Tokutake Corporation’s “Ayumi shoes” product line now provides safe comfortable walking shoes and rehabilitation care for people with disabilities and the elderly. Mr. Sogo brought his company’s shoes as well as thanks letters from their clients, which ammount to 70 letters per day and more than 20,000 in one year. He said it was a big challenge to make up his mind to manufacture a pair of shoes with different size for right and left feet and also sell one individual shoe not a pair. Because it was against the practice in the industry. Altogether about 8.5 million pair of Ayumi shoes have been sold and its market share grew to the top. He has been in CEO position for 30 years and his dedication and commitment to create a positive company culture was very impressive from his speech! We will continue to invite positive business leaders from now on. Stay tuned!

Next Event : Our next event will take place on November 18th Tuesday, from 10am at Midas Company Limited office.

We will have Mr. Haruhiko Arima, CEO of CyberMissions Corporation and Managing Director of Cyber Missions Myanmar Co., Ltd.

November 18th (Tuesday) 10:00-12:00 (buffet style lunch)

@ Midas HQ (Round Cross Tsukiji Building 5F, 3-9-9 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Rate: Members 3,000 Yen  General 4,000Yen

To register: Please include your name, phone number and/or email address and contact the HRM Association at info@hrm.or.jp

For more information please email info@hrm.or.jp or phone 03-3238-9223 at the HRM Administrative Office. Please visit their Facebook page to check latest events.

The post HRM Association : October & November Event Report appeared first on Jarman International KK.

More than 50% of Japanese companies decide to withdraw from the business within one year and 90% of them are gone after 5 years in Thailand. The GDP per capita of Thailand is as same as that of Japan in 1970’s and wages for Thailand worker has doubled in recent 8 years. However, under such a hard circumstance, Mr. Ando has been very successful in Thailand since he started his business when he was only 26. He worked hard to master local Thailand language within 2 months and he talks to local staff in their own language in order to communicate better. He is very optimistic about all the accidents such as floods, demonstrations and the coup and yet always pay careful attention to Japanese representatives staff working at overseas branches. We have learned a lot from his positive attitude and delicate yet dynamic management style. His company will surely continue to contribute to future economic development of Asian countries.

Next Event : Our next event will take place on October 22nd Wednesday, from 10am  at Midas Company Limited office.

We will have Mr. Takao Sogo, CEO of Tokutake Corporation.

Tokutake Corporation, located in Kagawa prefecture, is one of the leading senior comfort shoes manufacturers Japan. Tokutake Corporation was established in 1957 and Mr. Sogo was inaugurated as president after his father in law passed away suddenly in 1984. He has started development of preventive care shoes for elderly people. Their “Ayumi shoes” product line now provides safe comfortable walking shoes and rehabilitation care for people with disabilities and the elderly. They have been listening to clients voices very carefully and support to manufacture a pair of shoes with different size for right and left feet and sell one individual shoe not a pair. Altogether about 7 million pair of Ayumi shoes have been sold and its market share grew to the top, which allows no one else to imitate in the industry.

Mr. Sogo says they are committed to connecting hearts through their business. When you buy Ayumi shoes, you will also receive a letter from a staff member of Ayumi Shoes. They hope to deliver to clients happy wishes of everyone involved together with their products. In fact, we receive letters and postcards from customers almost every day. They are committed to remain sensitive to the ever-changing needs of their customers.

Tokutake Corporation received the Shiju Hosho (Order of the Purple Ribbon) in 2011 and won the Jury’s Special Awards as “Most Honorable Company in Japan” in 2012.

October 22nd (Wednesday) 10:00-12:00 (buffet style lunch)

@ Midas HQ (Round Cross Tsukiji Building 5F, 3-9-9 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Rate: Members 3,000 Yen  General 4,000Yen

To register: Please include your name, phone number and/or email address and contact the HRM Association at info@hrm.or.jp

For more information please email info@hrm.or.jp or phone 03-3238-9223 at the HRM Administrative Office. Please visit their Facebook page to check latest events.

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He shared about his sales policy and strategy, which is “to always strive for exceeding client’s expectations”. From his experience, he shared how important it is to grasp what clients expect based on their market experience and make constant efforts to exceed it. Even if it may seem small, that conscious effort will give clients a strong impression and make a great difference after all. We had a lot to learn from his work principle.

Next Event : Our next event will take place on September 24th Wednesday, from 10am  at Midas Company Limited office.

We will have Mr. Koichiro  Ando, CEO of PARADISE PICNIC CO., LTD.  He used to work at Gulliver International, a vehicle related service provider as a part-time worker after graduating from university. He started his career as a car washer or chore man, but he applied for job assignment change to sell cars. Then he actually sold total 12 cars in his first sales month and that impressed the Gulliver HQ to re-hire him as full-time employee immediately and he was assigned to work as a member of financial sector of their new business development team.

He established his own travel agent company in Thailand in 2006 when he was still 26 years old. The company has been very successful. Having started the first year with one hundred million sales result, it has been turned into a billion level business already in 2013. He will talk about how to be successful in Thailand business and share about his unique management principle.

September 24th (Wednesday) 10:00-12:00( buffet style lunch)

@ Midas HQ (Round Cross Tsukiji Building 5F, 3-9-9 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Rate: Members 3,000 Yen  General 4,000Yen

To register: Please include your name, phone number and/or email address and contact the HRM Association at info@hrm.or.jp

For more information please email info@hrm.or.jp or phone 03-3238-9223 at the HRM Administrative Office. Please visit their Facebook page to check latest events.

The post HRM Association : August & Sept Event Report appeared first on Jarman International KK.

After the raffle and a host of games, participants made their way to the Tokyo American Club for the long anticipated after party and luncheon. The food was great and many of the participants in the walkathon who had not had a chance before to enter the Tokyo American Club got a very nice and welcoming introduction with the participation fee of the walkathon.

The post ACCJ Walkathon 2013 appeared first on Jarman International KK.

(Driver’s in Japan don’t honk their horns). Japanese people in general are very aware of their surroundings when driving, but even when the car in front of another doesn’t notice the signal has turned green, drivers will not honk their horns.

The post HRM – Empowerment, that’s HRM’s mission appeared first on Jarman International KK.

The 25th HRM Forum, April 26th 2012:

The recent HRM anniversary party was a big success, and Ruth had the pleasure of being the MC. She did a great job starting the event off on a bright and inspiring note with a speech in Japanese followed by an English translation for a bit of flare!

What followed was a few words by the recently nominated HRM spokesman Sakamoto Koji sensei. He authored the book “nihon de ichiban taisetsu ni shitai kaisha”, or as Ruth had translated the title “Japan’s most Cherished Companies”, and now more than ever his small and medium company-centered business philosophy is the front-running mentality in a group such as HRM.

The speaker for this particular event was Dr. Hattori. Having lost his father during his teenage years, he resolved to spend his academic career pursuing medical studies. As he pressed forward, he would eventually move into optometry, an often overlooked field when compared with other branches of medicine.

Hattori sensei has involved himself largely on a volunteer basis, in working as a doctor in Vietnam. These patients are often stranded for solutions as they have no reliable access to healthcare. It is overcrowded, and the few hospitals are understaffed. As such, Hattori sensei would work long hours for little more than food and a place to stay. For this, he has been commended in the media in Japan and other countries, and is regarded a hero among those he has served. Furthermore, he has channeled the momentum of his inspiring contribution of time and energy into a mission to spread the message of benevolence, and one day hopes that we all too can “share the happiness”. Keep at it Hattori sensei, the world needs more doctors, and more people like you.

Hattori sensei has published two books:

はっちゃんベトナムに行く―自分さがしの旅

人間は、人を助けるようにできている

Both of these publications reflect Hattori sensei’s strong philosophies of mutual support among humans, and general acts of goodwill as being a fundamental part of human society, prosperity, and survival.

The post Japanese Spirit, Across Borders appeared first on Jarman International KK.

But what does this mean?

Tokyo and Osaka of course will remain as powerhouses of convenience and opportunity (albeit with an impending aging population), but there is much much more to Japan than simply its booming urban areas. Long story short, small Japanese towns that exist on the margins and have existed primarily through local agriculture, refining traditional crafts and skills, and making use of natural resources of the area are becoming less relevant in the modern day of automation and foreign importation on a large scale. Furthermore, these towns are seeing a massive migration of young people to larger metropolitan areas in search of more prolific work and a more exciting lifestyle.

That being said, the time is now to rediscover the value that smaller Japanese towns have to offer and harness the economic potential of them. We have seen recent efforts to spur projects in more rural areas of Japan to revive the economy, and more importantly generate foreign interest and investment. At a recent American Chamber of Commerce in Japan event, we heard a presentation on the lesser-known ski resort Niseko in Hokkaido. It was “discovered” by Australian skiers in the 90’s and has since gained momentum as possibly the best place to ski in the world. It receives higher snowfall than almost anywhere else, and thus a constant flow of quality powder from about December to March.

Mt. Yotei

The fact is, the infrastructure of Niseko is seriously underdeveloped for the amount of notoriety it has gained as a potential world-class ski resort; it’s just not prepared. Ricardo Tossani has been making headway into improving lodging, shopping facilities, and general functionality and appeal of the town using his architecture expertise and vast business network. He has already contracted various estates and hotels in the area, and is now leading a project to beautify the main street of Hirafu, a town in Niseko.

“The Rocks” in Hirafu

The post Niseko, the Winter Frontier appeared first on Jarman International KK.

No Snowboarding, No Life

At the previous HRM meeting, we heard from Daze Arai, a professional snowboarder in Japan. I could instantly tell that about half the room of business people were a bit skeptical of hearing from a snowboarder in a suit….but they were soon pleasantly surprised.

There are no miracles, everything is dependent!

Daze has authored a book based on the events in his life, and furthermore how he has now shifted from the pro scene to using snowboarding as a spiritual, physical, and moreover commercial vehicle to change the world. Yumiyama san, chairman of HRM, highly recommends the book as it not only connects the passion Daze has for snowboarding to the sort of enthusiasm needed in Japanese global business, but it also has a very deep and inspirational message of conquering chronic life issues; in Daze’s case, he suffered from bone marrow deficiency. Daze was able to get surgery and make a full recovery through the donations and support of his fans, friends, and family. He has such devoted his fame and effort to tell his story and communicate it to future generations.

He had planned to focus hard on shooting for videos and magazines, and show his riding off to the world…..But he would soon hit a wall in his life. After countless examinations, they finally figured out that he was infected with the “EB” virus. It’s not necessarily a prominent disease, as only about one in a million are infected. His dreams had been cut short by a chronic disease. However, not losing sight, he channeled his riding, his friends, and his willpower to overcome this life issue. This book tells of his story.

Amazon Link

Daze is going to be putting on an event in Yoyogi park this weekend in Tokyo. Through his book and social activities, he hopes to let the world know of his story, and inspire future generations to work hard for their goals, and depend on the goodwill and cooperation of others.

Here is the event link

The post Pay it Forward 2012 appeared first on Jarman International KK.

Ruth, who lives in Yokohama along with her two children, hopes to leverage her business experience and network to bring Japanese and American business even closer together via her role in the ACCJ.

The post Ruth Marie Jarman is Featured Member of the American Chamber of Commerce Japan appeared first on Jarman International KK.

Small and medium sized companies are the future of Japan and no one knows this better than HRM. Sakamoto Kouji, a professor at Hosei University in Tokyo, published a book on the subject. Sakamoto-sensei addresses the economic needs of a Japan with declining jobs and a declining working population, and the important role upcoming businesses play. “Nihon de Ichiban Taisetsu ni Shitai Kaisha” (Lit. The companies [I want] to value the most in Japan), a sort of handbook on the future of business in Japan, has become the representative mentality of organizations such as HRM: focusing on the value of human contribution on a micro-level.

To celebrate and commemorate Sakamoto-sensei’s significant and direction-changing business ideals, an annual conference is held to recognize outstanding contributions in the world of small and medium companies. The “Taisetsu Taisho”. Take a moment to look into some of the most progressive happenings in Japanese business.

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