Biz

Find out how Japan and Australia, and Japanese and Australians, do business.
日本とオーストラリア、そして日本人とオーストラリア人がどのようにビジネスを進めるのかを探ってみよう

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    A Bagful Of Businesses In This Kangaroo’s Pouch

    Kangaroos K.K. operates a handful of different businesses, none of them with a direct relationship with either Australia or marsupials, but there’re are plenty of peas in this macropod. The company operates a mix of social-service, education and community businesses, including foreign-worker support and recruiting; staffing and temporary placement especially for childcare, education and welfare; security services; Japanese language education; children’s snack development and sales; childcare and child development support programs; and related event and training planning. Kangaroos doesn’t explain why it chose the name for the company, but choosing a kangaroo for a childcare, welfare or community business is common and sensible in Japan for three reasons: The pouch…

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    Chiba Company Rapt To Choose A Roo For Wrapping

    Kangaroos are the choice of a company symbol for packaging-materials trading company Kawawa Co., Ltd. from Nagareyama, Chiba Prefecture. Kawawa chose to use a kangaroo to symbolize their operations because it represents “the spirit of wrapping,” according to the company’s website. Although the company has nothing to do with Australia, it chose to represent itself with the country’s national symbol because its pouch is a natural metaphor for wrapping, carrying with care, and protecting what’s inside. Even beyond the company’s official explanation for using a kangaroo logo, the choice is very logical for Japanese commercial design. The pouch representation is perfect for packaging. A kangaroo’s pouch is one of the…

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    How Kangaroos Stop Demolition Work Scaring Japanese Kids

    Kangaroos have provided a way to provide a friendly face for a company operating in an industry sometimes seen as an unsavory business in Japan. Enomoto Kogyo uses the consumer-facing name of Kaitai Kangaroo for its demolition business; a line of work many Japanese associate with seediness and ties to organized crime. It’s an issue the company addresses directly, and a reason it puts kangaroos front and center of its operations. The company explicitly states it created the mascot to change the image of demolition and make the service more approachable. “The kangaroo character is a friendly mascot that visits customers and helps make demolition less scary for children and…

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    Nissan’s Fine Fragrance From Perfumed Kangaroos

    Automaker Nissan Motor Co. has long used kangaroos in its advertising, particularly in the early 2010s and notably when enlisting the aid of technopop girl group Perfume, which was then at the peak of its popularity. Nissan stylized Perfume’s three members–Kashiyuka, A-chan and Nocchi–as pink kangaroos to promote its Serena, Note and Cube models. Perfume used the opportunity for a cross-promotion of their then-newly released single, Voice, which would go on to reach No. 2 on the Oricon national charts. The campaign aimed to get the attention of a young, pop-loving audience who enjoyed animated characters and prompt them into visiting a Nissan dealership. The ad ran from July 14,…

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    Japan’s Mobs Of Macropod Motifs Missing Marsupials In Masterpieces

    Something strikes me about kangaroos in Japan, where companies like Seino and Nikko Kanko have made the marsupials highly visible. Kangaroos are possibly even higher profile than their native Australia, where Qantas uses the national symbol in its logo, but the macropod is a somewhat uncommon sight elsewhere in the corporate sector. I wouldn’t go so far as to say kangaroos are a ubiquitous presence in the Japanese retail or corporate sector, but it would be no exaggeration to claim they are a daily presence. Far more so, actually, than they are in Australia. That got me to thinking about the presence of kangaroos in the Japanese art world, which…

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    Cheap As Chips Akiya For Aussies: One-Stop Bogan Basement Buys

    Cheap Houses in Japan for Aussies Japan’s market for akiya, literally “empty homes,” continues to offer astonishing bargains — from ¥0 giveaways to charming kominka under ¥1 million. And with the yen being weaker against the Aussie dollar than it has been for decades, there’s no better time for those Down Under to get on top of the akiya trend. Market Snapshot Japan’s depopulation continues to accelerate, especially in rural prefectures. Municipalities are increasingly motivated to offload vacant homes, and several regions have expanded subsidies for renovation, relocation, or child‑raising. With the yen at an historically low level, even renovated homes are now comparatively affordable. Top Akiya Listing Sites (With…

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    Big Red Bike Tour Stage 4: Costcollosal

    Following the previous day’s exertions, Stage 4 of the Big Red Bike Tour was closer to a rest day, albeit with little breathing space as I headed off to spend a collosal amount of money at the nearby Costco. Inflation is hitting Japan after more than three decades of price stability and its effects are compounded by a weaker yen in a country that imports most of its food. Therefore, our regular order from the supermarket now costs almost double what it used to (except Australian-made Four ‘N Twenty pies, which cost 1,248 yen for a six pack, which makes them considerably cheaper than what you’d pay for where they’re…

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    The Kit Is It! (Kangaeroo Maillot Rouge: Where The Bunny Means Money)

    Kangaeroo has had cycling kit merchandise for almost a decade, albeit with only a single customer. Cycling is an expensive hobby with the initial outlay on a bike combined with constant spending for maintenance and the drain of treating the almost terminal affliction of upgraditis. Never making a hefty wage and plagued with a dad bod from the age of 6 onward, I’ve never been keen on forking out the huge sums that brand-name manufacturers demand (and get) for their Lycra lineups. Necessity being the mother of invention, I soon found out that I could get customized cycling wear not only at a fraction of the price the real makers…

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    Tilting At Windmills In Quixotic Pursuits

    All right, the title to the post isn’t really accurate, but it was the best possible choice considering Don Quixote gave us a brilliant day in spite of bleak weather. Mrs. Kangaeroo and I got to attend an absolutely stupendous performance by The Australian Ballet of Don Quixote by Rudolph Nureyev at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan. I’m a minor ballet fan at best, but absolutely love watching the dancers….for the first 90 minutes or so. After that, I find pretty much every performance has a sameness and so does my reaction: sleep. But the sets, dancing, musical accompaniment of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and story were enthralling and delightfully executed,…