Terrie's Take

http://www.furnished-apartment-tokyo.com/

Prime Minister Abe may be embarking on an interesting new (for Japan) tax strategy, especially if you're a company shareholder. It appears that he is putting into place the building blocks needed to start making fundamental changes the country's tax code -- particularly in allowing corporations to keep more of their recent profits, in the hope that this will parlay into more R&D and capital investment, and thus even greater taxable revenues in coming years.

Has Abe discovered Adam Smith and supply-side economics?

It appears that Abe's team believes that lowering taxes will sustain a virtuous cycle of growth and prosperity. We tend to agree with them, but we wonder if the policy change won't be politically risky in egalitarian Japan, where everyone wants the fat cats to be taxed into equality.

Although Japan is nominally a capitalist democracy, in fact it has been run for the last 50 years by bureaucrats who are obsessed with having the State control and retain the nation's wealth. Indeed, their activities make Japan look more socialist than countries whose stated political system is socialism.

Among the bureacratic organizations involved in the control game, top of the list is the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
This ministry has had almost mythical control over the yearly budgets to other ministries, and thus reputedly can influence the decision-making of those other ministries.
Whether true or not, the heads of MOF appear to believe the only way to bring Japan back into fiscal balance is to tax at every given opportunity and make people suffer for the nation's excesses in the 1990's. While this sense of "taking your medicine" may make someone in MOF feel better, it has proved to be disastrous with the economy at large, killing off at least two previous recoveries in short order.

So we agree with Abe that the time seems to be the right to try something different. Japan's corporations are under tremendous pressure from low-cost manufacturing centers such as China. For them to stay competitve, they need a chance to rebuild their capital bases and increase R&D and investment in plant and equipment.

[Continued below.]

Tokyo Monthly 21

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[Article continues]

An important first step for Abe to seize control from the bureacrats has been to successfully appoint his own pro-tax reduction advocate as the new head of the Tax Commission, a government advisory group that pretty much sets the direction and content of the nation's tax laws. Typically this organization has had to work from blueprints created by the MOF, and thus its recommendations on tax breaks for have been stingy to say the least. But with the new chairman, Osaka University Prof. Masaki Homma, in the hot seat, things are looking up for a power transfer.

Although outright slashing of corporate tax in Japan has not been tried in recent memory, various special temporary programs have been conducted with great effect. So it is likely that Abe's team is looking at overseas experiences as a reference point. If they are doing this, they surely will look at one of the most resounding international successes in tax tinkering -- Ireland.

In the period between 1980 and 1986, Ireland was in a bad way. Government expenditure had grown from 54% of GDP to 62%, and public debt increased from 87% to 120%.
Budget deficits exceeded 10% of GDP annually and over 30% of all tax revenue was being used to service the national debt.

Sounds remarkably familiar doesn't it?!

And yet, after some comprehensive soul-searching, the Irish government bravely embarked on a program of labor and tax law changes to bring back incentive -- both for the Irish population and also for foreign companies attracted to the island. After these changes were implemented, in just 20 years the country has been completely transformed into a manufacturing and services powerhouse in Europe. This despite Ireland having no natural resources, limited land space, and little previous history of such a commercial turn-around.

At least Japan is ahead in this last respect.

Certainly something has to be done here in Japan, because the high corporate tax rates are both encouraging tax minimization (if not outright tax avoidance), and discouraging serious pursuit of building a business beyond a basic level. We believe that it is for these two reasons that an incredible 70% of the nation's 5m+ corporations do not make a profit and probably never will!

Japan's tax system is extremely paternalistic, and assumes that small companies should be nurtured while large ones should be taxed. This serves to encourage most of the 5m companies to stay small and keep making losses, while many of those that are growing are taxed to a standstill and lose their momentum.

Also, for Abe, bringing some relief to smaller companies is not such a bad idea politically. Business owners are typically LDP supporters, and not only the 5m owners, but also many of their employees -- a full 80% or more of Japanese work for companies of 50 people or less -- will be wanting to see their companies improve financially as well.
Most employees understand that a healthy company generally means better working conditions, modernization of plant, better products, and therefore better salaries.

Control of the Tax Commission is expected to pass out of the hands of the MOF, and into Abe's, via Homma, in November. This is quite a coup for Abe, given that the MOF has successfully resisted the demands of many Prime Ministers, including Koizumi. Abe has done an end-run and his man appears to be planning to open up the economy substantially. If he/they are successful, think of what happened in Ireland in the 1980's and 1990's, and Japan could be looking pretty good as a long-term investment play. Of course, it's early days yet, but if you think of how much Japanese money (versus that of foreign investors) is flowing from private bank accounts into the stock market and investment funds -- up 40% over last year -- any improvement in corporate earnings will directly drive a huge improvement in the personal wealth of ordinary investing citizens.

At risk of sounding like rabid capitalists, our beliefe in the Maslow hierarchy of needs leads us to conclude that markets are built on human nature, and one of the most fundamental aspects of human nature is the need for incentive. Accordingly, we leave you with this entertaining comment on supply-side economics from the Adam Smith Institute.

"Supply side economics is really just an elaboration of the notion that you shouldn't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. Socialists are almost immediately hostile to supply-side economics. That's because they are not interested in collecting the fruits of production.
Socialists are interested in controlling the means of production. They don't want the eggs. They want the goose.
If you explain to a socialist that lowering tax rates will generate more revenue for social programs, they're not interested, because they know that at the same time there will be some people who will be getting richer."

...The information janitors/

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+++ NEWS

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061021a4.html

- Kim may nuke Japan
- Segway enters Japan
- Farmland rental organization
- Hello Kitty gets a clue
- Daiei earnings jump

-> Kim may nuke Japan

LDP policy chief Shoichi Nakagawa has said that his party's leadership is worried that being a diabetic, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il may suffer an episode and in a corresponding lapse of judgement order a nuclear attack on Japan. Nakagawa is one of the right wingers behind calls for Japan to go nuclear and build its own arsenal. (Source:
TT commentary from japantimes.co.jp, Oct 21, 2006)

->Segway enters Japan

We've heard all about drunk riders of bicycles getting fined, now we wonder how the authorities will react to revellers riding Segways -- probably they'll have to catch them first! The fast and famous gyroscope controlled 2-wheelers are now coming to Japan, via the SGI Japan company, which will become Segway's authorized distributor here. SGI says it will sell the Segway Personal Transporters into the auto and electronic, warehousing, and distribution industries, as well as to universities, research institutes with large campuses, airports and shopping malls. ***Ed: We think they're missing the target.
The real prospects for the PT are document courier firms.
Especially since Segway has storage bin attachments...**
(Source: TT commentary from businesswire.com, Oct 20, 2006)

http://tinyurl.com/y4zfec

->Farmland rental organization

The Ministry of Agriculture is planning to set up a semi-governmental body to broker the rental of unused farmland to companies entering into or expanding on their current farming business. According to the Ministry, as of 2005, about 10% of the nation's farmland, about 380,000 hectares, was left unused -- up about 70% from 1990. There are now 173 registered companies farming land commercially.
(Source: TT commentary from nikkei.co.jp, Oct 21, 2006)

http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/AC/TNKS/Nni20061020D20JFA13.htm

->Hello Kitty gets a clue

American kids' favorite puzzle-solving TV program, Blue's Clues, will be licenced by Hello Kitty owner Sanrio here in Japan. The tie-up will create toys, clothes, and stationary decorated with the floppy-eared blue dog side-by-side with Hello Kitty. Blue is owned by Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products. ***Ed: This could be an interesting experiment.
We'd like to see what an already well-penetrated Japanese brand owner such as Sanrio can do with a blue colored
dog?** (Source: TT commentary from theday.com, Oct 22,
2006)

http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=c9240c3f-11d3-4028-8a03-1cf2f5d9a134

-> Daiei earnings jump

Thanks not to its retail operations but rather the OMC consumer credit side of the business, supermarket operator Daiei's operating profit for the first half of 2006 jumped 41.9%, putting the business firmly in the black. The company earned JPY25.45bn (US$210m) on sales which were down 22% on last year, at JPY672bn (US$5.69bn). ***Ed:
Doesn't this story look remarkably like the GM business -- where the GMAC consumer credit side of the business was responsible for most of the shareholder value? Only, here in Japan, we don't expect a spin-off to quickly raise cash.
Instead, the OMC profits will be slowly be ploughed back into recovering the retail business. Hard to say if this is really a viable strategy or not. We suspect that the sheer size of Daiei and the condition of its retail business will prove to be an expensive turn-around.** (Source: TT commentary from nikkei.co.jp, Oct 20, 2006)

http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/AC/TNKS/Nni20061020D20JF356.htm

NOTE: Broken links
Many online news sources are now removing their articles after just a few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we apologize for the inconvenience.

The Ingenium Group is Recruiting

The Ingenium Group, a leading executive search firm in Japan, is expanding and currently accepting applications for Executive Search Consultants who want to play key roles in the following areas: Accounting, Human Resources, Technology, Semiconductors, Financial Services, and Consumer Goods.

You are encouraged to consider joining our growing team if you're ambitious, organized, self-confident and have strong client presentation and client service skills.

Website: www.ingeniumgroup.com/inside/ing-careers.html
Email: [email protected] for more information

+++ CANDIDATE ROUND UP/VACANCIES

Little America is looking for an IT specialist to work full time as a web developer and IT technician in Fukuoka. The position is open to Japanese nationals as well as resident foreigners who have a spouse or permanent visa.

Responsibilities include:
* Day-to-day maintenance of web content
* Development of new web content
* Day-to-day maintenance of Windows and Macintosh PCs
* Installation and configuration of new computers,
software, and peripherals
* Administration of a small LAN
* Administration of company email addresses, mailing lists

Requirements:
* Strong HTML and CSS skills (source-based)
* Scripting and database skills using PHP and MySQL
* English and Japanese ability
* Good organizational skills
* Experience in a UNIX environment
* Working knowledge of Adobe Photoshop
* BA/BS or equivalent

For more information or to submit your resume, please email [email protected]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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+++ UPCOMING EVENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS

ICA Events - Nov 1

Speaker: Atsuko Morimoto, Founder of AM Associates Presentation Title: "Learning from Innovative Marketers"

In EA-Tokyo's upcoming seminar, Morimoto-san will be sharing her insights into successful marketing tactics taken by several successful Japanese companies she has worked with. Her company, AM Associates is a consulting company specialized in Marketing & Communications. It offers services in IMC (Integrated Marketing Communications), including Acquisition, Customer Relationship & Loyalty Marketing and Branding.

Current clients are skin-care and publishing companies.
Date/Time: November 1st 7:00 pm
Location: City Club of Tokyo - Maple Room (Canadian Embassy)
Language: English
Website: http://www.ea-tokyo.com
Email: [email protected]

IT events announcements are priced at JPY50,000 per week.
For more information, contact [email protected]

+++ CORRECTIONS/FEEDBACK

In this section we run comments and corrections submitted by readers. We encourage you to spot our mistakes and amplify our points, by email, to [email protected].

-> TT 394. We covered the use of Titanium Oxide in the
treatment of living spaces of people suffering from allergies such as hay fever. Judging from the amount of email we got, this is clearly a highly relevant topic for many readers.

*** Reader response
Many readers wrote in with their own tried and true remedies, some of which seem quite credible. We reproduce one such email here.

"I`ve been in Japan 11 years now and for the first 7 of them I never had hay fever, nor when I lived at in my own home country. So it was a great shock one spring to find myself suffering from similar symptoms as you described.

I tried everything - chinese teas by the gallon, pills, sprays, flushes - but nothing worked. That spring and summer was just awful.

The following year I had started seeing an acupuncturist for a sore back on the recommendation of a friend and he was great. Part of the treatment included a specific prescription for a kanpoyaku (Chinese and Japanese herbs) recipe which was easily filled at the local kanpo store.
It consisted of a small sachet of powder (slightly licorice
tasting) taken three times per day.

It just so happened that I started taking this at the end of January and continued taking it for the next 3 months.
And I am sure you can guess what happened - no hayfever.
No pills, no sprays, etc., just a small sachet three times a day. Spring came and went, summer rolled around and no hayfever at all!

Next year I recommended it to 2 friends both of whom had been long term sufferers of hayfever and they both had no hayfever the following spring."

Thanks for the feedback.

...The information janitors/

>>>>--------------------------------------------------<

You're Vending What?

Japan is home to the highest density of vending machines in the world, with about 5.6m machines, or one for every 23 people. You can buy almost anything, and the Japanese do, with about JPY6.67trn (US$56bn) being spent every year.

Yet, apart from the obvious players such as major soft drinks companies, there have been no foreign owners of this massive direct sales medium - until now.

Market Pioneer Japan is proud to announce that as of October, 2006, it has built a network of 1,000 vending machines placed nationwide, selling stickers and print logos. We invite owners of licenceable characters to contact us with a view to distributing your IP assets into the Japanese market.

Web: www.japaninc.com/mpj, email: [email protected]

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Seeing is believing: see our company in action

So Fast Corporation, an innovative logistics company, is offering tours of its Heiwajima warehouse.
See why 8 of 10 foreign company presidents choose So Fast after a visit. Read in the autumn issue of J@pan Inc Magazine why SNOVA Corporation selected So Fast and are glad they did.

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Phone: 03-5753-3101
Email: [email protected]

Logistics warehouse Dates:
Sep 1 - Oct 31
Time: 8:45a.m. - noon

END

SUBSCRIBERS: 24,961 as of October 22, 2006
(We purge our list regularly.)

+++ ABOUT US

STAFF
Written by: Terrie Lloyd[email protected].

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Go to: www.japaninc.net/mag/subs.html for details.

01:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

October 18, 2006

Terrie's Take 395 -- plummeting post-IPO prices, ebiz news from Japan

General Edition Sunday, October 15, 2006 Issue No. 395

+++ INDEX
- What's new
- News
- Candidate roundup
- Upcoming events
- News credits

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+++ WHAT'S NEW

http://www.furnished-apartment-tokyo.com/

How important is a strong CEO for a strong IPO?

Over the last couple of months, the Nikkei 225 stock index has been steadily recovering, passing the 16,000 mark at the end of September. Market sentiment is good and foreigners are busy buying stocks, being net buyers last week. As readers will know, we're interested in freshly listed companies, particularly small cap firms that are more likely to be run by entrepreneurs.

www.tokyoipo.com's Takashi Nishibori notes that the level of IPOs in Japan is still running at a healthy clip, with
15 IPOs in September and 17 planned for October. This will bring the total number of IPOs for the first 10 months of the year to 144, roughly the same as last year. Of the 127 IPOs done through to the end of September, the average opening price was almost 90% higher than the offering price. We think this is surprisingly high, considering that the market has been on this IPO binge for more than 5 years now.

However, it looks as if mid-2006 is marking a turning point for investors, who are just now starting to give the thumbs down on companies that don't match expectations.

Just what those expectations are we are not sure. You'd think it would be on earnings. However, when we look at the continuing high-flying stock of Mixi, which even though the price is down from a high of JPY3.25m (US$27,500) a share to JPY1.85m (US$15,700) a share on Friday, it still has a market capitalization that represents an earnings per share
(PER) of 260 times! Clearly, glitter and potential are still big factors in the thinking of shareholders attracted to freshly public companies.

[Continued below.]

Tokyo Monthly 21

Furnished apartments in Tokyo

One company which doesn't have the Mixi glitter and which because of its hard-core, hard-grind business model also doesn't offer a quick near-term upside is Banctec Japan, an outsourcing company that went public on October 5th. Using optical character recognition technology and systems, Banctec outsources the boring bits of banks and insurance companies' back office operations. After a mere 5 days of being public, the company is already feeling the "backlash"
of shareholder disinterest, with its share price plummeting from JPY126,000 (US$1,070) per share to just JPY74,000 (US$627), the price on Friday. That's a 40% drop in just 25 hours of trading.

Market experts are saying that shareholders are moving away from the secondary markets, such as Mothers and JASDAQ, to focus on blue chip companies, which are raking in profits thanks to the continued economic boom and the weak yen. We don't disagree with this, and certainly there are many other freshly listed companies falling below their IPO prices. However, a drop of 40% is precipitous and must surely tell the Banctec shareholders that this is more than just a market correction. Something deeper is wrong in the company.

Banctec originally came to prominence in the Japanese media in 2002, when a bunch of local private equity funds led by JAFCO decided to do a "Management buy-out" of the Japan and South Korean business from Banctec USA. We parenthesize the MBO status of the deal, since the CEO of the company only wound up with 1.9% of the shares, and is locked in along with other senior managers for 6 months before being able to sell any. So he wouldn't be feeling much richer at present.

In fact, we think that this lack of senior management involvement in the IPO may be part of Banctec's problem.
>From the IPO statement, we can see that the entire
management team were holding less than 7% of the company's stock at IPO time, and thus the post-IPO performance may simply reflect their salaryman status in the business.

Instead, in our minds, a CEO who settles for a stake of less than 10% of the company in an MBO is probably thinking of his position as merely a job. There isn't enough incentive in it for him to be thinking as a potentially rich owner. At best, and on paper only, he is worth JPY148m, not much of a return if you've just take a firm public.
...But at the same time, probably not bad for a salaryman.

Unfortunately, in a business with as little sex appeal as Banctec's, the commitment of the CEO can make all the difference to both performance and public image. He needs to be motivated to show a strong, publicly visible face. And he needs to be coming up with a stream of fresh strategies to get customers and employees excited about the future. However, from what we can see, the company has produced very few press releases about any strategic activity. It's almost as if they've been hiding in a hole.

To us, the structure of Banctec's shareholdings and lack of senior management equity participation spells out that JAFCO and other Japanese private equity funds do not yet understand what is needed to step in and turn around a business. Economizing on the CEO stock allocation is not helping investor interests. If the CEO is not worth more than 1.9% of the company, then they need to get one who is. In essence, if they want Shinsei-style IPO results, then they have to put in extraordinary people, like Yashiro and his team.

If we were JAFCO right now, we'd be looking at some of our more recent deals (it may be too late to do anything with Banctec), and start looking to hire in a Masamoto Yashiro clone to set the business on fire again.

The incentive for JAFCO to do this is certainly there. From last week's experience, it's worth at least JPY4bn
(US$33.8m) in the week after the IPO, to get it right...

...The information janitors/

Corporate Translation

Why go through an agent when you can go direct?

Email Michael now for competitive rates and dates.

+++ NEWS

http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/AC/TNKS/Nni20061012D12JSN07.htm

- Friendly bacteria to replace livestock antibiotics
- 50% increase in international conferences
- The bomb when you're not having a bomb
- Hello... hello, you have any kidneys for sale?
- Land Ministry to allow more RE speculation

-> Friendly bacteria to replace livestock antibiotics

Calpis, the fermented milk drink company, have announced that it will soon start selling its Calsporin bacteria-based feed additive for livestock. The new product is designed to compete with antibiotics in animal health.
Calsporin is made from Bacillus subtilis and works in the animals' intestines to reduce salmonella and other harmful bacteria. First off the rank will be a poultry feed additive. ***Ed: If it works, we think it'll be a hit!
No one likes absorbing antibiotics second hand from animals.

** (Source: TT commentary from nikkei.co.jp, Oct 13, 2006)

->50% increase in international conferences

After the basic failure of the Ministry of Transport to substantially increase the number of foreign visitors to Japan some 3 years ago with its Yokoso campaign, it is now the turn of the Ministry of Land to have a shot. On Friday the ministry will launch a public-private group which will attempt to increase the number of international conferences held in Japan by 50%. The new initiative is designed to increase the number of foreign visitors to Japan to 10m by 2010. ***Ed: One of ex-PM Koizumi's old election goals.

** (Source: TT commentary from nikkei.co.jp, Oct 13, 2006)

http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/AC/TNKS/Search/Nni20061012D12JFA09.htm

->The bomb when you're not having a bomb

So did North Korea explode an atomic bomb, or two, this last week or not? Although a sesmic reading of an earthquake-strength blast recorded on October 9th indicated something exploded, atmospheric tests by the Japanese for radiation leakage have proved negative. On the other hand, samples from a US drone the day after the alleged test indicated some presence of radiation.

***Ed: So was a test conducted or not?

** (Source: TT commentary from news.com.au, Oct 14, 2006)

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20582291-1702,00.html

->Hello...hello, you have any kidneys for sale?

Apparently a recent case of a family of a terminally ill patient duping a transplant surgeon into accepting an organ from a donor who was paid cash, something which is illegal in Japan, has spurred a number of citizens to see if they could cash in as well. The Mainichi reports that hospitals and kidney disease awareness groups around the nation have been receiving phone calls from would-be donors trying to find out if they can get cash for their kidneys. Buying and selling human organs is prohibited in Japan. ***Ed: We find the whole organ transplant scene ludicrous. If it is so immoral to buy an organ, why is it that Japanese are allowed to hop on a plane to China or the USA and get it done there? We suspect that rather than an ethics issue this is a case of protecting entrenched interests -- just it's hard to see which interests those may be. Any comments
anyone?

** (Source: TT commentary from mainichi-msn.co.jp, Oct 5, 2006)

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20061005p2a00m0na022000c.html

->Land Ministry to allow more RE speculation

We don't know how we missed this one last month, but in any case if you have land in Tokyo you'll be happy to hear that it may yet go up in value. The Ministry of Land has said that it will allow real estate investment advisors, not just REITs, to handle the real estate investment portfolios of pension funds and corporations. Until now, discretionary accounts for organizational real estate investors were prohibited. But no longer. The deregulation is expected to draw in a substantial level of funds from companies, universities, and pension funds, as an alternative to low bank interest rates.

***Ed: Expect inner Tokyo real estate to get even hotter over the next 12 months, as the pension funds money starts pouring in.

** (Source: TT commentary from nikkei.co.jp, Sep 2, 2006)

http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/AC/TNKS/Search/Nni20060901D01JFA11.htm

NOTE: Broken links
Many online news sources are now removing their articles after just a few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we apologize for the inconvenience.

Logistics: The So-Fast Corporation

Seeing is believing: see our company in action

For details or appointment, contact Katsuhiko Kakuchiyama.
Phone: 03-5753-3101
Email: [email protected]

Logistics warehouse Dates:
Sep 1 - Oct 31
Time: 8:45a.m. - noon

+++ CANDIDATE ROUND UP/VACANCIES

For more information or to submit your resume, please email [email protected]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DENPHONE Full-featured Office PBX

Denphone PBXs are Asterisk based, offering a wide range of features (voicemail, conferencing, selective call blocking and VoIP low cost calling) at prices lower than other proprietary solutions.

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+++ UPCOMING EVENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS

ICA Events - Oct 19

Presenter: Brent Jacobs, Group Manager, Windows Live Operations - Microsoft

Title: Deploying and Managing Large-Scale Online Services at Microsoft

Details: http://www.icajapan.jp/ (RSVP Required)
Date: Thursday, Oct 19, 2006
Time: 6:30 Doors open, Light refreshments served, no dinner
Cost: 1,000 yen (members), 2,000 yen (non-members) Open to all -

Location is TEMPLE UNIV MITA CAMPUS

IT events announcements are priced at JPY50,000 per week.
For more information, contact [email protected]

+++ CORRECTIONS/FEEDBACK

In this section we run comments and corrections submitted by readers. We encourage you to spot our mistakes and amplify our points, by email, to [email protected].

-> TT393 on Pensions. We said that if the government really
wanted wealthy retirees to forego the pension, they needed to give proper incentives, such as a tax break on death duties.

*** Reader: Although I am not a tax expert, I think it just takes common sense to see what the effect of the tax break would be. People who thought they would save more on tax than they receive in pension, would take this up en mass, to the effect of being a tax break for the rich, costing the government taxes. Looking in the short term like you are hides the loss of future revenues with a small reduction in current expenditures. Although this is standard practice for politicians it is what caused the problem in the first place. I was disappointed to see this in political commentary. I hope find solutions to problems in commentaries not new ways to fiddle the books and hide problems from the public.

*** We Respond: We believe that the right formula would be to offer death duty tax breaks that do not exceed the pension due to be received. I.e., the government would simply be trading one for the other. For wealthy pensioners, this allows them to in effect "save" in small increments for the cost of inheritance taxes, by foregoing their pensions on a monthly basis. For the government this has the benefit of providing immediate access to cash, rather than them having to wait for people to die before tangling with the heirs and their lawyers. Having the money now does indeed raise the temptation to put off the problem a couple more years, but at the same time if the government is truly interested in fixing the problem, then it also gives them a chance to put these advance payments into investments yielding high rates of interest -- and that surely is beneficial.

Thanks for the feedback.

...The information janitors/

>>>>--------------------------------------------------<

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03-5469-7374 or via email at [email protected]

END

SUBSCRIBERS: 24,955 as of October 15, 2006
(We purge our list regularly.)

+++ ABOUT US

STAFF
Written by: Terrie Lloyd[email protected].

HELP: E-mail [email protected]
with the word 'help' in the subject or body (dont include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions.

FEEDBACK
Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to [email protected].

ADVERTISING INFORMATION
For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact [email protected].

SUSCRIBE
Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address athttp://www.terrie.com/subscribe.html.

BACK ISSUES
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10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

October 11, 2006

Terrie's Take 394 -- Titanium Oxide and Hay Fever, ebiz news from Japan

General Edition Sunday, October 8, 2006 Issue No. 394

+++ INDEX
- What's new
- News
- Candidate roundup
- Upcoming events
- News credits

ADAPT Expat Insurance

How Much of Your Money has Your Health Insurance Company Given Back to You During the Past 4 Years?

ADAPT customers have received total Cash Back averaging
$3,241 each, while enjoying the benefits of full coverage, tailored to their individual needs. You can too.

http://www.expathealthassurance.com
email: [email protected], Tel. 0120-63-4419

+++ WHAT'S NEW

http://www.furnished-apartment-tokyo.com/

Hay fever. It's the wrong time of year for it, hay fever usually hits in spring, but given that the next issue of Japan Inc. magazine carries details of a new invention to help control it, we thought we'd give some advance notice on the subject here at Terrie's Take.

Back in 2001, Terrie's Take 291, we reported the fact that the National Center of Child Health and Development in Tokyo reckoned that 90% of Japanese born in the 1970s have allergies of some type or other, and in particular hay fever and carpet mite sensitivity. In that issue we speculated that Japanese kids are brought up in an overly hygienic environment and have lost some of their resistance to the bugs around us.

Whether that is correct or not, we can't help feeling sorry for the kids affected. Take our own 9-year old daughter, Eva, for instance. Every spring and sometimes in the fall she suffers from hay fever ("kafunsho", allergic rhinitis) which sometimes seems to verge on asthma. Her eyes go red and itchy, the mucous membranes swell up, each day starts with a sore throat and runny nose, and on bad days there are pounding headaches. As parents, it's tough looking at attacks of hay fever and knowing that there really isn't a remedy for it.

Eva is not alone of course. In fact outside of China, Tokyo has one of the highest levels of hay fever and related allergy incidences in the world. When the affliction started to become prevalent in the 1970's and '80's it was generally thought to be caused by air pollution. However, more recent studies have proven that more than 60% of cases are in fact directly attributable to the excess of Japanese Cedar ("sugi") trees planted around the capital. They were planted in their millions in the 1950's and '60's, to serve as a convenient timber source. Now that many of them are 40-50 years old, they are at the peak of their lifecycle and collectively pump out about 1,800 to 2,000 pollen per square centimeter each spring. This means tons of pollen per acre.

The situation in Tokyo is now so bad it is estimated that at least 20% of the adult population suffers from hay fever. In spring of 2005 the matter came to a head when the pollen count increased 4,200% over the previous year due to a dry hot summer the year before. Even Governor Shintaro Ishihara came down with it, and as a consequence he initiated a program to reduce the number of pollen-bearing Sugi by replacing them with a new low-pollen variety over the next 10 years. If you'd like to know what the pollen count forecast and history are, you can check out the statistics on the Kafun home page produced by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, at http://www.fukushihoken.metro.tokyo.jp/kanho/kafun/index.html.
In Japanese only.

Hay Fever is big business. Given that the majority of pollen allergy sufferers are aged 30-60 years of age - prime working age, it has both negative and positive real effects on the Japanese economy. On the debit side, according to an estimate by the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute (DLR), employee absenteeism and lowered productivity resulted in a JPY380bn (US$3.3bn) drop in GDP for the first quarter of 2005.

Perversely, on the credit side, DLR reckons the market for hay-fever prevention products and medicines is worth JPY750bn (US$6.52bn). The biggest selling items are eye drops and face masks - highlighting the lack of effectiveness of other remedies. DLR notes, however, that the large number of people staying indoors probably also impacted revenues in the leisure and restaurant industries.
In the first quarter of 2006, the pollen counts were almost back to normal levels, thanks to wetter weather, and DLR says that the nation's GDP for March-April recovered by about JPY229.4bn (US$1.99bn) as a result.

[Continued below.]

Tokyo Monthly 21

Furnished apartments in Tokyo

But while the adults understand what is going on, it is the children who probably suffer the most, as in the case of our 9-year old daughter. A March 2006 survey by Rohto Pharmaceutical found that just over 30.2% of children under the age of 16 have hay fever. It is generally accepted that there is a causal effect between hay fever and asthma, with pollen, dust, mites, and other matter being the major points of blame. There have also been some studies in the last ten years which connect asthma to atopy (skin afflictions), through the interleukin-4 (IL-4) gene. Thus, controlling hay fever may be more important than just bringing sore eyes and a runny nose under control.

The mechanism for hay fever is that the immune system recognizes an allergen in the environment, such as Sugi pollen, and produces immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies.
These antibodies are unique in that they signal the immune system to release histamine. While histamine is a normal compound found in body cells, in an allergic reaction it circulates through the bloodstream and constricts the small muscles around air passages in the lungs (inducing wheezing or asthma), increases the flow of mucus, and causes smaller blood vessels to contract and pass fluid into tissues.
Coughing and sneezing are the body's way of trying to expel the allergens from the air passages, while the difficulty of breathing with asthma comes about from the windpipe muscles constricting.

Most people combat hay fever with a combination of masks, pills, plasma air conditioners, and even moving somewhere else. But there is now an interesting new remedy available
-- that of photocatalysts, and specifically Titanium Oxide (TiO2). The Japanese are literally a decade ahead of the rest of the world in this area of materials science, building on the discovery in 1967 by Todai graduate student Akira Fujishima and his professor, Kenichi Honda, that TiO2 has natural self-cleaning and antibacterial properties.
They discovered that under the presence of ultraviolet light, TiO2 can break down and render harmless airborne pollutants and organic matter such as mold and bacteria.

The discovery caused an international sensation when announced. The properties have since became known as the "Honda-Fujishima" effect, and in cooperation with Toto Limited, Japan's largest sanitary ceramics products manufacturer, the technology has been commercialized. This was a smart move for Toto, which today owns four basic patents related to photocatalysts. The business from IP licencing alone will be worth JPY1bn (US$8.69m) to the company in 2006, consisting mainly of its photocatalytic process provided to 80 licencees globally. Based on projected increases in usage of photocatalytic technology in the next 5 years, Toto can expect this highly profitable revenue to increase at least five-fold.

The first TiO2 products were self-cleaning, non-yellowing white building tiles released in 1994. More recently, however, the compound's antibacterial properties are receiving much more attention. TiO2 now appears in such diverse products as air-purification systems, odor-fighting refrigerators and ovens, self-disinfecting medical devices, and even a formaldehyde-busting wall paper! Readers may recall that formaldehyde is one of the suspected causes of sick house syndrome. The overall market in Japan by 2010 for TiO2 products is estimated to reach around JPY1trn (US$8.69bn).

We'll cover the actual company offering the new hay fever busting invention in a later issue of Terrie's Take, but in the meantime, you can check out Zen World's English website at http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~lmint28/home.html. The grammar on the site needs some work, but the electron microscope photos pretty much say it all. From what we have discovered in our own recent research (for the magazine story), photocatalysts do appear to be a viable alternative in controlling pollen and other unwanted airborne bacteria and matter. They are odorless, convenient, and cost nothing to run after being applied.

Lastly, keep that feedback rolling in. We love hearing your comments, such as this issue's repartee on whether or not rich retirees should get a tax break for foregoing their pensions. Our reader thinks they shouldn't, we give reasons why they should. You can find it in the CORRECTIONS and FEEDBACK section at the end of today's newsletter.

...The information janitors/

Corporate Translation

Why go through an agent when you can go direct?

Email Michael now for competitive rates and dates.

Century 21Sky Realty

Century 21 SKY Realty has been the leader in Tokyo's real estate market for more than 20 years.

We also help businesses find room to work with our vast computerized inventory of commercial and office space, not only in central Tokyo but also throughout most of Japan.

Visit our website for up-to-date listings and more features: http://www.c21sky.com/c2/

+++ NEWS

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2006/10/05/afx3071150.html

- FX reserves at record high
- Sarakin get insurance policy payouts on lenders
- Aozora bank IPO
- Sanyo to slash 10% of subsidiaries
- LINC Media ties up with heavyweights

-> FX reserves at record high

The Ministry of Finance has announced that Japan's foreign exchange reserves rose to a new record high of US$881.27bn.
Japan has the world's second highest reserves behind China, whose holdings reached US$954.5bn in the same month. Broken down, the holdings were: US$861bn in US dollar currency, US$2.36bn in IMF reserves, US$2.73bn in SDRs, US$14.74bn in gold, and US$330m in other foreign currencies. ***Ed: Who says the Japanese aren't America's best friends?**

(Source: TT commentary from forbes.com, Oct 5, 2006)

->Sarakin get insurance policy payouts on lenders

In a statistic that is bound to stir the controversy over money lender interest rates, the FSA has made public data that shows the top 17 consumer finance firms received between them roughly JPY30bn in life insurance payouts on borrowers in fiscal 2005. While this number in itself is not particularly noteworthy, what is more sensational is the fact that about 14% of the total, JPY4.3bn (US$37.39m) was paid out after the borrowers, 4,900 people in FY2005, committed suicide. ***Ed: The Japanese press is now saying that since 14 of the 17 firms use the same form to create an insurance policy as to register a loan application, the money lenders must therefore be using the borrower's life insurance as collateral.

** (Source: TT commentary from nikkei.co.jp, Oct 6, 2006)

http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/AC/TNKS/Nni20061006DA6JX062.htm

->Aozora bank IPO

Rumors are that Aozora Bank may go public as early as November, in a deal that values the bank at around US$10bn.
If correct, the IPO could be the largest in Japan since the listing of J-Power in 2004. The major beneficiary of a listing would be the Cerberus private equity fund, which owns 62% of Aozora. Cerberus would likely make about JPY500bn (US$4.34bn) on paper from the listing.

(Source: TT commentary form yahoo.com, Oct 4, 2006)

http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/061004/3/43twh.html

->Sanyo to slash 10% of subsidiaries

Sanyo is looking to do the unthinkable for a major Japanese corporation, and ditch about 30 group companies -- about 10% of the group's related holdings. The company says that the streamlining will return it to profit in FY2007. The company has 231 consolidated subsidiaries and 72 equity-based affiliates. The cuts are planned to reduce the number of employees by about 1,000 people -- mostly here in Japan. ***Ed: The company has not yet identified which subs will be on the block, but we imagine that the local private equity firms are working overtime to register expressions of interest.

** (Source: TT commentary from nikkei.co.jp, Oct 6, 2006)

http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/AC/TNKS/Nni20061006D05JFA06.htm

->LINC Media ties up with heavyweights

LINC Media (Japan Inc's sister company) has announced that it has formed a business partnership with two major Japanese companies. These are leading office furniture maker, Itoki Corp, and SI house Hitachi Information Systems. The 3 firms will jointly manage the Japan Concierge Service, (http://www.japanconcierge.com/) a market entry and support system designed for foreign firms.
Japan Concierge offers a comprehensive set of services ranging from introducing foreign firms to Japanese business partners and setting up offices, factories or commercial facilities, through to helping to build and support IT infrastructure. Itoki was established in 1890 and has a client list of more than 20,000 companies. Hitachi Joho was established in 1959 and is a 7,000-person company with JPY176bn (US$1.53bn) in sales.** (Source: TT commentary from lincmedia.co.jp web site, Sep 22, 2006)

http://www.lincmedia.co.jp/pressRelease09222006e.html

NOTE: Broken links
Many online news sources are now removing their articles after just a few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we apologize for the inconvenience.

The Ingenium Group is Recruiting

You are encouraged to consider joining our growing team if you're ambitious, organized, self-confident and have strong client presentation and client service skills.

Web: http://www.ingeniumgroup.com/inside/ing-careers.html
Email: [email protected] for more information

Logistics: The So-Fast Corporation

Seeing is believing: see our company in action

For details or appointment, contact Katsuhiko Kakuchiyama.
Phone: 03-5753-3101
Email: [email protected]

Logistics warehouse Dates:
Sep 1 - Oct 31
Time: 8:45a.m. - noon

+++ CANDIDATE ROUND UP/VACANCIES

For more information or to submit your resume, please email [email protected]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DENPHONE Full-featured Office PBX

Denphone PBXs are Asterisk based, offering a wide range of features (voicemail, conferencing, selective call blocking and VoIP low cost calling) at prices lower than other proprietary solutions.

Denphone K.K. -- http://www.denphone.com

+++ UPCOMING EVENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS

ICA Events - Oct 19

Presenter: Brent Jacobs, Group Manager, Windows Live Operations - Microsoft

Title: Deploying and Managing Large-Scale Online Services at Microsoft

Location is TEMPLE UNIV MITA CAMPUS

IT events announcements are priced at JPY50,000 per week.
For more information, contact [email protected]

+++ CORRECTIONS/FEEDBACK

In this section we run comments and corrections submitted by readers. We encourage you to spot our mistakes and amplify our points, by email, to [email protected].

-> TT393 on Pensions. We said that if the government really
wanted wealthy retirees to forego the pension, they needed to give proper incentives, such as a tax break on death duties.

Thanks for the feedback.

...The information janitors/

>>>>--------------------------------------------------<

Cheap Phone Calls

Save up to 80% of both international and domestic phone calls with World Link Discount Telecommunications!

Visit: www.worldlinkjapan.com, or contact Alpha Rise Ltd at
03-5469-7374 or via email at [email protected]

END

SUBSCRIBERS: 24,955 as of October 8, 2006
(We purge our list regularly.)

+++ ABOUT US

STAFF
Written by: Terrie Lloyd[email protected].

HELP: E-mail [email protected]
with the word 'help' in the subject or body (dont include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions.

FEEDBACK
Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the editor to [email protected].

ADVERTISING INFORMATION
For more information on advertising in this newsletter, contact [email protected].

SUSCRIBE
Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address athttp://www.terrie.com/subscribe.html.

BACK ISSUES
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11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

October 04, 2006

Terrie's Take 393 -- Who Needs a Pension? ebiz news from Japan

General Edition Sunday, October 1, 2006 Issue No. 393

+++ INDEX
- What's new
- News
- Candidate roundup
- Upcoming events
- News credits

ADAPT Expat Insurance

How Much of Your Money has Your Health Insurance Company Given Back to You During the Past 4 Years?

ADAPT customers have received total Cash Back averaging
$3,241 each, while enjoying the benefits of full coverage, tailored to their individual needs. You can too.

http://www.expathealthassurance.com
email: [email protected], Tel. 0120-63-4419

+++ WHAT'S NEW

Who needs a pension?

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is apparently considering a proposal to publicly honor wealthy retirees who decide not to collect their pension. Currently a pensioner who starts collecting their payments cannot opt out of the system, but the new proposal will allow wealthier pensioners to opt in and out depending on their feeling of financial well-being.

The incentive for not collecting a pension will be an official "thank you" from the government and public naming, with their permission. Since about 1m Japanese have personal assets worth JPY100m or more, and most of them are people aged over 65, the government reckons that if just 10,000 wealthy seniors forwent their pension it will save the nation more than JPY20bn a year.

So, we have a question. Would you, after 25 years of paying what is becoming an onerous amount of tax, and knowing that the government is still allowing bureaucrats and local governments to pilfer money and enjoy perks such as luxury housing in inner city locales, would you suddenly and heroically be willing to donate your pension to the government? We didn't think so. The fact is that asking ordinary people to make an extraordinary sacrifice requires extraordinary circumstances -- usually a war, disaster, or social revolution. Now, in the spiralling government debt, it is true that we have a disaster in the making, but the consequences of it are still years away.

If the government is truly serious about getting rich people to support pension cuts or deferrals, they will need to offer incentives that will appeal to the target audience
-- such as inheritance tax breaks. Most of Japan's so-called rich are in fact not so liquid, possessing most of their wealth in land and just a modest amount in cash and stocks. If such people thought that they could keep their estates intact after death, passing them on to their families without taxation, a number of them may well be willing to forego the monthly state-sponsored stipend.

[Continued below.]

Cheap Phone Calls

Save up to 80% of both international and domestic phone calls with World Link Discount Telecommunications!

Visit: www.worldlinkjapan.com, or contact Alpha Rise Ltd at
03-5469-7374 or via email at [email protected]

Japan's underfunded pension situation has already undergone radical surgery, when in 2004 the premiums (tax) paid by salaried workers was put on a schedule to almost double through to 2017. The increase certainly did rescue the pension program from imminent crisis and it was done with just a modicum of grumbling by the voting public. But with the recent news that the nation's birth rate continues to drop, the government's actuaries are realizing that the population curves they predicated the 2004 adjustments on are already out of whack. The low end was supposed to be a birth rate of 1.31, but in fact last year the rate fell to just 1.25. Either the Japanese need to make more babies, soon, or more tax is needed.

The government has already promised that it won't tax workers more than 18.3% (the maximum in 2017) of their salaries to support the pension, so a repeat of the 2004 exercise is not planned. Instead, the politicians are now talking about doubling the consumption tax to cover obligations instead. The problem with doing this is that it will probably kill the reviving economy, just as happened in 1997 and 2001. The Abe cabinet is very aware of this situation and instead has said that they plan to delay a political debate on the topic until Fall of next year earliest, giving Abe enough time to settle in, the LDP to win the Upper House Elections, and presumably for his team to scape-goat and replace the Social Insurance Agency, a process Abe started doing while still Chief Cabinet Secretary.

If you're in your 40's right now, you stand to have the dubious honor of being the first generation to get little or nothing (at least, you'll get nothing until you're 65, since that will be the new retirement age from 2013) for a tax which in 10 years time will be equal to about 36% of your salary (half paid by you, half by your employer). A recent AXA Japan survey found that 97% of Japanese believe that the pension will drop even more than already forecast, in the next 10 years, and that 43% feel gloomy about their retirement.

With a situation like this, we see there being very little alternative but to either introduce a means-tested pension, such as employed by the UK or a "citizens" pension such as used in New Zealand.

The problem with means testing is that it acts as a disincentive to many people to would otherwise save for their retirement, since they are going to be forced to use up those savings -- and they consume as they earn. Actually this may not be such a bad thing in Japan. However, a recent survey in the UK has found that the system is deeply unpopular, with over half of tax payers wanting it to end.

The "citizens" pension is a concept whereby all citizens of the nation upon retirement receive a basically equal amount of pension, regardless of how much they actually contributed during their working lives. This thus provides a public safety net, but allows the government to decouple itself from past pension funding deficits.

Regardless of which direction the policy makers go, one thing is for sure -- they are going to have to drop the guaranteed minimum benefit ratio of 50% of pre-retirement income and raise taxes. Our guess is that the government will increase the consumption tax in 2008 after much public hair-pulling, probably to 10%, and over the following 10 years substantially reduce pay-outs to recipients. Perhaps they will go for an NZ-style flat-rate pension program, since this is something that the opposition DPJ party is already promoting.

Lastly, the eagle-eyed among you may have noticed we're starting a new section today, called Corrections/Feedback.
One of the most difficult things in writing the newsletter is knowing that there are some readers who know a lot more about each subject than we do. Thus, we plan to incorporate their knowledge into future issues. We encourage readers to submit letters by email, to [email protected].

...The information janitors/

Corporate Translation

Why go through an agent when you can go direct?

Email Michael now for competitive rates and dates.

+++ NEWS

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061001a6.html

- First missiles arrive
- Mental illness cases grow
- Big M&A deal goes through
- Australia-Japan trade deal back on agenda
- International demand increases food prices

-> First missiles arrive

The US military has said that the first delivery of components for a missile system for Japan was made this week in Okinawa. The new missiles are surface-to-air PAC-3's and will be emplaced over the rest of this year, becoming operational by March 2007. Apparently this is Japan's first missile defence system and comes in the wake of North Korea's missle test in 1998. (Source: TT commentary from japantimes.co.jp, Oct 1, 2006))

->Mental illness cases grow

A survey by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has found that 82% of companies with 1,000 or more employees have staff taking sick leave for mental illness. Of these 97.3% were off work for a month or more. Perhaps not surprisingly, smaller firms have a lower incidence of mental illness, with about only 1.5% of firms with 10 or less employees losing staff for this reason. ***Ed: There is no mention of the types of illness, but we wouldn't be surprised if stress was the leading cause. Apparently many of the major companies admitted in the survey that they had employees working more than 100 hours of overtime a month.
This equates to a minimum 90-hour working week, basically meaning those staff members are working all the time.**
(Source: TT commentary from mainichi-msn.co.jp, Sep 30, 2006)

http://tinyurl.com/fj8en

->Big M&A deal goes through

In a major consolidation for TEPCO, Tokyo's power company, it has agreed to sell its fiber optic network operations for JPY100bn (US$847m) in stock to KDDI, Japan's second largest telephone company. KDDI will issue new shares to finance the deal. TEPCO owns the 5th largest fiber network in Japan, with about 280,000 customers and access to many more. KDDI will add these to its existing 170,000 subscribers to lift it to the Number 4 position in Japan for fiber-based subscribers, after NTT East, NTT West, and Usen. (Source: TT commentary from thenews.com, Sep 29, 2006)

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=26527

->Australia-Japan trade deal back on agenda

The Australian newspaper reports that in the face of a pending China-Australia Fair Trade Agreement (FTA), Japan has suddenly realized that it stands to lose its preferred trading relationship with Australia as China cozies up. Japan has long enjoyed a strong relationship with Australia but has not sought to bind the two countries any closer than other nations that it trades with.
Considering Japan's dependence on tremendous volumes of food, energy, and and raw materials from Australia, concerns about China have reprioritized the political agenda and suddenly an Australian FTA agreement looks to be back on the table. In 2005, Japan imported AU$28.4bn from Australia, an AUS$11bn surplus in Australia's favor. In comparison, exports to China from Australia were valued at AU$16bn.

(Source: TT commentary from theaustralian.news.com.au, Sep 29, 2006)

http://tinyurl.com/zmcha

-> International demand increases food prices

The Nikkei reports that competition for international food resources from Europe and Asia, and particularly for seafood, is having a significant affect on Japan's domestic food prices. Pollack, a staple for processed fish products, rose to US$2,156 last year on demand from South Korea. That is US$80 a ton more than what the Japanese are used to paying. Silver salmon prices have shot up 50% to US$4,998/ton, on demand from Europe. The Nikkei reckons that since the outbreak of mad cow disease, many consumers internationally are switching from farm animals to fish and fowl food sources, with the result that the global demand for seafood jumped 30% in the 10 years through to 2003.
Australian cheese has also become in great demand in China, and the average price for cheese has risen 36% since 2000, to JPY331/kg in July. (Source: TT commentary from nikkei.co.jp, Sep 27, 2006)

http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/AC/TNKS/Nni20060927D27HH907.htm

NOTE: Broken links
Many online news sources are now removing their articles after just a few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we apologize for the inconvenience.

Logistics: The So-Fast Corporation

Seeing is believing: see our company in action

For details or appointment, contact Katsuhiko Kakuchiyama.
Phone: 03-5753-3101
Email: [email protected]

Logistics warehouse Dates:
Sep 1 - Oct 31
Time: 8:45a.m. - noon

+++ CANDIDATE ROUND UP/VACANCIES

For more information or to submit your resume, please email [email protected]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DENPHONE Full-featured Office PBX

Denphone PBXs are Asterisk based, offering a wide range of features (voicemail, conferencing, selective call blocking and VoIP low cost calling) at prices lower than other proprietary solutions.

Denphone K.K. -- http://www.denphone.com

+++ UPCOMING EVENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS

ICA Events - Oct 19

Presenter: Brent Jacobs, Group Manager, Windows Live Operations - Microsoft

Title: Deploying and Managing Large-Scale Online Services at Microsoft

Location is TEMPLE UNIV MITA CAMPUS

IT events announcements are priced at JPY50,000 per week.
For more information, contact [email protected]

+++ CORRECTIONS/FEEDBACK

Starting this week, we will be running comments and corrections submitted by readers. We encourage you to spot our mistakes and amplify our points, by email, to [email protected].

-> TT392 on Leukemia. We said one possible cause of
leukemia was viruses, and we then commented that one rare form of adult leukemia found in Japan is supposed to derive from HIV.

*** Reader: "Not quite, actually, the T-cell leukemia to which you refer to is HTLV-I. The HIV virus is a different strain, although it used to be classified as HTLV-III."

Thanks for the correction.

...The information janitors/

>>>>--------------------------------------------------<

END

SUBSCRIBERS: 24,933 as of October 1, 2006
(We purge our list regularly.)

+++ ABOUT US