Hasta La Gadget!

A couple of months ago, we blogged about a really interesting exhibition called “Materializing”, that showcased art made with the help of various innovative devices such as laser cutter and 3D printers.

Many of the devices used to produce the artwork for “Materializing” are machines that you might expect in labs or factories. But fellow hobbyists behold, they have finally been liberated and are now available to the public, though their prices remain rather prohibitive: at approximately 7,000 USD a piece for the desktop version, the laser cutter will not yet decorate our garages, though the slightly more affordable 3D printer from Cubify might.

This fact has spurred on a new type of business in Japan: Providing space and machines to the creative people out there who won’t or can’t get them for themselves. Here is why:

First, Japan is known for having issues with space. Japanese houses and apartments are quite small compared to their European or American counterparts and more often than not do not have garage space. And if space wasn’t enough of an issue already, the obligation to return any space you rent in the exact condition you got it is another: just setting up an easel in your apartment is not recommended. So providing people with space to make, to create and let them know about it is already a good business idea. Japan is also a rental society much more than other countries (bands jam together in rental studios not home basements).

Second, thanks to the effort of the Japan DIY association that was founded in 1977 and incorporated in the METI in 1980, the “Do-It-Yourself” culture in Japan is developing. From the traditional scrap-booking or knitting to more heavy DIY such as ceramics or woodwork, you can make about anything in Japan….as long as you have the space for it.

And now creative people do with no less than four different maker spaces being born in Tokyo alone from 2009 up to today. Ranging from the hipster Fab Cafe in Shibuya, where you can sip a glass of ice-tea as you 3D print or laser cut, to the full blown recently opened, Maker Base in Meguro with wood-work and metal-work machines and several laser cutters and 3D printers, through the techy Hacker Space in were you can learn about and make everything from robots to your very own small computer with a raspberry pie or the Fablab, Tokyo based DIY lovers and hobbyist can create to their hearts content.

But the most important part is that not only can they create, but they can also find help and new ideas thanks to a growing community and helpful staff members. It can be courses to get the hang of a machine like in Maker Base or a technology like Hacker Space, or it can be offering a retail platform for your product like Fab Cafe and Maker Base. It can just be a place to connect people that need something and people who can make and help the sparks fly and it can create beautiful stories….like the man that came to Maker Base to train and make an engraved engagement ring for his fiancee or this author who made a personalized 3D printed pen for a friend’s birthday, at Shibuya’s Fab Cafe.

And to top it all of, the 22nd of September, the last piece of the puzzle came into existence with the opening in Meguro of Rainbow Soko operated by T-plaster an interior remodeling company, that uses and converted an old under-ground factory space into creative space. It offers up for rent small office like rooms, where people can set up anything they want, from a drawing/ painting space to a music room.

Finally it is important to point out that not only these spaces have become very popular, featuring frequently in the Japanese and Foreign press as well as on television and participating in interesting event such as the up coming Maker’s fair, but they also provide a competing presence on the online D.I.Y market places field by not only providing the platform but also a physical outlet to make products in, giving them an advantage over competitors such as Etsy.

Taking the train every morning to work, it’s hard to disregard the sheer force and amount of advertisement in Japanese trains. Be it dead bolted to the ceiling , plastered on the doors, windows or walls, or even playing on the small screens announcing station names there is just no escaping them. Japan is known for its very competitive and over-crowded publicity space as well as for using almost any surface as an advertising board (stair cases, toilet paper and obviously trains as shown below), though the latter is not exclusive to Japan.

As explained above, trains are no exception.There are currently at least six different publicity spaces available to companies on a regular train in Japan, seven in those with digital information panels installed.

An advertiser or a company can either purchase one specific spot or every single one of them, commonly referred to as densha jyakingu (train jacking). Furthermore the available advertising space is not limited to the six spots depicted above but can also include the train’s exterior and even, on some occasion, the entirety of the train.

But what actually make these companies go all out on in-train advertisement? A study shows that over half of the train passengers, when not too tired, take notice of them. However, their interests are very specific, mostly about magazines, trips and hotels and book publications, forcing companies to go the extra “extra-mile” to get, and hold, their attention. With 18.5 million people riding Tokyo trains every day, it’s hard to argue with those numbers.

We compiled, for your enjoyment/amusement, five such attention grabbing train adverts that go the extra-mile:

1) The Necktie Handle (Mobit Loan company, Fall 2006):

At first “encounter” you would expect such a contraption to be advertising a cloth retailer or even an influential tailor, however this advertising item actually is trying to promote a loan company. If it doesn’t make sense at first glance, it becomes more understandable when one tells you that one commonality (of many) in the Japanese business world is men in suits. It is thus easy to associate neckties, the essential component of any proper suit attire, with anything to do with personal finance and loans.

2） The seasonal green tea and Highball Whiskey mix  (Suntory, fall 2006 to spring 2007 and December 2011)

Suntory went all out with this product’s campaign, making one three dimension advertising banner for three Japanese seasonal events. Fall has pretty orange maple leaves, winter has the traditional New Year decoration made of an orange and straw, and spring has the also very traditional cherry blossom flowers attached to the posters. This type of advertisement is a direct reminder of the traditional “茶道” (sadoo) or tea ceremony that follows the changes of seasons, a core value of Japanese people.

As for the Whiskey mix the advertisement actually encouraged the commuters to interact with it as presented in the following video (here). The motion of lifting the traditional ”暖簾” (Noren) the three piece curtain hanging in front of traditional Japanese bars, Izakaya, creates a sense of familiarity for the user and contributes to the product’s appeal.

3）The Starbucks wool “scarf” banner (December 2008):

Contrary to the necktie, this advertisement is quite self-explanatory.  Using  colours and materials traditionally associated with winter and Christmas, even in Japan where Christmas and especially Christmas eve is a popular  commercial event for couples and families,  Starbucks brought some knit seasonal cheer to Japanese trains.

4）The fluffy flat teddy bear banner (Disney Japan, Spring 2012):

This one is also quite a surprising use of banner space: Instead of literally hanging a teddy bear to the ceiling, like education company Benesse did, Disney created a rectangular stuffed cushion with the face of the famous Duffy character. Disney enjoys a large client base in Japan, from young children to middle age women. Using Japan’s grand favourite, Duffy the Disney bear, they marketed a new spring attraction. Duffy, the character, has enjoyed a growing popularity in Japan since its introduction as Mickey’s best friend in 2002. This makes it the perfect marketing tool for any new Disney event, and this version is sure to attract the eye.

5） The towel, The flip-flops and The beach mat (Fuji TV, July 2013):

Now that is a combination one would not expect in a train, even less so hanging from the ceiling. This surprising trilogy was seen all other the Soubukaisoku Line in Chiba prefecture this summer to promote Fuji TV’s newest drama Summer Nude, with popular Boy-Band member Yamashita Tomohisa. According to the tweets one can find online, it was quite well received by the public.

The importance of grabbing commuters attention, as the advertisements above surely have, is very real in Japanese trains. Not only are they the most used means of transportation in urban areas (48% of all trips in 2008 in Tokyo according to a survey published in 2011), but they are also the place Japanese people spend the most time in (equivalent of 20 days per year), making it all the more important to grab their attention and hold it, possibly for the whole train ride.

Bonus,something we snapped this morning in the train
6） Kirin’s Bitter caramel and Sunny Orange coffee(August 2013)

Currently Kirin is heavily promoting its new coffee drink for women, including on the train. On that note, this author would like to recommend you the coffee articles that one of our team is currently blogging about (here). If you haven’t seen it already, it’s a great read.

Japanese and Korean firms have been investing in China since the early 80s and 90s respectively; setting up factories and research facilities in order to save on costs.  Yet as China’s growth slows, albeit still at impressive levels above 7%, the country is becoming less attractive for Japanese and Korean companies for a variety of reasons.

Major Challenges:

Several factors are affecting the decisions of Japanese and Korean firms to continue operations, expand and in some cases pull out of China altogether.

Rising Labour Costs

As China evolves from a lower to a middle-income economy, wages and associated human capital costs are rising fast, more than 10% in 2012 coupled with the increasing value of the RMB it has become more costly to ship goods manufactured in China.

Competition from Local Firms

Chinese companies are emerging as competitors to Japanese and Korean manufacturers.

Government Regulation

Ranked 91 out of 185 counties in terms of ease of doing business (which could represent the level of red tape in China), a lack of ‘guanxi’ or connections and difficulties in understanding the rules established in inland provinces as factories move away from the coast can pose great obstacles to Japanese and Korean firms.

Protectionism

According to the CEIBS Business in China Survey 2013, 16% of foreign firms are worried by local protectionism and Korean companies in particular are concerned about the unfavorable sentiment directed at their companies.

Intellectual Property Infringements

This is a key challenge, especially for companies producing higher-end products and research, the recent claim by Kawasaki Heavy Industries that a Chinese company stole their Shinkansen or high speed railway technology is a testament to the issues with IP protection in China.

Finding and Retaining Skilled Talent

With restrictions on rural-urban mobility and and a lack of semi-skilled labour in certain sectors, foreign companies struggle to cope with the shortage of key talent despite the oversupply of college graduates and migrant workers in cities.

Political Tensions

Following flare ups of territorial disputes over islands in the East China Sea,  anti-Japanese sentiment can affect overall stability of operations for Japanese companies in China as boycotts of Japanese products, worker strikes and violent protects become larger and more rampant.

Major Opportunities:

China Plus One Strategy

For years Japanese and Korean firms have been employing this strategy to set up operations in China followed by a cheaper Southeast Asian economy in order to spread risk and anticipate rising labour costs. Now in particular firms are looking to exploit newly attractive destinations such as Myanmar, India, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia and Bangladesh.

Roppongi Hills has launched an interactive website called Tokyo City Symphony as part of a digital campaign that allows users to create and project symphonies of light and music onto a 1:1000 scale model of the Tokyo cityscape.

Operating under the theme of ‘LOVE TOKYO’, the website is being released as part of a number of creative events happening around Roppongi Hills to celebrate their 10th anniversary. The experience starts off by accessing the site and choosing from three visual motifs: “Future City”, “Rock City” and “Edo City”.

Each user is given an eight second score which they can use their keyboards like a piano to input various combinations of matching light projections and melodies onto the scale model of Tokyo. If desired, they can then choose to save and share their symphony creations on Facebook, Twitter or Google +. Submitted symphony scores are put together in an online archive as part of an infinite symphony.

The result is an incredibly lifelike simulation of what customised projection mapping on the whole of Tokyo would look like. In fact, the scale model of the city that was used was previously used in a bid to host the Olympic Games in Tokyo back in 2009. To provide some additional perspective, the handcrafted model measures about 5 square meters while real life Tokyo stretches over 6,400 acres of land.

The project was made in collaboration with a number of Japan’s most prominent creators, including creative direction by Tsubasa Oyagi, who was behind OK Go’s Cannes Lion winning video All Is Not Lost. The campaign is the first from his new creative boutique, SIX P.I.C.S, and also involves talent from well-known interactive design agency Bascule Inc as well as motion specialist TAKCOM and music by Koshi Miura of Kuchiroro.

The small details of the project are eerily accurate, from the sounds – anyone who has ever gotten off at Roppongi Station, for example, will recognise the voice of the train conductor announcing ‘Roppongi, Roppongi’ – to the actual visual display of the Tokyo cityscape itself. All of these things create a dynamic experience of being in Tokyo city, albeit online.

Creative Director: Tsubasa Oyagi, Web Director: Kampei Baba (BASCULE), Programmer: Noriyuki Watanabe (BASCULE), Designer: Sadanori Maeda, Movie Director: TAKCOM, Composer: Kouji Miura, 3D Projection Mapping: Hironori Terai, Takahiko Kashima, Production/System: Toshiyuki Hashimoto, Seiya Nakano, Tomoya Kishimoto.

What do nineteen of Japan’s leading companies think will be the major problems facing society in 2030? A new exhibition in Tokyo Midtown Design Hub called ‘Changing the World Through Design‘ is using installations to provide visitors with a glimpse of what the likes of Toyota, Mitsubishi and Fujitsu think.

The exhibition’s overall theme is the design of future society, and it explores some of the major challenges facing societies both now and in the future. The space is organised into five broad themes reflecting these concerns: ‘Energy’, ‘Education’, ‘Agriculture’, ‘Resilience’, and ‘Community’.

Each company’s installation is contained in a “light capsule”: a glowing semisphere with two holes, one rimmed in black and the other in white, that allow visitors to peer into the capsule to see the installation from different vantage points. The installations are visual representations of a particular issue or challenge, and each hole allows visitors to literally see both what the company views as its existing challenge as well as a potential solution to the challenge in the future.

Rohto’s Capsule

In the ‘Agriculture’ theme, the capsule for Rohto, a pharmaceutical company dealing with health and beauty products, showed the figures of people ploughing the land through one hole, while the second revealed the entire image of a ying-yang symbol. The installation mirrored the emphasis the company wants to place on mutually beneficial projects between developed and developing countries.

Viewed from the second hole, visitors can see the full installation

In the ‘Education’ theme, Gree, one of Japan’s biggest social networking services that focuses on mobile games, stressed the importance of using technology to teach, and highlighted the potential of games as a learning tool.

Viewed from the first hole, visitors see the back of a girl studying

Viewing the installation from the second hole reveals that the girl is using a smart device to learn instead of traditional textbooks

Tour company H.I.S‘s focused on their role in supporting travel as an important part of education. Their display showcased their efforts to encourage and provide opportunities to Japanese students who want to broaden their horizons by travelling overseas to volunteer in countries like Bangladesh, Burma and Cambodia.

Under the theme of ‘Resilience’, Honda’s installation showcased the company’s focus on projects dealing with making decisions that could save lives in disaster situations. Accompanying the installation was a description of a system which would use smartphones and GPS to identify and inform Honda drivers of locations to escape to in times of disaster.

The use of installations to visually present future challenges and social innovations is quite a unique way of relating the goals and directions of the companies featured. The idea of the capsule is also an interesting one, and it really tries to get visitors engaged with thinking about the future and the present as connected realities.

Through the 19 capsules, each of the featured companies consider the new roles and values they will have to take on in the future, and it is interesting to consider which themes and challenges each company chose to present their installation under. Companies like NEC, Mitsui, JR East and Mistubishi all centered on the issues dealing with the management of resources and energy, while food and beverage companies like Kirin and Watami focused on projects dealing with supporting food production in earthquake-struck areas and sustainable agriculture respectively.

Kirin’s installation

Rebirth Project’s Genki Dama Display

The direction that each company is choosing to take also implies that particular research facilities, technological innovations and assets associated with these companies will also be allocated to particular industries and projects, and this will ultimately play a role in shaping the nature and types of innovation that we will witness in the future.

Participating companies: H.I.S., Gree, Kirin, Toppan Printing, Toyota Marketing Japan, NEC (Japan), Patagonia Japan, JR East, Fujitsu, Honda Motor, Mitsui & Co., Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, Mitsubishi Corporation, Yamaha Music Japan, Lush Japan, Ricoh, Rebirth Project, Rohto Pharmaceutical, Watami.