Podcasts - Japan Expert Insights

Why is Public Affairs so important in Japan but yet an untapped market?

With over 40 years of experience in Japan, the iconic veteran Timothy Langley is the founder of Japan’s premier government & public consultancy Langley Esquire. The first foreigner to work in the Japan National Diet, alongside many senior Japanese politicians, Timothy has also served as top Legal & Gov’t Affairs Specialist for Apple Computer (Japan), General Counsel to General Motors (Japan) and director of numerous companies from start-up to fortune 100. He is also Host & Executive Producer of Japan’s only Public Affairs-related audio/video series, Tokyo on Fire. Timothy talks about “clash of cultures,” why foreigners in Japan are often “Agents of Change,” and why Public Affairs is so import in Japan but yet an untapped market.

How important is it to oversee all customer touch-points and the Instagram angle of business?

Japan veteran and savvy businessman Seth Sulkin is the founder of Pacifica Capital, an international hotel developer and operator. He has also become a disruptor in the restaurant food delivery business with the launch of his new gourmet restaurant food delivery app Food-e. In this episode we learn all about this booming industry, why before Food-e high-end restaurants couldn’t or wouldn’t join delivery apps, and the innovations which convinced these reputable restaurants to sign on.

What you can learn from Japan’s seven-minute miracle

The Shinkansen is both an engineering and an operational marvel. There are times when JR East is running trains three minutes behind each other at 320 kilometers per hour. To make this work requires an insane commitment to schedule. A departure is only considered to be on-time if happens within fifteen seconds of its scheduled time; no earlier, no later than 15 seconds. And most trains arrive within six seconds of their scheduled time.

How introducing inefficiencies into the process enabled greater, sincere human connections and led to greater efficiencies.

why Japanese sword/ blacksmithing is more popular with foreigners than with Japanese?

This podcast dives into the world of traditional Japanese sword making with craftsman Taro Asano. He is one of only a handful of practicing “Kajiya” (a person who forges Japanese swords / Katana) still in Japan. He also offers a workshop in English where people come to make their own custom-forged “Samurai knife”. It’s a unique once in a lifetime experience. We discuss all things Katana, how he became a Kajiya, his future plans – which include taking on a 20-year old American apprentice and creating a You-Tube channel to chronicle their adventures, and why Japanese sword/ blacksmithing is more popular with foreigners than with Japanese.

What is “Scarcity Value” and how this relates to the youth of Japan

Andrew Hankinson talks with Dominic Carter, an expert on Japan market entry, market research, and branding. Dominic shares great insight, knowledge, and current research results, which anyone working in Japan or looking to expand into Japan needs to hear. You will hear his 3 Golden Rules for Japan market entry success, the 4 Marco Trends shaping modern Japan, as well as numerous great quotes about how to succeed in the Japanese market. This is a must-listen to anyone doing business in Japan.

Did you know that in 2018, 45% of all 20 year-olds in Shinjyuku ward were non-Japanese?

This episode with 32-year Japan entrepreneur Ruth Jarman, gives some cultural analysis complete with personal experience and stories. Ruth is the founder of Jarman International, and the author of six books in Japanese. Ruth is full of infectious energy and passion. Here, she and Andrew focus on two of her books: “33 Reasons Japanese should be Proud” and “39 Reasons Japanese are Great” and discuss some of these reasons including her Top 3.

What is the best reply to receiving a compliment (It is not just “thank you”) and why “Listening” might be the most important aspect of selling

Twenty-year Japan resident, a sales superstar and best-selling author, serial entrepreneur and certified business coach Dr. David Sweet reveals examples of emotional selling vs. technical selling, the three buying criteria for every customer, gives salespersons ultimate response to “That’s Expensive,” exposes the biggest interviewing mistakes foreigners make in Japan, and tells why he thinks business in Japan is easier for foreigners.

If you are interested in Brand Marketing you will love this episode with Per Rasmussen, marketing guru and author of “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing”

For the past 30 years, Per has been either, head of marketing or president of four major European consumer goods companies in Japan. At both Lego and T-fal he solidified his legacy as a marketing genius by creating a famous TV commercial jingle (#3 Law of the mind), launching a new (still market leading) product category (#2 Law of the category), and localizing existing SKU’s to create a 17-year hit product (#6 Law of exclusivity).