Japan - US Business News

The Interpreter's Corner: My Breaking Point

Amya Miller continues to chronicle the day to day struggles of the people and relief efforts in the earthquake and tsunami ravaged areas in Japan...

I have been in Ofunato and Rikuzentakata for a week now and have found myself numb driving past and walking through the immense devastation.  I have been told by the relief workers I am working with that shutting down my emotions is a necessary part of doing my job and while I have struggled with the idea of having to go “robotic” in order to function, I’ve done just that. Until yesterday. 

This, I believe, was the first time in my over twenty years of interpreting that I broke down and cried in front of those for whom I was interpreting.  The combination of humiliation, pain, anger and frustration is a pretty nasty soup of emotions. 

Evidently I'm human.  Evidently I can't go a whole week shutting out my emotions and being strictly professional.  Evidently, all this comes at a price.

The Interpreter's Corner: A Whole New Kind of Interpreting

I arrived in Tokyo last night.  It’s changed.  The streets are darker, lights are out all over the place (rolling blackouts).  Food is available but on my morning walk to the local Lawson to pick up water and milk tea, I noticed maybe a third of the shelves were still empty.

There are also significantly fewer gaijins.  More on that some other day.

I’m finding myself facing a whole new kind of interpreting experience.  I’m heading up north to Ohfunato today for two months.  What am I doing?  I can’t honestly say.  I have been told relief/disaster work is very fluid and organic and things “just sort of evolve” and when I say I don’t understand what that means, I’m met with “you’ll understand once you’re there.”

I’m working with a US-based relief organization that has done this kind of work all over the world.  I tried explaining Japan is anything but fluid and organic but they say they know what they’re doing and are prepared to use the “gaijin card” to get things done if necessary.  I’m prepared to insert myself into this, whatever that means and whatever form it ends up taking, but….

The Interpreter's Corner: Emotions and Control for Japan

I have sat  by the phone for boyfriends to call.  I have sat by the phone waiting to hear about my nieces' births.  I have sat and waited for many reasons.  You would think by now I would be used to it.  I'm not.  I hate it.
 
This past week has been a waiting game.  A call comes in and says "we'll know more tomorrow."  Tomorrow arrives and no one calls.  I feel like I'm seventeen again.  The boy I like didn't call me.  I mope.  I pout. I get angry at the people I love.  When the phone finally does ring it's only to tell me to wait some more.  The latest call at 3pm today was to tell me I should know in 24 hours if I'm leaving for Japan to help with relief work.  I will leave either on Sunday or next Saturday.  I get to wait again.
 
I have been warned to expect the worse when I arrive in Iwate.  I have been told it's worse than we think.  That I don't see how that is possible is a testament to my lack of imagination.  Or, so I'm told.  I have been asked how I deal with grief.  (How's that for a job interview question?)  I have been told to prepare to have to control my emotions.  I said I would try.
 
Which is total crap, of course.  I cry at commercials.  I cry when I watch movies where anyone dies.  (Even the bad guys.)  I cry when others cry.  I am not very good at holding back my tears.  This is even more true when there's a real reason for them.  Watching the main character in a movie die is one thing.  Hearing the grief people in Japan are suffering is as real as it gets.  Through all this, I'm supposed to be calm, professional, objective, patient and hold back my tears.  I don't know how to control the last part.  I will no doubt figure it out.  It's amazing to me how to body shuts down, goes into overdrive, runs on adrenaline and in general knows what to do and not to do when serious resolve is needed.  There's something in me that says I will find a way to remain professional and non-emotional.  Most of the time I believe this.
 
I've done it before.  I tell myself this over and over.  Interpreting for a family whose daughter was murdered, I was the picture of control.  I wasn't sure before the assignment how I was going to get through the sentencing of the murderer without being affected by their pain and grief and tears.  I did.  I will figure out what part of me shut down that day and muster up that energy again.
 
Perhaps at the end of the day I will have to keep telling myself I need to ration my Kleenex and toilet paper.  I'm afraid if I use it on my tears I won't have any leftover.  This should keep my tear ducts dry.  Right?

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Amya Miller lives near Boston, Massachusetts and is the President and CEO of Lupine and Co., which offers Japanese interpretation, liaison services, business etiquette training, consultation on successful negotiation techniques and problem solving. 

Amya also founded the Gaijin Group; a group for gaijins all over the world.  She was born and raised in Japan and spent time in Tokyo and Hokkaido.  She has worked as an Interpreter and behind-the-scenes liaison in Japan-US business for 20 years.  You can reach Amya at amya@lupineandco.com and find out more about at http://www.lupineandco.com/ and http://www.gaijingroup.com/.

 

 

 

The Interpreter's Corner: Scared

The earthquake in Japan, the subsequent tsunamis and aftershocks that never seem to cease has me reeling.  I go back and forth between being glued to the television and walking away, emotionally drained.  Then I made a decision.  I’m an interpreter.  I can be of use the most in Japan.  I’m going.

Fast-forward, I am on standby with multiple organizations, federal, private and non-profit.  I have told all of them I am prepared to leave as early as March 22nd.  I went to my doctor and stocked up on medication so I can stay long term.  I’m mentally packing, trying to decide what to take.  And then it happens.  Fear hits like it never has before.  It takes over.

I’m scared.  I mean I’m really scared.  I’ve been through earthquakes before.  Big ones, too.  Tsunamis terrify me.  Not to state the obvious but I can’t possibly outrun them.  There’s nothing about Mother Nature that can be controlled.  Japan is a volatile country right now.

Then there’s the nuclear situation which can only be described as amazingly terrifying.  Between the evacuation notices and strongly worded statements by the Japanese and US Governments, I’m scared all over again. 

I spoke tonight with a US-based relief organization that’s in Tokyo now, trying to get up to Iwate to assist with search and rescue and recovery efforts.  They want me there in a week, assuming they stay.  I said I would go.  I meant it.  I mean it.  I will go.  And then there’s the fear all over again.

I’m in no position to say those of you/us who speak both Japanese and English should put down all we’re doing and hop on the next plane to Japan.  I’m going because I can be of more use there than here.  But, there is something I would like to ask.  It’s a favor.

Whatever religion you may ascribe to, may I ask for your prayers, please.  If you aren’t religious, may I ask that you light a candle, sing a song, dance naked under the moonlight, be nice to your neighbor or hug your kids/spouse/partner/parent/pet.  It would be nice if you could think of those in Japan when you do so, and possibly include me among those you think of. 

One of my favorite quotes is from Madonna.  Evidently, she said somewhere to someone, “I'm tough, I'm ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay.”  I can relate to that.  I’m tough, too.  I’m a strong woman.  I know I want to go to Japan and be of use.  I don’t think any of this makes me a bitch, but if it does, so be it.

Yes, I am strong.  I am tough.  Rather, I should say I’m usually strong and tough.  Right now, I’m simply scared.  Big time.  (Feel free to insert some colorful language here.  I know I am.)

Bring it on.  I think.

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Amya Miller lives near Boston, Massachusetts and is the President and CEO of Lupine and Co., which offers Japanese interpretation, liaison services, business etiquette training, consultation on successful negotiation techniques and problem solving. 

Amya also founded the Gaijin Group; a group for gaijins all over the world.  She was born and raised in Japan and spent time in Tokyo and Hokkaido.  She has worked as an Interpreter and behind-the-scenes liaison in Japan-US business for 20 years.  You can reach Amya at amya@lupineandco.com and find out more about at http://www.lupineandco.com/ and http://www.gaijingroup.com/.

 

 

"Women in Japan-US Business" profile series re-launch onTuesday, Dec. 14th

Japan-US Business News blog is doing a yearlong “Women in Japan-US Business” interview series.  In the past and still to too large a degree today, Japanese women are not utilized anywhere near their full potential in a Japanese company.

This is of course changing and although slowly, there are successful Japanese women out there in high level positions who deserve to be spotlighted and recognized as trailblazers in business in a society that doesn't traditionally support or encourage working women to reach their full business potential.

Over the course of the coming year, Japan-US Business News blog will be telling the stories of some of these remarkable women, both Japanese and American, who are successful in the Japan-US business arena in spite of the odds against them.

The series began officially on July 6th with a 2 part profile of Yuko Shibata, Executive Director, ALC Education Inc. in Japan. Ms. Shibata trail-blazed a new path in Global Management training through hard work,  determination and the willingness to try “something new” and achieved great success.
After a hiatus, the series begins again with a new profile this month and will run each month throughout 2011.

For years, a great number of  Japanese women who have wanted to expand their horizons beyond the limits that their culture inherently imposes have left Japan’s shores to seek out freedom in other countries, namely the U.S or have gone to work for foreign companies in Tokyo where they stood a better chance at gaining meaningful opportunities.

The ones who have stayed in Japan knew that the road would be filled with obstacles and battles that would be fought constantly if they wanted to rise above their traditionally regulated roles of house wife and office lady. Yet they were willing to fight the obstacles.

They knew the tradeoffs would be hard, that the sacrifices would be great and that the term “Christmas Cake” that takes the place of the western biological clock would wind down on them rapidly.  But no matter, these sharp career oriented women never wanted to be cake.

Japan has a large pool of talented women waiting for a chance “to show their power” as Yuko Shibata stated in her interview with us in July, from which to pick and develop to help address the country’s increasing labor shortages among other things.  Time to get started.

As I stated in July and will re-state again, my goal for the series is to:

1.) Spotlight talented women in Japan – US business and give them the recognition they deserve

 2.) Show that the path to success is varied but achievable

3.) Let the determination and success of these women inspire and encourage other women, and Japanese women in particular, to keep striving for the corporate success or any form of success that they seek in any field.

Let me know what you think of the series at yburton@japanusbusinessnews.com.

 

The New Hammer in Japan

Japan is facing the serious problems of declining birthrates, an aging population, shortage of working people, and  a largely apathetic younger generation to name a few.

These factors are converging like a perfect storm of economic woe that will be catastrophic for Japan if not seriously addressed and solutions put into place starting now.

What are possible solutions? Incentives to have more children? Tricky. Inspire young people so that they feel they have at least the hope of promising future? It won’t be easy.

But one way to address the labor shortage: Women! It's time to start utilizing fully a pool of talent that is already abundantly available in country. They are already citizens, speak the language, trainable and many are willing to work hard and have been waiting forever for the opportunity.

I think of the Second World War and how the U.S. was forced to call on women to join the workforce and take on the traditionally “male” jobs while men were overseas fighting. Although not war time, the Japanese will face similar male labor shortages and one of the potential ways to deal with this shortage is to utilize the other half of the population more in “un-traditional” ways.

I am sure that the government has been putting into place plans to deal with these problems and although I do not know what those solutions are, I want to throw my support behind the idea of opening up the Japanese mindset and giving qualified Japanese women more positions of substance in corporate Japan.

The harsh glare of light on these tough issues makes it impossible to hide any longer or to claim the “we the Japanese” card of difference. Japan is not so much different anymore as in danger.

The educational system that supports rote learning and graduates “conformists” mindsets from even prestigious universities has run its course. Its time has come and gone. It is time for evolution and innovation. New solutions to address the new conditions.

The New Hammer
The phrase that described how Japan handled differences and individuality in the past, “the nail that sticks out must be hammered in,” is outdated to say the least and seriously unwise.

For Japan going forward, the nail that sticks out MUST become the new hammer.

A blunt tool to stamp out conformity, unwise consensus building, promotion based on age instead of merit, generally under-utilizing the intelligence and power of women on a nationwide scale by placing them in lesser roles than which they qualify, an apathetic younger generation, lack of support for small businesses on an appropriate national scale, the list goes on.

The New Hammer is small companies that are innovators in need of government support in terms of funds, advice and promotion.

The New Hammer is the individual with the new software idea that needs help to incubate their product.

The New Hammer is the housewife who has run a household for years who has an idea to create a niche health care business to do her part in assisting the aging population.

The New Hammer is the young woman who went overseas on her own to gain international experience and foreign language fluency who wants a position in a Japanese company that will fulfill her and challenge her to keep learning and growing.

The New Hammer is the teacher who wants to employ a new method of teaching based on action learning to stimulate independent thinking and creativity.

The New Hammer is the 1 person company with a website selling globally.

The New Hammer is the young salary-man who actually speaks his mind in a company meeting.

The New Hammer is using technology to build a new efficient business model.

The New Hammer is a major corporation thinking like a hungry start-up.

The New Hammer is the Japanese company that institutes English as the language of their international business.

The New Hammer is embracing change.

The New Hammer is all around the country. It is the government’s job to start programs to help them, guide them, support them and help them grow. They are the future of Japan.

To support these types of companies and individuals, Japan-US business News will start a new feature in January, 2011 called “The New Hammer”. In it, we will spotlight the new thinkers, the innovators, and the doers that we find in Japan-US Business each month—Japanese or foreign. We will promote them. We will give them a forum to talk about their businesses so they can "Hammer On".

Send along your recommendations of a company of any size or an individual and we will put the spotlight on them. I already have a few in mind.

Keizai Society summer event on August 28th in Sunnyvale, CA ...Register early for all the fun.

Keizai Society presents summer networking event on 8/28/2010 (Sat) in Serra Park, Sunnyvale!

Well-known for its openness, greenery, and beautiful landscape with a man-made water stream and water fountain, the setting is perfect for relaxing and meeting people while enjoying the delicious food.

This event is ideal for both networking and catching up with old acquaintances or making new ones! Moreover, the park's green open field also offers your family members, significant other and friends a place to enjoy outdoor activities, such as playing Frisbee, football, baseball, tennis, etc. 
 
Saturday, August 28, 2010 at 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm.

Serra Park in Sunnyvale, CA.

Address: 730 The Dalles, Sunnyvale, CA.

Register early at Keizai Society and reserve your spot at this fun networking event.

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Keizai Society is a Silicon Valley based business and professional networking organization. Their primary purpose is to provide a venue of programs that showcase specialists with expertise on issues critical to the success of entrepreneurs and companies doing business with Japan and the U.S.

Toyota told to embrace Public Relations worldwide

I recently read the article “Toyota told it has to close PR culture gap” in Financial Times by Bernard Simon.

In the article, it states that the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers has told Toyota “it needs to do more to improve its crisis management and close a public-relations culture gap between head office in Japan and other parts of the world.”

I agree, I agree, I agree. Back in February I wrote the basically the same thing in 3 posts: Toyota's Challenging Steps,  How Toyota should 'Move Forward' and In Toyota's fall, will Japan learn its lesson?

I am glad for the validation. In this article, the group advises ''Also pressing is the need for bridging the culture gap between Japan and other nations in public relations activities.''

This could not be more true and its about time that Japanese are saying it, not just Americans. Japanese companies such as Toyota need to start seeing themselves as truly global companies and accept all the responsibilities and accountabilities that comes with that. They can no longer hide behind “we the Japanese” and act as if they are still an isolated country or company that doesn’t have to play by all the rules that others do.

PR is a major force in America and in many countries. Whether that is good or bad is not the issue here. It is what is done by all so therefore Toyota has to play the game too especially now that they are in a nightmare of bad PR.

Hopefully this group scientists and engineers will convince them.

A New Take on Japan-U.S. Relations

Last Thursday, I attended an event at the University of Connecticut (UConn) –Stamford Campus, with the Ambassador and Consul General of Japan in NY, Shinichi Nishimiya. The event was co-sponsored by the Japan Society of Fairfield County, Inc. and the UConn Center for Globalization and Commerce.

The Ambassador mentioned what he calls “Grassroots Diplomacy”--- his goal to bring Japan to the people so to speak. He mentioned when I questioned him that it is his goal when he speaks at campuses to make Japan ‘accessible' to everyone.

As more and more young people in the U.S. are interested in Japanese culture due to anime & manga, cool fashions out of Tokyo and other Japanese pop-culture trends, there is an up-tick in Japanese study. This is an opportunity  him to really open discussion in new ways with America about Japan.

In the past people such as myself studied Japanese mainly for business reasons. This is changing but the end result is the same as I mentioned in The Manga and Anime Revolution in America post last year -- more people studying Japanese language and culture and that will be good for business between the two nations.

The Land of the Setting Sun?.. 3 Tips to help Japan rise again

Contributor Michael Green, sees the sun setting on Japan and offers three possible sources of light. ____________________________________________________________________ 

I recently read an article entitled “The Land of the Setting Sun” by John Mauldin which had some great statistical data on the future of Japan but which unfortunately painted a bleak picture of things to come.

The original article uses this data to talk about how bleak the future of Japan looks these days and how the government is running into serious debt problems.

I wanted to follow on the original article and take a look at some of the options available to potentially resolve this problem and hopefully return Japan to prosperity.

John has kindly allowed me to reference the statistics from his article. Let me first take a look at the data and some of the points made in the original article:

• Since 1999 the level of debt-to-GDP has risen from 99% to over 170%.  Total government debt is close to 900 trillion yen and growing at about 7-8% a year.

• The Interest-rate expense on this debt takes up about 18% of the annual tax revenue that the Japanese takes in. Interest rates are going to have to rise as Japan will have to compete for capital with other nations. If interest rates double to around 2% or so the interest-rate expense would be approximately 40% of total tax revenues.

•  In 2000 the personal savings rate was 18% now it is 1.8%. Much of those savings were used to buy government debt. With low interest rates the government was able to borrow a lot as the interest costs were not a factor.  The lower domestic savings rate does mean that the Japanese government will have to seek financing from outside Japan at higher rates.

•  If we look at the demographics we see a problem in that there are currently 1.2 nonproductive citizens (under 15 years old and over 64) for every productive Japanese citizen. This ratio is expected to reach 2.0 by 2020 and will only continue to grow thereafter.

This does not paint a pretty picture of the future. What does this debt problem hold for Japan’s future and what policy options are available to get them out of this mess?

Like an individual who is in debt, nations have the same basic options available, either cut expenses or raise level of income.

Solution #1: Raise Taxes
Just hike up the taxes and let the revenue flow in. Given that government borrowing is still increasing at 7-8% a year they would need to raise taxes to very high levels to first balance the budget then begin to pay down debt. This could lead to a prolonged period of very little economic growth that will make the so called “lost decades” of the past 20 years look like boom times in comparison.

Raising corporate taxes will reduce job creation which is essential to future economic growth. Raising personal income taxes will reduce disposable income and reduce demand levels which of course reduce economic activity.

Another G8 country with a similar problem successfully reduced their high levels of debt throughout the 1990s in part by raising taxes but that came at great cost. That country was Canada. Should Japan do this the end result will be lowered standards of living for Japanese citizens just as Canadians found out during the 1990s.

Solution #2: Cut Spending
If they cannot raise revenue then they have to cut expenses. But how much and where to cut? Do they cut health care? Sounds like a good idea until we realize that Japan has an ever aging society which needs health care funding.

How about cutting education? Not a wise thing to do as this will directly reduce national competitiveness. Again looking at the Canadian example, they made deep cuts to services during the 1990s, in particular health care. As painful as it was, they did reduce their national debt a great deal in 10 years. Again, as with increased taxes the end result is lower standards of living.

In the end, Japan is going to have to do a combination of both of these no matter what as at some point this debt is going have to be repaid or at the very least the debt is going to have to be rolled over assuming of course that creditors are willing to do so and this gets more costly the more the debt grows.

However, both of the above solutions do not address the long term issue which really struck me and is my motivation for writing this article.

The point about the ratio of non productive compared to productive citizens is my real concern here. The fact the society is getting less productive and is going to have to carry more unproductive citizens is most certainly going to negatively affect the level of GDP growth in the future and the standard of living for all Japanese even if the debt were not a bad as it is now.

Classifying people as “non productive” is why economics is called the “dismal science” but it is the hard reality. So what do we need to do then?   
 
Solution #3: Societal Changes
The best long term solution is to restructure the population pyramid that makes up Japanese society which is the root cause of problem.

Non productive citizens pay less tax and as they age they tend to need more services and hence have a higher carrying cost to society. These are both driving the need to borrow more to maintain the same level of services. This trend is not getting any better and will have continued negative impacts on long term growth.

So what can be done to restructure society? One idea that is already being discussed is to try to encourage childbirth. This is a good start and a good long term solution but it will take time for these new children to grow up and start being productive members of society.

They will not start to make an impact until about 20 years from now when they first start to enter the workforce. In 20 years it will be 2029 and already too late to change things as the ratio of non productive citizens to productive ones is already expected to be over 2.0,  nearly double what it is now.

A much faster solution is needed and it has to start within the next 2-3 years. Japan needs an influx of young productive workers which will consume goods driving economic growth while providing the revenue needed to support the current and future government spending. This is the key and it is the only solution that will work long term.

Tax and spending changes are relatively quick to implement compared to the long term problem with the structure of society which is much harder to deal with. What will happen is unknown but the fact is that something needs to happen and it needs to happen fast.

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Michael Green has been living in Japan for 9 years and resides in Tokyo. He has worked in the Financial industry for most of his career. He is a specialist in Business Process Re-engineering and Project Management.

More articles by Michael Green:

The Green Bubble Cometh - Part 1 & The Green Bubble Cometh - Part 2

MUFG and Morgan Stanley's "Strategic" Tie up in Japan

Lehman Lives on in Japan - Part 1 & Part 2