 
Vol.9 : Belinda Hobbs (Harlequin K.K.)
April 25, 2007
Gov't mulls ideas to boost Tokyo markets' size, influence
Popularity rankings drive shoppers
Meeting seeks cooperation
New law adds financial protection
Expanded coverage: Unusual training greets new grads
synonymous : 同意語の
making great strides : 大きく前進する
alpha male : 強い男性（群れを支配する頂点の雄）
backlist : 既刊書リスト
（ B: Belinda, T: Terri ）
| T : |
I am going to ask about, everybody knows, but I am going to ask about a description of your business? |
| B : |
I think most people know Harlequin, certainly if they're, you know, here in Japan, it's Harlequin, in the UK, in Australia, they would know the brand name as Mills & Boon.
In North America certainly Harlequin is synonymous with romantic fiction, romance novels, and here in Japan too it has been for a long time. Publishing women's romance fiction is the main part of our business, but I'd sort of like to think that we are moving into a situation where we are more like a translated women's content provider really.
So not only do we have our main series of romance fiction, we have branched over the last few years into mainstream women's fiction, still translated fiction, of course, but mainstream fiction by New York Times best-selling authors and the like. We have just this year launched our first range of Harlequin comics and you know, we are making great strides in the digital arena as well where people can download our stories, they will soon be able to download our comics. It's all very exciting...
We published about, this year it would be about 650 titles, all of them translated locally in Japan and we choose those from a pool of about, probably North America published about 1200 new books a year. So we choose 650 based on what we think is going to sell the best here in Japan. So we translate and edit all of those locally.
|
| T : |
You made the point before we began recording that actually it's still the alpha male all over the world. |
| B : |
Yeah, and that surprises a lot of people that, you know, every month, and everywhere around the world and that's, you know, we sell our books - we have offices in 16 countries, we distribute to nearly 100 countries and it's always out, you know, in North America it's called Harlequin Presents, here it's Harlequin Romance... |
| B : |
It's always the alpha males that are really selling well. It's amazing. |
| T : |
How would you describe, I mean, I know what it means... |
| T : |
But how would you describe an alpha male for our ESL learner? |
| B : |
Yeah, he is rich, he is powerful. |
| T : |
That's good. I'll take one. |
| B : |
He is - he is always, he can be a bit mean sometimes I think but, you know, he always comes around and makes sure that he sweeps the heroine off her feet and lives happily ever after. But you know, he is a very powerful and a very domineering type of character. |
| T : |
We don't want any of the real life guys to get the wrong idea, because it's fantasy. |
| B : |
It's definitely fantasy and that's the business that we are in. We are in the business of entertaining women, providing escape. And really, reading one of our books, it's two or three hours of just pure escape. It's fantasy, it's just having a good time and relaxing when you have got some time to yourself. That's what it's all about. It has nothing to do with your real life, it's just a couple of hours of personal time. |
| T : |
Description of the market, who is your competitor here, there aren't other Harlequin types... |
| B : |
Well, we are lucky in a way that there isn't another Harlequin. In other markets lots of companies have tried to copy the Harlequin model because it just is so successful, publishing all these series, romances, in a series. It's sort of like if you imagine it as publishing a series of books but in a magazine type of distribution, where our books go into the shops twice a month. They are on the shelf for a month, and what we don't sell after the month, you know, it's destroyed, it's really like, fresh lettuce. |
| B : |
We, keep backlists, so if readers did want to get back copies they can order them from us of course. But you know, it really is a fast moving consumer goods type of business that we are in... |
| T : |
Japanese authors, I think, you guys have started... |
| B : |
We have done a couple of tests with Japanese authors, we have a book coming out on May 1st. We have run a couple of really interesting competitions for would-be local romance authors. |
| B : |
We published the winning stories in an anthology. So that's out this May 1st, so it's very soon. |
| T : |
Okay, so this podcast will be out just before hand... |
distributor：販売業者
nitty-gritty：肝心な
spine out：背表紙を見せた
blurb：宣伝文句
display bins：展示ケース
huge point of sale：非常に広い販売スペース
race to the bottom：引き下げへの競争
incentivize incremental purchases：追加購入を奨励する
（ B: Belinda, T: Terri ）
| T : |
We covered market conditions in Japan and other countries. Is there anything else you want to add to that, differences between market conditions here and overseas? |
| B : |
So, apart from the readership in Japan and the target market, there are so many other differences just in terms of going to market and selling the books. It really is so different from other countries, here in Japan. I think we find that the distributors have so much more, I won't say, power, but so much more control over the way we go to market. |
| B : |
Very different to other markets. We have to get approval for so many things that we do. They are becoming a lot more cooperative in recent years and we are just really working on building our relationship with them to allocate our books better, be more efficient. So that's an interesting sort of, just nitty-gritty of doing business, but it's very different from a lot of markets. |
| B : |
But the pricing law here in Japan, no discounting of books, it's the same in Germany and France, but here it's a lot tougher to find ways around that. |
| B : |
And even just the way, the book store environment itself, that's something that blew me away when I first came to Japan. Every international visitor that we have had from Harlequin is just amazed by the size of some of the book stores and just the volume of books in the stores, and so many displays, spine out, it's... |
| B : |
It's, wow, it's like how does anybody choose a book! It's really amazing to see. In North America for example, or in Europe, in Australia, bookstores are so geared towards helping the customer make a quick and good choice. The people don't have much time anymore, so if they can - a book store can quickly direct someone to the romance section or the mystery section or what have you, it makes it a much nicer purchasing experience.
Here though it's... and I am always asking poor girls in the office, if you wanted to buy a mystery for example, how would you choose it - how would you find it in the book store? Well, they say, I have to know the publisher, I have to know who does good mysteries and then I have to find that publisher's section and then, I have to sort through the spines to find something that grabs me then pull out their book to read the blurb, the obi. |
| B : |
Then maybe I'll buy it. Whereas in, you know, other countries it's just - and to a certain extent it happens a little bit here, but not so much. You know, in other countries there's display bins and huge point of sale material and face-out displays and promotions and... |
| T : |
Going to Barnes & Noble in New York, which is where I'm from... |
| T : |
It's like a piece of art, it's a like a museum or a gallery or library. |
| B : |
Displays are so much different and you know, in a lot of markets, it's that whole pay-to-play type... |
| B : |
Here it's all about in-store relationships, how you get your books displayed, what promotions you can do. So there is a, bit of, a mindset adjustment for, I think, anyone coming here to work in a business where that's an issue. |
| T : |
Absolutely. Wow, yeah, and it's pretty shocking when you walk in the door. Well given that, how would you like to see the market develop here? |
| B : |
Well, you know, I would love to see - in a way I am glad that we do have that 'no price discounting rule' here, because I think in a lot of markets, we have been really hurt by retailers heavily, heavily discounting the prices of books and the publishers end up having to foot the bill for that. |
| T : |
The race to the bottom... |
| B : |
Go straight to the bottom and it affects their ability to acquire really good quality new authors. So I am hoping in Japan, I am happy with this law and that can stay. But as for other things, like in-store promotion, in-store display, I would really love to see a gentle shift towards a more western sort of approach to that. Really helping consumer choice, and speed up decision making - anything that can really help customers get in, choose their book, you know, incentivize incremental purchases, all those sort of things that, you know, we pretty much take for granted in the US, to see that introduced here in Japan. |
| T : |
Excellent. Well, we are on #6 - what's your experience with the Nikkei Weekly? |
| B : |
I love that paper. I have only really looked at the paper version, I really do have it... |
| B : |
But I think that's such a great source of information about the market, what people are doing, consumer ideas. And all the new product launches which, some are just amazing, it's inconceivable to me, the quality and the style of things available here and the innovation that takes place. It gives us some great ideas. |
 Paul Riley / Managing Director
Oxford University Press Japan 
Vol.8 : Dr. David Nunan (Anaheim University)
April 18, 2007
Wen's 'ice-melting trip' bears fruit on environment
Gov't takes swipe at 'amakudari'
Properties ready for takeoff
BOJ chief adamant on prices, spending
Mags target high-end women and their cash
Expanded coverage: Virtual ants hook adults with realistic game of life
TESOL：教育学英語教授法 (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Language)
earn as they learn：稼ぎながら勉強をする
pedagogical：教育的な
contest：検証する
purely academic：純粋に学究的な
bricks-and-mortar：従来式の
euphoric：幸福感に溢れた
（ D: David, R: Russell ）
| R : |
I'm here with David Nunan, Dr. David Nunan who is the President of Anaheim University. We are here at the Anaheim University branch in Tokyo. Could you describe for me a little bit about what Anaheim University is and what its mission is? |
| D : |
Sure. The mission is to take graduate education to professionals who are working around the world in various fields. I started the TESOL program in the mid 90s and then we added an MBA program and next year we are about to add a school of film and television, which is going to be interesting.
But the whole idea is that rather than people having to go, say, back to the UK or back to the United States or Canada or Australia to do graduate study, they can stay in place, they can continue to work in places such as Japan, and at the same time earn their master's degree.
And that has two advantages. One of them of course is that they are able to continue to earn as they learn without having to give up full-time employment. But the other big advantage from a pedagogical perspective is that they can actually contest the ideas that they are getting through the programs that they are studying in the everyday work world.
|
| R : |
Right, so it is not purely academic. They can try and put some of these things into practice and see what works.
|
| D : |
Yes and that's been one of the exciting things for me that, you know, I will run an online seminar for an hour on a Saturday morning and then on Monday I will get an email from one of the participants saying "Well, you know, I tried out some of the ideas that we discussed on Saturday morning and they were great."
And I would suggest the following adjustments, you know, "...this worked really well, this didn't work so well." I think that's a tremendous advantage.
|
| R : |
So the online nature of Anaheim is quite unique in many ways. |
| D : |
Well, it certainly was when we started. I mean, nobody else was doing it in those days and everybody these days is playing catch-up of course. So I mean even bricks-and-mortar institutions all have their current web components.
But we were the first and I can remember way, way back in the mid 90s on a Saturday afternoon at about this time logging on and suddenly finding students appearing on my screen and I felt "Wow, it is just so exciting..." I was euphoric.
|
| R : |
Has it become a lot easier to do with broadband and different technologies becoming more widely adopted? |
| R : |
With broadband and different technologies becoming more widely adopted? |
| D : |
In those days, it was dialup. People, including myself, were constantly being kicked out of the classrooms. I would be on the road and having to have classes at 2'o'clock in the morning from Switzerland or wherever I was, but it was exciting and it was fun.
|
| R : |
Is there a video conference aspect to some of your lessons or is it purely email and chat based? |
| D : |
It's mainly text chat. We have been trialing video and that's going to come.
But one of the problems that we are trying to deal with is the fact that a lot of the people that we are trying to reach, teaching in places such as Northern Thailand, or in the Philippines, or in places that are not wired.
And so therefore if we go hi-tech, we are going to cut out the very people that we are trying to provide the service for.
|
serendipitous：予期せず
nationalities：国籍
relentlessly rote learners：過酷な暗記学習者
reluctant：気乗りのしない
interaction：対話
（ D: David, R: Russell ）
| R : |
Now, Japan seems to be a big market for you. I noticed for one thing that on your website you have it in English and in Japanese and also your school of business is the Akia Morita School of Business, and your forthcoming school of film is the Akira Kurosawa School of Film. |
| D : |
The Akira Kurosawa Film School, yeah. |
| R : |
Tell us about the market in Japan for this kind of program. |
| D : |
Well, the school was born here, and we have always had a very strong connection with Japan and we always felt very, very comfortable here. In Japan we have had tremendous financial support from some of the top business creative education leaders in Japan. On our board we have got people like Kurokawa, the architect who I believe is threatening to run for Mayor of Tokyo at the moment.
It's just been something that was serendipitous, you know, it wasn't necessarily planned that we were going to launch this massive kind of initiative in Japan, but that's just the way it evolved, and it's been a very good one.
|
| R : |
How would you describe the sort of breakdown of students that you have at Anaheim in terms of nationalities and languages? |
| D : |
Well, the majority are, I guess, North Americans, but the second largest group would be Japanese first language speakers, who are living and working in Japan, although not exclusively.
And that's been an interesting experience as well because we have developed very close friendships with a lot of those students and I have always thought that a lot that was said about Asian learners, you know, that they are relentlessly rote learners and are reluctant and so on is inaccurate.
One of the nice things - well, one of the interesting things about online learning is that every single interaction that a student has through the site is captured, and so you can go and you can look at the data.
It's very interesting to look at, for example, the number of interactions that, say, not just Japanese first language speakers, we have got people from China, we have got Thais, we have even got somebody from Burma. And so when you look at the data the myths would suggest that all of the native speakers of English would be high in number of interactions, and the Asian learners would be low, and that is simply not the case.
|
| R : |
Is that something to do with the online nature of the interaction, perhaps a lack of sort of - you know, it is not personal face-to-face, and so they feel freer to interact. Or is it, as you say, maybe it's just a myth? |
| D : |
I don't know, I really don't know. Some years ago when I was doing some action research at University of Hong Kong, I had my students - these were undergraduates. I had them, this kind of supports the notion that the distancing factor thats made available through technology somehow frees up students who mights be more reticent. I got my students on every Friday afternoon and the last 20 minutes of class would be devoted to them keeping journals.
And then about 6-7 years ago, I said to them "Look, we've all got email accounts, instead of I am going to let you go 20 minutes early from class. Rather than writing the journals longhand, I want you to go off to the computing center. And send it to me as an email.
|
| D : |
It was remarkable. I mean, the level of detail, the honesty with their written journals. When I was standing in front of a class, it tended to be fairly "Oh yes, this is the wonderful class, Professor Nunan, you are so wise. Thank you so much." But once they had the distancing effect of technology, they were much more honest in their reactions and they were much more critical of what was going on in class.
|
| R : |
Fascinating. Now, in terms of Japan again because we are most interested in Japan, how do you see the market for distance learning online, higher education institutions like yourself developing, and what would you like—how would you like to see it develop? |
| D : |
Well, I would like to see an institution, I would hope it was Anaheim, emerging as the kind of Harvard of online education. But at the moment I think the tendency for many learners, and also professors, is to think of it as a bit of a sideline, you know, that the professors have their day jobs and teaching online is a bit of a sideline.
But one of the things that we are really trying to pursue at Anaheim is the notion that we are a serious educational institution and that we provide the same care and concern to students online as we would provide to students in a face-to-face mode. And so, in ten years time, I would like to see us as being touted as the Harvard of online education.
|
| R : |
Are you a reader of the Nikkei weekly? |
| D : |
Yes, indeed yes. But I read it every week. I am familiar with it indeed. Yes, and it provides a great service.
|
Belinda Hobbs / Managing Director
Harlequin K.K.
Vol. 7 : Nicolas Menat (beacon communications, k.k.)
April 11, 2007
Confidence waning as big exporters warily eye U.S.
Japan under pressure to ink more FTAs
'Keitai' firms fight for eyeballs
Roppongi welcomes new addition to skyline
Lots of life in elderly, investors hope
Travel firms eye China Olympics, boomers
Expanded coverage: New tower casts proud shadow
advertising agency：広告代理店
staid：生真面目な
TV-centric market：テレビ中心のマーケット
（ N: Nicolas, P: Peter ）
| P : |
I am Peter Barakan and I am talking today to Nicolas Menat who is the President & Representative Director of Beacon Communications, which is an advertising agency. Walking into your offices today, they are very cool looking.
I have never been in very many offices of ad agencies here in Japan, but Japanese companies seem to be a lot more kind of staid. This one looks very modern, very relaxed, well designed, is it typical of advertising or are you a special company in that way? |
| N : |
I do believe we are a special company in that way. I think we really have a very nice office. Since it has been built, we believe that the environment is encouraging the creativity of the people who are working in this industry.
And we all want to be creative, we all have to be creative in this industry and this building has been built in the way to encourage lots of exchanges between the people to have different people with different backgrounds and experiences working together for the brands of our clients.
And yes, I think it is fresh. I think the colors are vibrant. I think it is an agency where you see a lot of young people and I think all this combined creates this atmosphere which is quite unique, not only in Japan but in all the agencies I have visited so far. |
| P : |
As you said, Japan is a very different market for advertising compared with America. There must be difficulties. I mean, even if you are so closely related to Dentsu, what would you perceive as the major difficulties coming from a more American direction in creating advertising? I know this isn't in the list of questions.
|
| N : |
Yeah, no, no. I think Japan is unique for at least two reasons and it is more difficult to enter for two reasons as far as my industry is concerned. First, the big players, the local players are bigger than anywhere else in the world. It is true to advertising.
When you think of the position of Dentsu, Hakuhodo and ADK, the three biggest advertising agencies, their position in this market is absolutely unique, it is not domination, it is more than this actually. And it is true in many, many other industries.
Quite surprised working more and more for French automobile clients that we won not long ago and that I am discovering a little bit more precisely the actual situation of the automobile market in Japan, I think that less than 8% of this market is open to foreign rights which is extremely small compared to any other countries in the world.
It is quite strange when you think that at the same time Toyota is becoming the leader around the world which means global brands are big everywhere. Well, in Japan, well, okay, Toyota is big but there is very, very little room actually for foreign players.
An advertising agency to a certain point is just facing the same situation and this is extremely different compared to my home country France, but even Germany or even the US where it is not so much local players anymore than global players that are actually running the show.
That's one very specific point for Japan. The second point I want to mention is even if technology is extremely advanced in Japan, Japan is way behind the world in terms of opening to new ways of engaging consumers or new ways of communicating with consumers. |
| N : |
Japan is extremely TV-centric market. When we look at the advertising spending in Japan, it is still very focused to TV media more than anywhere else in the world while at the same time you have 90 plus million keitais in Japan with people every day all the time using them, surfing with them.
You have an amazing network of HighBand internet in all households, so the quality of digital communication is better than anywhere else but the media spending are more conservative than anywhere else. This is quite unique to Japan.
But this is changing and I do believe that actually these two very specific points I am discovering for a year and half here in Japan are actually changing and will even change even faster in the coming months and years.
If we look at 2006, something like an increase of 30% of the media spending in internet in Japan shows that okay, there is a reality behind this shift from the traditional way of advertising to a much more modern, I would say much more personal, much more one-to-one, much more engaging way of brands dealing with their consumers.
Foreign brands, well, they are growing at least in some categories. We do have some clients that are leading their markets. It is a little bit slower because the local players are extremely strong. |
decisive：決断力がある
publication：出版物
media strategy：メディア戦略
（ N: Nicolas, P: Peter ）
| P : |
I guess we have covered some of these topics in a slightly indirect way, how would you like to see the market develop here in Japan? |
| N : |
There is no doubt in my mind that this market will change as anywhere else in the world, both... |
| P : |
It's a very cautious country in a lot of ways but when things do start to change, I found it's very quick and very decisive. |
| N : |
Yes. First there is no doubt in my mind that this country will continue because it started to open up the boundaries to foreign influences. We do know that some of the Japanese people do not want to open too quickly.
But we do know that Japanese young people as any young people around the world are more connected to one another, that internet and all these digital communication tools are opening the world that the products are traveling the world, the news are traveling the world much faster than ever and that the influence of the Japanese consumers will benefit from that, I do believe it is beneficial. |
| P : |
The message could be coming from anywhere...
|
| P : |
Okay, are you aware of the Nikkei Weekly? |
| N : |
I am, I receive it and we have a desk where we put all the publications we receive and I have to say it is one of the very rare I can read. |
| N : |
So, and it's of a great help and I do watch TV but on the TV unfortunately I can receive just American and British news, I am thinking of CNN and BBC World of course. I do go online to receive some information about my home country, so I am connecting to the News Online from Paris.
And Nikkei Weekly is the only one that gives me the information about a country where I am living for a year and a half, and it's of a great help for me, it's very fresh, I don't need to read the news everyday so it gives me in a short time all the information I need about my home country now, Japan.
Otherwise I am quite familiar because of the nature of our job with the Nikkei Publications because every time we go see clients we do recommend the Nikkei Publications for our clients in their media strategy. So I know, but unfortunately I cannot really get why it's so successful. I have to trust their figures because I can't read unfortunately the Nikkei Business and so on, so Nikkei Weekly is the only one that gives me a touch with Japan. |
Dr. David Nunan / President
Anaheim University
Vol.6 : Glen S. Fukushima (Airbus Japan K.K.)
April 4, 2007
Nationwide land price turns up for first time in 16 years
Consumption slowly regaining vigor
Budget wins praise, doubts
Barbershops get makeover as spas
GPS devices open up new worlds
Expanded coverage: Sports bikes helping middle-aged riders keep fit
consortium : 共同事業体
integrated : 一体化される
headway：前進
（ G: Glen, T: Terri ）
| T : |
Can you give us a description of Airbus? What is Airbus for people who don't even know? |
| G : |
Airbus is one of the two aircraft manufacturers, commercial aircraft manufacturers, the other being Boeing, that produces aircraft with more than 100 seats. There are some other aircraft companies that produce smaller aircraft, but for aircraft of more than 100 seats, there are only two companies now in the world. One is Boeing and the other is Airbus. |
| G : |
Yes. We are headquartered in Toulouse, France, but the company originated from companies in four countries -- in France, Germany, UK, and Spain. |
| G : |
Well, it was more of a consortium initially, but it's become integrated now and so it's one company. But it is a very, very global company. There are something like 84 nationalities working in the company... The company has people from 84 nationalities who are its employees. There are about 55,000 employees in the world. |
| T : |
What's the market like, especially internationally but also here in Japan? |
| G : |
Well, actually Japan is quite unusual in the sense that in most markets in the world, Airbus has anywhere from 30 or 40 to as high as 80% of the market. For instance, from 2000 to 2004, in those five years, the market shares for Airbus and Boeing were that Airbus had 62% of the European market, 83% of the Middle East and Africa, 49% of North and South America, 55% of Asia other than Japan, and Japan was only 4%. |
| G : |
So Japan is highly unusual. In fact, there are many people in the company who say there are only two markets in the world where Airbus has not been successful so far, and those are Israel and Japan.
The Japanese airline companies are obviously having to compete both domestically and internationally. So I actually think that the environment for Airbus in Japan is improving. I'm relatively confident that, given some more time and effort, we will be able to make some headway. |
| T : |
That's wonderful. I'm just curious. In Israel, what will happen - Israel has a same sort of US-Israel relationship? |
| G : |
I think there -- although I don't know enough about Israel to speak with confidence -- I'm told by my colleagues in Airbus that because of the heavy dependence by Israel on the United States for military security and foreign aid... |
| G : |
...that they feel quite obligated to buy from the United States. |
peculiarities：風変わりな事柄
start-up companies：新興企業
assesses：査定する
receptive：受容的な
（ G: Glen, T: Terri ）
| T : |
Well, actually you just similarly took care of number four, the differences between market conditions in Japan and other countries - that just took care of that. |
| G : |
Let me give you one footnote though. |
| G : |
As I mentioned, in Asia other than Japan, Airbus has 55% of the market. It's very interesting right now is that India and China are such large growing markets for aircraft generally. For instance, a couple of years ago, India ordered something like 380 aircraft in one year and out of that Airbus got 75%, and in the same year, 2005, China ordered about 350 some aircraft in one year and Airbus got 62% of those orders. And also the A380, the large double-decker aircraft which will be appearing commercially in October of this year, that aircraft has already been ordered by seven airlines in Asia, including Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, China, India, and Australia. |
| G : |
And so we are hoping that Japan will also. |
| T : |
The question is how you would like to see the market develop in Japan? You said - in some ways are there peculiarities or specific cultural or psychological things that would be more helpful if... |
| G : |
One of the things that's very encouraging for us is that although the large Japanese airline companies have not bought so much from Airbus, the start-up companies in Japan, for instance, StarFlyer and Galaxy, the most recent start-up companies, both of them have chosen Airbus aircraft. So I think that indicates that if a company starts from a clean slate and assesses the Boeing and Airbus aircraft, that often we are chosen... |
| T : |
They will choose you. |
| G : |
...as the preferred choice. And so, I think that's very encouraging. I think it indicates that the Japanese market is becoming more open in the sense of really valuing the quality, fuel efficiency, and ease of use both by pilots and ease of maintenance as well as the preference of passengers. So, as I said before, I'm pretty confident that over time we will see the market in Japan become more receptive to Airbus. |
| T : |
Well, then I'll go to the next and last question. Your experience with the Nikkei Weekly? |
| G : |
Well, I've long been a subscriber of I think - what was it called before -- the Japan Economic Journal? |
| T : |
Japan Economic Journal. |
| G : |
When I came here in 1990, with AT&T, I started a subscription. So I've had a subscription now for 17 years, although I do use the Nikkei Net as well. So I subscribe to both. So I've been a loyal subscriber for many years. |
Nicolas Menat
President and Representative Director
Beacon Communications K.K.
|
|
|
|
