The latter part gives consideration of its characteristics and the factors that unite the people who are engaged in the cooperation among the cluster members. Methodology mainly relied on individual interviews and direct observations within the industries. The research result shows that Japan's maritime cluster has a substantial size and is competitive with sustainability. The observation of cluster management method has revealed that: (1) at the initial stage of cluster formation, a strong government support for incubating each industry is necessary; (2) business networking, especially long-term relationship between firms and support from financial institutions, is essential; and (3) human resource management based on the long-term co-working spirit is vital. This result gives clues for maritime policy formation for cluster development in the countries to follow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interpretation and implementation of ideas about the internationalisation of curricula (IoC) are complicated and multi-faceted. The complex and diverse perspectives on IoC reflect two concepts: ‘internationalisation’ and ‘curriculum’. These concepts embody contrasting perspectives on issues, including the competition-type and cooperation-type approaches to internationalisation, as well as the product and process curriculum models. These two approaches or models tend to go hand in hand while in a state of tension. The aim of this paper is to promote a detailed understanding of IoC through forming a conceptual framework for IoC. This framework proposes four patterns of IoC by linking the two approaches and the two models, and is examined using case studies of two types of Japanese universities. Finally, two assumptions are made for future research and development in the practice of IoC beyond Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Western European nations, along with the USA and Japan, have been recognised as the world's most competitive economies. Eastern European nations have generally been considered to lag. This paper explores whether these descriptions remain accurate and the prospects for change over the coming decade. The Georgia Tech 'High Tech Indicators' (HTI) contribute to the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Science & Engineering Indicators. We cover 33 highly developed and rapidly industrialising countries. Our model of technological competitiveness contains four components - National Orientation, Socioeconomic Infrastructure, Technological Infrastructure, and Productive Capacity - contributing to 'Technological Standing.' We present indicator values, derived from survey and statistical panel data, for 13 European nations (plus the USA as a benchmark), for 1993-2005, and draw inferences about future high tech competitiveness. We see limited technological progress of the Eastern European nations. European prospects appear somewhat uncertain given the dramatic competitive thrusts from Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1990s, Japanese semiconductor manufacturers lost international competitiveness, failing to maintain their technological leadership. Their innovative dynamics in the old techno-governance structure based on vertical intra- and inter-firm cooperation faced limitations; they became entrapped in a DRAM-based technological trajectory. Faced by disrupting contingencies, how did they change relations with firm- and technology-related actors in ways sufficient to develop a new techno-governance structure? Through their micro-level strategies they shifted from vertical intra- and inter-firm relations to horizontal ones, while through their macro-level strategies they developed coordinating mechanisms with technology-related actors in order to consolidate innovative capability for developing the system LSI. These strategies resulted in a complex mix of modularized-product-based competition and cooperation in addition to reviving collective projects, some running even without government subsidy. Such developments, though characterized as new, remain an extension of the Japanese institutional inheritance; namely, an emphasis on a strategic mix of cooperation and competition, but with a revised understanding of cooperation. Thus, this paper analyzes how institutions restrict innovative dynamics through techno-governance structure, while they also transform path-dependently as actors struggle to develop a new structure to cope with threatening contingencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how coopetition affects the level of investment in Japanese insurance companies. This investment has two types of effects: one is the "spillover effect" arising from an insurance firm's benefit from the effect of rivals' investments regardless of its own investments, and the other is the "demand-changing effect" arising from change to potential demand. The study uses the case of the Japanese insurance market, where insurance firms coopitate by investing cooperatively through an insurance association to lower the accident probability of the insured, and by selling insurance policies competitively to increase their own profit. The study's conclusion is that each insurance firm tends to choose underinvestment when the spillover effect is relatively large and when the demand-changing effect is nonnegative. In this case, achieving a coopetitive insurance market through the insurance association creates more value in the investment stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores certain characteristics of Japanese professional business services (PBS). The aim is to develop an analytical typology consisting of the three dimensions - organizational linkage, service market, and competitive situation - for analysing the obtained empirical data. This typology has been developed in order to increase the understanding of how Japanese companies operate within this sector and also to examine the reasons behind the fact that Japanese business services seem to be marginalized in an international context. This typology could serve as a theoretical frame for comparing Japanese companies with western companies in future research. This research is based on empirical material collected in Japan in the spring of 2001, covering research institutes, general trading houses and insurance companies. Using the constructed analytical typology, the findings reveal that strong organizational linkages have generated a business service market where diversification of service supply within companies is common. However, there are strong indications of a changing business environment with increased competition and further specialization among business service firms. Furthermore, the findings indicate that Japanese companies have difficulties competing with highly-specialized and reputable western business service firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the theoretical and empirical reasons why Japan leads the world in adoption of ISO 14001, while the US lags, and the comparative effect of ISO 14001 on environmental performance of adopters in both countries. Findings suggest that institutional barriers to adoption are much higher in the adversarial policy climate of the us than in the more reciprocal policy climate of Japan. Expected benefits of adoption are lower than the reported realisation, and this finding is significant for some categories such as competitive market advantage and relationships with regulators. Findings regarding the effect of ISO on environmental performance are mixed, but generally point to a relatively limited effect We conclude that, even if ISO 14001 has a moderate effect on firm environmental action, the structural barriers in the US generally limit the viability of these types of voluntary policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate whether the relationship between competition and risk varies across different types of Japanese banks over the period 2000–2009. The results of our empirical investigation show that risk varies across bank types. Specifically, nationwide (City and Trust) banks are riskier on average than their counterparts (Regional, Tier 2 Regional, Shinkin and Credit Cooperative banks) with a regional focus. The relationship between competition and risk also varies across bank types based on different initial levels of risk. Increasing competition appears to reduce the risk of (City) banks with higher initial levels of risk, but increase the risk of their (Regional, Tier 2 Regional, Shinkin and Credit Cooperative) counterparts with lower initial levels of risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces a series of articles on the ecology of conifer plantations in Japan. The papers were presented at the session titled "The Ecology of Conifer Plantations" during the 115th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Forestry Society on April 3, 2004. The plantation-based forest industry faces difficulty due to increasing competition from cheaper imported timber and the intensiveness of local forest management. In order to acquire more timber, plantations are planning to do ecological and other functions such as conserving biodiversity and protecting water supply structures. The authors point some of the need to achieve development in plantations including retaining trees, maintaining of biodiversity and interrelationships in aiming management objectives.

Background: Drug price setting is one of the key challenges faced by the Japanese health care system. This study aims to identify the determinants of drug price in Japan using the example of the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment market.Research Design and Methods: In order to compare prices across different products, we calculated prices per defined daily dose using WHO methodology. Price determinants were calculated both at launch and over time using IMS quarterly data on medicines approved for RA treatment in Japan from 2012 to 2015. Pharmaceutical pricing was modeled as a function of clinical and economic variables using regression analysis.Results: For prices at the launch we found that differences in efficacy are not reflected in price differentials. We also report that the number of products within a molecule class had a negative effect on prices while originator drugs maintained higher prices.Conclusion: Although the existing pricing rules in Japan are very comprehensive they do not necessarily capture differences in product characteristics. The findings here support the notion that competitive forces are weak in highly regulated markets such as Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sheds light on the operation of Japanese competition policy by focusing on a public procurement bid-rigging case in the construction industry. The analysis demonstrates a firm-entry effect on the construction market and shows that the bidding and winning price levels before an investigation by the Japan Fair Trade Commission were higher than they were after the investigation. According to these results, price levels in the bid-rigging period were approximately 6% higher than with competition, and the result is statistically significant. Firm entry is associated with an approximate 2% price reduction, an effect that comes from introducing competition into a coordinated setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the acquisition and application of new cotton spinning technologies in Japan in the early Meiji period, and the ways in which this knowledge helped to mobilise existing resources of human and financial capital. It focusses on the early development of three pioneering firms, the Hirano, Amagasaki and Settsu companies, all of which after 1918 became part of Dainihon Spinning, one of the ‘Big Three’ textile firms of prewar Japan. By looking at the ways in which these companies diffused technical and other expertise, secured finance, and addressed the problems that had confounded earlier initiatives, it shows how technological knowhow from outside the Osaka region was a key factor that enabled the mobilisation of the capital and expertise of business and personal networks in Kansai, and in the process rebuilt the region's traditional predominance in cotton production, laying the foundations for the industry's global competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the Japanese response in terms of innovation capacity and entrepreneurship enhancement under the ever-changing economic environment. Particular focus would go to the interactions among government, industry and universities in the national innovation system at a macro level, and entrepreneurship education at the institutional level. Several key universities were selected for discussion. This article argues that under the urge to supplement the internal research and development capacity of Japanese industry and maintain competitiveness, internationalisation efforts through the strong collaboration among government, universities and industry are essential to further the development of national innovation and entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Coexisting with a powerful and assertive China as a neighbour is a new experience for modern Japan that has long considered itself the only powerful state in east Asia. Interacting with China under this new condition has brought out multiple and competing conceptions of China as it means to Japan. China is an historical rival, a security concern, an indispensable trading partner, an economic competitor and a regional power with competing as well as common interests all at the same time. Japan also sees images of its past self in the pattern of China's rapid development. These ideas of China act both positively and negatively in how Japan conceives and manages its relationship with China, but they also reflect Japan's lack of confidence and shaken sense of history, identity and place in the world. In order to find a way to meaningfully engage with China, Japan needs to recognize its own identity and strength objectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relationship between the strategic role of a multinational corporation's (MNC) foreign affiliates and its international staffing policy. Specifically, this study examines how an MNC's decision on expatriation is affected by strategic roles assigned to foreign affiliates: global integration of activities versus local market seeking. An empirical study is conducted using a sample of 808 foreign affiliates of Japanese firms. The research findings suggest that strategic roles of foreign affiliates alone may not adequately explain the international staffing policies of Japanese MNCs. Rather, we found a significant moderating effect of international as well as host country experience on staffing practices for foreign affiliates. While the staffing policies of MNCs striving for improving global efficiency of their operation are moderated by both international and host country experience, those seeking a specific local market position are influenced only by host country experience. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

General theories of electoral competition often assume that parties are 'strategic' - that parties pick their battles and pragmatically abandon unpromising districts. But most parties in district-based electoral systems contradict this assumption, running candidates nearly everywhere, with little apparent regard for their prospects. This gap between theory and practice has yet to receive focused attention. This article examines elections in Canada, Great Britain, Jamaica, the USA, and Japan to answer two basic-research questions: How prevalent is strategic electoral entry (in established democracies with simple-plurality or single non-transferable vote elections)? And how does one measure strategic entry in the first place? Although strategicness does vary somewhat across and within party systems, non-strategic entry proves most common. These results invite further research on why strategicness varies and how this variation shapes party system development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese multinational enterprises have traditionally been criticized for lagging behind Western companies in the localization of management practices, especially at managerial level. This has been ascribed to Japanese MNEs initiating offshore activities later than Western counterparts. Such reasoning cannot be applied to the case of China, where the 'starting line' was almost the same for all foreign firms. Drawing on case study evidence of Japanese firms in China, this study offers an alternate explanation for the lag in localization in respect of production methods and work style, and identifies a number of possible solutions for Japanese MNEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Japanese government policy to educate Japanese youth with English language. It says that in 2003, the Japanese government announces its plan to implement the learning of English language among the youth. It mentions that the government aims the Japanese youth to speak and use the English language as an official language in the workplace. It cites that the government strategic plan is likely to receive contradiction because of Japan's cultural independence and the reality that Japan already has a competitive international market.

This article examines the role of keiretsu (i.e. business group) affiliation on the risk-taking of Japanese firms. We find that total risk, measured by firm-level stock price volatility, is not significantly affected by keiretsu membership. The reason is that affiliated firms are characterized by lower idiosyncratic risk along with higher systematic risk. However, idiosyncratic risk varies across business groups and appears to depend upon the firm's inclination towards its group. In contrast, the higher systematic risk of group affiliates is significant for each keiretsu and every degree of group inclination. Moreover, this result remains after adjusting risk for firm characteristics and industry effects. Hence, the consequence of group affiliation may more accurately be described by higher systematic risk. This result could reflect the weaker competitive position of keiretsu affiliates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 1980s, a widespread belief that the Japanese economy was outperforming that of the US led to a search for causes. Perhaps top on the list was a view that the Japanese had rejected the US model of private market competition, substituting for it the use of very large horizontal and vertical cooperatives, known as keiretsu. These keiretsu were thought to follow the instruction of main banks and the Japanese government rather than their own entrepreneurial insight. Miwa and Ramseyer's book (2006) sets out a detailed case against all of these claims. While the argument about the role of the keiretsu is significant, perhaps more important is the authors' explanation of why the 'fable' was thought real by academics as well as the policy and business community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For all its success in other high-technology sectors, Japan has largely failed to develop a strong aerospace sector. Its leading firms do not market finished aircraft and, in stark contrast to other sectors, the aerospace industry features a trade deficit with the United States. Japanese firms seem trapped as suppliers of components and sub-assemblies, mainly for the US industry. The general explanation for this state of affairs is that the Japanese industry has been effectively 'captured' by the United States; Boeing in particular dominates the sector and has effectively locked the Japanese firms into a relationship where moving up the value chain is difficult. This relationship may be changing. Japan's government has placed renewed emphasis on developing Japan's aerospace sector, while matters are evolving at the corporate level too, with Boeing's relations with Japan revealing a steadily increasing work share for the Japanese industry. The rise of Asia as an important market, and technological change making aerospace more like other manufacturing industries, presents Japanese firms with new incentives and opportunities beyond the US relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan's Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Singapore is the very first it has forged with any country. Tokyo has at least two motivations: to avoid losing out to Beijing strategically and economically as the Chinese seek to forge an FTA with the Southeast Asian countries, and using Singapore (which lacks an agricultural sector) as the thin end of the wedge to push for FTAs with other countries. Japanese and Chinese competition to clinch and implement FTAs in Southeast Asia may well lead to a nascent East Asian regionalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses Japan's global financial “brand.” It first examines the concept of a national “brand” and the difficulties associated with creating a desirable image of a country among outsiders. It adopts an instrumental concept of branding, which focuses on the behavior that the national image should elicit from foreign countries. It also notes that effective branding must accurately reflect reality. For Japan, the goal should be to promote economic cooperation where mutual interests exist. Efforts should be focused on East Asia, where mutual economic interests are least fully realized, and where Japan's national image appears to be an important stumbling block. Japan should seek to demonstrate the potential for transition to a “post-developmental” financial model and to be the “indispensable partner” for regional cooperative and development initiatives. This will require continued progress in cleaning up and improving the competitiveness of Japan's financial institutions and financial system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Japanese financial system once followed such a meticulously detailed set of regulations that it was described as a ‘convoy system.’ As a result of both major and minor structural reform efforts undertaken in the 1990s, however, it is now characterized by a principle of competition rather than regulation. This is a result not only of the liberalization efforts that have been under way since the late 1980s but also of the regulatory developments that have been undertaken to ensure that the stability of the entire financial system will not be threatened by the bank failures that will inevitably result from competition. In spite of these regulatory reforms, however, the banking market does not seem to be sufficiently competitive from the borrower's perspective. This may be because the problem of information asymmetries inherent in lending hinders the full functioning of competition. Under these circumstances, it may be that transaction mechanisms need to be developed to solve the problem of asymmetric information. Covenant loans, which have recently grown in popularity, may be one such mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on vocational education and training policies in Japan which have contributed to the economic progress of the country after World War II. The obsession of the Japanese with education is manifested in its competitive educational system. About 93% of the students complete secondary school education. Japan also a high degree of centralised control of the educational system. The government is involved in the setup of a framework of industrial training and development, based on the national economic goals.