Blogs and Articles from Third Way Forum Membrs

・ The first and foremost question comes in mind to many foreign residents in 2022 is whether or not continue to stay in Japan.

・ Given the 30 year flat income level, increasing tax and prices, it is evident that living in Japan is no longer as promising as before financially. What could be harvested seem to have been already harvested in the Japanese economy. So global companies may find nothing left for further harvesting and pull of the Japanese market.

・ No major innovative ideas or products have happened in Japan for several decades now since Sony’s Walkman. Also, the level of English communication and the degree of welcoming infrastructure for foreigners are still limited.

・ It seems clear that the measures Japan has been taking is not sufficient to attract and retain foreign talents in Japan. Foreigners would rather go to Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Australia if they had a choice as these countries look more promising for foreigners to succeed.

・ While less foreign business people may be actually coming, living and opening an office in Japan, it is expected more and more foreigners try to find a Japanese partner to do business “with” Japan. Thanks to the remote working practice, the trend is going to work “with” Japan rather than “in” Japan. To work through partnership remotely is much less costly, much less risky and much less complicated than physically coming to Japan and doing business in Japan. In the same manner, more and more Japanese companies are also expected to find partners overseas who could represent their interests and promote their products and services overseas.

・ It may be a good time to seriously reconsider the old argument that Japan should no longer focus on competing with other countries as an economic super power in the business world and start competing as a cultural super power like Italy. When it comes to digitalization, new technology etc, it is getting difficult for Japan to catch up with the rest of the world due to its super aging society with majority of people being digital non-natives.

・ However, when it comes to food, animation, fashion, design, architecture, traditional arts and historical characters etc, Japan is still super competitive. Yet there are many things which are still not properly introduced overseas. The Japanese alone can not understand what Japanese other products or services could be very appealing for foreigners with success potential while foreigners alone can not easily find a way to actually procure necessary materials and people to make the products or services available for overseas users. In this space here, an international community like Third Way Forum could potentially play an important role as a coordinator to make things happen.

・ One of the major reasons why Japanese companies can not market their great products overseas, things like washlet toilet seat, special local Sake and Sanuki Udon noodles etc, is because they do not have a group of international people like Thrid Way Forum within the company that can work together to make it happen.

・ Although this so-called “Italy Flair” is a good idea and Japan should more seriously explore a way to capitalize on its cultural asset, it is also important that Japan will find a way to increase more wages. Japan’s animation is world class but the Japanese animators are not paid enough and impoverished. The same with the film industry. While the Korean film industry is heavily invested in and paying a lot of money to employees, the Japanese film industry is impoverished and its workers are poor. Unless Japan finds a way to raise salary, invest more money and get more money in return, Japan will be constantly lagging behind the rest of the world in digitalization and technological development, and the Japanese people will get poorer even if they start dressing up fashionably like Italians!