Strategic Alliances and Partnerships in Japan
GBMC Article published by the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation:
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1) in EU-JAPAN NEWS, in the March 2015 edition of the Centre’s Newsletter.
Article to be found page 34 of the Newsletter:
http://www.eu-japan.eu/sites/eu-japan.eu/files/march15.pdf
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2) permanently online, on the “EU Business in Japan” website:
http://www.eubusinessinjapan.eu/library/news/article-partnering-in-japan
Sakurajima solar plant
Many local areas in Japan have natural features making them well suited for power plants using renewable energy such as solar, wind and biomass. A growing number of new facilities have been starting operations all over Japan. Here are three examples of them. (source: The Japan News / Yomiuri Shimbun)
Read more from: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002043826?utm_source=digg
Japanese real-time speech translation technology
“The Japanese Internal Affairs Ministry wants to provide real-time machine translation services at sightseeing, shopping and medical venues to help visitors who may feel hesitant about coming to Japan because of the language barrier.
The ministry’s vision reflects the government’s tourism goal, which is to raise the annual number of inbound travelers to 20 million by 2020, from 13 million in 2014.
It is planning to allocate ¥1.38 billion in fiscal 2015 to improve the overall quality of real-time speech translation technology and increase the available languages to 10 or more, including Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian, to cover 90 percent of the tourists who come to Japan.
The plan to host the Olympics has no doubt increased the urgency of the project, because public and private entities alike have started working together on it on an “all-Japan basis.” (Japan Times)
Read more at: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/03/31/reference/translation-tech-gets-olympic-push/#.VRu8nunGPIX
HIgh Tech Industry Challenges
” This is a critical time for Japan’s high-tech industry, and it’s only through leveraging core strengths to facilitate differentiation and implementing a strategy that harnesses group-level synergies, that the industry will be able to reinvent itself at speed and at scale to once more achieve global preeminence. ” (Accenture)
For more details, check: http://www.accenture.com/us-en/Pages/insight-highlights-communications-japanese-consumer-electronics.aspx?c=glb_acnemalert_10001787&n=emc_0215&emc=20757712:emc-031215
Hitachi’s trains (source: Hitachi.com)
Hitachi Ltd’s has agreed to buy the rail signaling business of Italy’s Finmeccanica SpA in its largest overseas purchase ever. It will boost the company’s European manufacturing base, following its previous rail business expansion in the UK.
Read: “Hitachi trains push into Europe to challenge Siemens, Alstom”
Read: “Hitachi agrees to buy two Finmeccanica rail businesses”
” Google is aiming to get its driverless cars on the streets by 2020. Whether it’s able to do so is unclear. It’s been working on plans for an autonomous vehicle for years, but questions remain about whether government regulators will allow the vehicles or if consumers will pay for them. ” (Linked In Pulse)
The question is: As with any machine, it might be a plus but there should always be a switch button to “Manual Human Mode”.
Read more from: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/googles-car-chief-my-son-better-driving-45-years-chip-cutter
Panasonic Corp completed the biggest bond sale to Japan’s institutional investors since 2011 after the electronics maker forecast its best profit in seven years. PHOTO: REUTERS
Great News: PANASONIC is back and making profits, after heavy restructuration and diversification into non-Consumer Goods Business! Congratulations!
Read more from:
Japanese Electronics and Audio-Video Industries
Sony Corporation’s new multiyear business plan includes separating its audio and video segment into a wholly owned subsidiary later this year. The company does not rule out the potential sale of those struggling units as part of restructuring at the Tokyo-based electronics and entertainment group. Sony has already sold off its personal computer business under the restructuring.
Train in Kyushu (image source: JR Kyushu)
The Japanese government has recently decided to put Kyushu Railway Co. under full private ownership in fiscal 2016. It has decided to pursue full privatization because JR Kyushu has achieved good business results in the fields of real estate and hotels, according to officials. JR Kyushu is one of seven railway operators established after the breakup of Japanese National Railways, or JNR, in April 1987.
Time to invest maybe?
Reporting on the UK Royal Visit to Japan:
1) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (left) and the duke try their hand at juggling as they visit Smile Kid’s Park in Koriyama. Check: http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/the-prince-the-rising-sun-and-the-dragon/ss-BBi8kEP#image=4
2) ウィリアム王子スピーチ Prince William’s speech “Innovation is GREAT” ～英国と創る未来～ 2015年2月27日
Check: www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6MHAP0dpok
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