Welcome to the twelfth edition of BizCast Japan. In this edition of the program, co-hosts Albrecht Stahmer and Ken Worsley start off by discussing tourism to Japan. In 2007, Japan saw a record 8.3 million international tourists. This figure has been increasing each year, and the discussion focuses on what Japan is doing to attract more tourists, as well as the reasons why Japan still draws fewer tourists per year than regional rivals such as Singapore.

From there, the discussion moves to a new plan that the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has proposed that would provide subsidies to companies that switch part-time workers to full-time workers. The government is working towards having more workers enrolled in the national pension system, and the reasons why this particular plan will not work are discussed.

After that, Panasonic, Sony, and Blu-Ray are discussed. With Wal-Mart announcing plans to stock Blu-Ray and not rival HD DVD players, the battle between Blu-Ray and HD DVD effectively seems to be over. In fact, just hours after this show was recorded, Toshiba announced that it would give up on HD DVD development.

The next part of the show focuses on capital injections. Wal-Mart, Seiyu and JAL are discussed, and Wal-Mart’s plans for Seiyu are put under the spotlight. Finally, the show ends with a discussion on increasing wheat prices. The Ministry of Agriculture is set to raise prices on imported wheat by 30%, and the consequences of this decisions are examined.

As always, thank you for listening. We hope to be back with our next release very soon!

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 BizCast Japan #12: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

BizCast Japan is back with its first release of 2008. For the new year, co-hosts Albrecht Stahmer and Ken Worsley have developed a new format for the show, which will now focus on industries rather than specific new items. This should mean that it’s impossible for the show to get off topic!

This edition of the show begins with a short discussion on news in the automotive industry, especially concerning the battle between Toyota and General Motors for global domination. From there, the discussion turns to the services sector and recent developments concerning G.communications, who have taken over part of the former Nova language school business. Is G.communications heading down a path toward disaster?

After that, the finance sector is discussed, and our co-hosts consider the question, “Are Japanese banks back?” This is discussed in the context of recent news that Mizuho has taken a $1.2 billion stake in US investment bank Merrill Lynch. Given that this is the first such big move by a Japanese bank since the bursting of the bubble, what might this mean for the future?

That leads to a brief discussion of internet trends, blogging in Japan and online advertising. From there, energy and agriculture are discussed, and the effects of inflation are considered.

Real estate remains a favorite topic of the show, and data from both the commercial and residential sectors are considered in the next part of the program. Finally, in the Focus Issue, consumer electronics is discussed. Some of the names that come up are NTT DoCoMo, Google, Disney, Sony, Apple, Nintendo and Panasonic.

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 BizCast #11: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

It’s the end of the year, and nothing could sum up Japan’s biggest business stories of 2007 better than sorting them into a top ten list - except for sorting them into a top seven list and discussing them here on BizCast.

Along with a few honorable mentions, co-hosts Albrecht Stahmer and Ken Worsley discuss Krispy Kreme, Nintendo’s domination of the video game market, Burger King, Fast Retailing’s failed bid for Barney’s, the collapse in housing starts, WiMax, Toyota outselling General Motors in the first quarter of 2007, Japan’s demographic crunch, bad fiscal policy, Nova’s bankruptcy, corporate governance, scandals in the food industry, Steel Partners, J-SOX, the widening gap between income in urban and rural Japan, the Mega Mac, Triangular Mergers, the increase in land prices, Sony’s new war chest, and Scott Callon’s shareholder revolt.

Which made the top 7 of ‘07? You’ll have to listen to find out. This special double release clocks in just under 70 minutes.

Alby and Ken would like to express many thanks to everyone who has listened to the first ten episodes of BizCast Japan this year. We’ll be back again in January, and we’re sure the business news will stay just as exciting to follow, analyze and discuss.

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 BizCast #10: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

BizCast Japan is back with its ninth release. In this edition of the program, co-hosts Albrecht Stahmer and Ken Worsley start off by taking a look at the new marketing campaign launched in North America by Toto, Japan’s (and the world’s) largest manufacturer of toilets. After that, the discussion moves to a look at Muji and Uniqlo, two Japanese brands that are continuing their attempts to move into markets outside Japan. What can these two brands to to build synergy and market share in the US?

The third headline takes a look at mobile carriers DoCoMo and AU, who were recently warned by the Fair Trade Commission over misleading advertising practices. This leads into a discussion of the government’s role in regulation, and the problems caused by recent changes in construction regulations that have led to a huge drop in housing and condo construction.

In the Quick Picks, Albrecht elects to discuss the IPO of Sony Financial last month and speculates on what strategic direction Sony might take in the video game, television and personal music player markets.

For his Quick Pick, Ken brings up the issue of fingerprinting and photographing foreigners coming into Japan from this week. What sort of effects might this have on the business world? has the Japanese government contributed to making Hong Kong and Singapore even more attractive places to do business?

The Focus Issue, and final twenty minutes of this edition of BizCast Japan, are devoted to the English language teaching industry in Japan, which has been all over the news over the past few months. With industry leader Nova finally declaring bankruptcy on October 26, what will come of this market? Albrecht and Ken look at the direction of the industry and analyze the structural factors that led to the seeding and growth of the industry, and the reasons why those structural factors are now gone.

As always, thank you for listening.

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 BizCast #9: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

After a longer time off that expected, co-hosts Albrecht Stahmer and Ken Worsley are back with the eighth edition of BizCast Japan. This edition of the show covers the following topics:

The Headlines section begins with a discussion of the situation with Wal-Mart and Seiyu. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, has announced that it will make Seiyu a wholly owned subsidiary. At the same time, Seiyu has been showing losses for the past six years, is downsizing its staff, and holds about 325 billion yen of interest-bearing liabilities on its balance sheet.

After that, Albrecht gives his take on Wi-Max, and the discussion turns to whether or not Japan will become more friendly for those folks who want wireless internet access in public places. After that, Morgan Stanley’s announcement that it will form a holding company in Japan leads to a short discussion on land prices in Japan, which have been rising quickly in many urban centers.

Finally, the situation surrounding embattled English language school operator Nova is briefly discussed. This is one issue that promises to come up again, and so the discussion here is kept brief.

In the Quick Picks, Albrecht chooses to discuss December’s impending taxi rate hikes. Ken elects to return to the issue of corprate governance, whistleblowers, and another breakout of food scandals.

Finally, the Focus Issue begins with a discussion of Jim Press, who just a few months ago became the first non-Japanese to be named to the board of directors at Toyota. Just a few short months later, Press has left and joined Chrysler, which is now under the control of US Private Equity fund Cerberus Capital Management. What does this all mean for the Japanese auto market, now that we are on the eve of the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show?

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 BizCast #8: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

BizCast is back from summer break and ready to tackle a host of issues. Co-hosts Albrecht Stahmer and Ken Worsley begin their review of recent headlines by discussing the ongoing battle between Toyota and General Motors and consider how these firms’ strategies are translating into profit.

From there, the discussion moves on to the news that Abercrombie & Fitch intends to move into the Japanese market sometime in 2009. We have heard similar announcements from foreign retail brands such as H&M, and we consider what seems to be a pre-launch marketing campaign that A&F appears to be waging on the streets of Tokyo.

After that, it’s on to condo prices. This week, we learned from the Real Estate Economic Institute that Tokyo condo prices have risen 12.6% against last year to a 15 year high. At the same time, Tokyo condo sales were down 10% in July, and in Osaka they fell 22.6%.

Then we move on to news that the Ministry of Trade, Economy and Industry has suspended sales operations at the Venus chain of beauty salons. Albrecht and Ken discuss the similarities that this case has to what has happened with English school Nova, and discuss METI’s ongoing attempts to stand up to firms that show a blatant disregard for consumer rights. Finally, some predictions are made concerning how long Nova will last.

In the Quick Picks section, Ken chooses to discuss the escalation of price wars in the mobile phone industry, and Albrecht elects to focus on Uniqlo’s failed bid for Barneys New York.

Finally, in the Focus Issue, we take a look at the Japanese workplace and how changes there have been portrayed in the media. In particular, a recent Time magazine piece entitled Relax, Japan — the Company’s Buying is discussed. We discuss why the foreign media is often wrong in its assessment of corporate Japan, and how the reality often differs from what is reported outside Japan.

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 BizCast #7: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This edition of BizCast Japan returns to our full discussions format, with headlines, two quick picks and a focus issue.

In the headlines portion of the program, Albrecht Stahmer and Ken Worsley discuss the reported 1 trillion yen being currently spent by Japan’s five large real estate developers on current projects, issues surrounding Steel Partners and other investment funds in Japan, media portrayals of investment funds, the poor performance of domestic car sales in Japan, a new scandal surrounding the Goodwill Group, and a bit on corporate social responsibility in Japan.

For his quick pick, Albrecht elects to discuss the recent success of Billy Blanks, the founder of Tae Bo, and his “Billy’s Boot Camp” series of fitness videos, which have sold over 500,000 copies so far in Japan. We discuss how Billy’s Boot Camp has fulfilled the first half of the “New markets, new products” equation, and wonder if some strategic brand-stretching might be able to keep the trend alive in a market with a notoriously short attention span.

For his quick pick, Ken decides to discuss a recent government white paper that claims better use of IT in Japan’s workplaces could lead to an increase of around 1% in GDP. The report also chastises Japan’s IT firms for being so inward looking and focused solely on the domestic market, and increasingly unable to complete in the global marketplace.

For our focus issue, we discuss the bid to acquire the Barneys New York by Fast Retailing, the parent company of Uniqlo. How does this move fit in with Uniqlo’s existing portfolio? We discuss the issues surrounding this potential move, and what may be motivating Fast Retailing to make this move at this time.

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 BizCast Japan #6: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

With Seijigiri getting this week off, BizCast #5 is out a week early. In this edition, we have our first ever interview, with Brett Nelson, who has co-founded two hedge fund groups in Japan and joins us to give some insight into how the industry is run, what’s involved in setting up a hedge fund in Japan, and what we should expect from them in the future.

We start with four headlines, first discussing You Tube’s recent unfurling of a Japanese language version of its website. We barely scratch the surface here, and there are many side issues left to discuss in the future. We then move on to a quick look at McDonald’s Japan’s recent decision to raise prices in urban areas and cut them in the countryside.

After that, we discuss the 210 companies which, at their upcoming annual shareholder’s meetings, are expected to vote on whether or not to adopt anti-takeover measures. That leads into a short mention of the Urban Renaissance Headquarters, which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe finally discussed publicly on Tuesday.

After that, we spend twenty minutes discussing hedge funds in Japan with Brett Nelson. We talk about what hedge funds do in Japan, how their operations are limited, what’s involved in setting one up, and much more.

Thanks to Brett for coming on to talk to us, and we hope to have you back on the show in the future.

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 BizCast Japan #5: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

It’s time again to talk about Japan’s business scene. Albrecht Stahmer and Ken Worsley are back on the biweekly schedule and have a full plate of issues to discuss in the Headlines-Quick Picks-Focus Issue format:

Headlines

We start with the breaking news that the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is ordering English language school giant NOVA to suspend sales of any long-term contracts over the next six months. This is something that has been much discussed, and we look