Yuki's Web

Tag: global

  • The end of globalisation / グローバル化の終わり

    日本文が後ろに続きます。

    When I started my career in the late 1990s, my employer encouraged us to have a global mind to cope with Japan’s recession so-called “the lost decade”. By 2000, the words “global” and “globalisation” were used as the keywords — and sometimes buzzwords — for surviving the upcoming new millennium, followed by the dot-com bubble. My coworkers and I were pressured to raise TOEIC scores, to learn SWOT analysis, MECE, and other terms of logical thinking, to abandon obsolete Japanese work style and get accustomed to the global — in many cases American — way of thinking. 

    In 2006, those ideas were changed. Seeing the Livedoor scandals and accompanying the downfall of dot-com millionaires, Japanese people found out that the American way did not work. Instead, they began taking a second look at their own country and reviewing the good things of it. The company I worked for focused on the products for domestic customers rather than overseas ones, with “the Japan quality” as its corporate philosophy.

    Starting in the 2010s, people’s inward-oriented views were changing global again. Japanese enterprises were going out overseas, not only to the United States at that time but to the Third World such as India, China, Russia, Brazil, and Southeast Asian and African countries. I had more and more opportunities to get involved in the services offered to such customers going to those countries to meet their needs and demands.

    The first half of the 2010s was the year of transportation. Low-cost carriers helped people fly abroad at low airfares. Everywhere you can see people travelling to and from all over the world regularly.

    Yet you see that people’s favour of the global-oriented mind or the local-oriented one swings from side to side every five or six years. That being the case, such a globalised world will come to an end shortly. The event that happened this week in the United Kingdom showed that the most symbolically. The referendum determined the UK to leave the European Union it had joined in 1973. Other European countries like France, Italy, and Spain begin the preparation of such referendum whether they should leave or remain in the EU by some people tired of enormous numbers of immigrants from the Middle East and accompanying terrorist attacks occurring inside Europe. 

    Likewise, in the United States, Donald Trump, saying that a wall should be built on the border to shut out Mexicans and Muslims, has the enthusiastic support of the conservative and relatively poor American population. Even Hillary Clinton, one of the rival candidates of Trump, says that she is against the US to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In Japan, some nationalistic extremists carrying patriotic flags with them are making a hate speech on the street, saying that the people from neighbouring countries should get out of Japan and go back to their own country.

    I think that now is the turning point of the era and there will be no more “globalised World” from now on. People of each country will pay attention only inside their own country. A dispute or, in some cases, an armed clash may begin between some countries. Such an era will last five or six years, at least Trump or Clinton’s presidential term. What we can do right now might be to look at such the World and to have as many options as possible to be able to cope with the future fluctuation of circumstances.

    私が就職したのは、90年代終わりごろの「失われた10年」と言われた不況の時代の日本で、会社からよく「グローバルマインドを持て」と言われたものでした。

    ２０００年までには、「グローバル」や「グローバル化」という言葉が、次なる新たなミレニアムを生き抜くためのキーワード（ときにはバズワード）として、ドットコムバブルとともにやってきました。当時は、ＴＯＥＩＣのスコアを上げさせられたり、ＭＥＣＥだのＳＷＯＴ分析だのロジカルシンキングの手法をマスターさせられたり、とにかく日本的な古いワークスタイルを廃して、グローバルな（といってもほとんどアメリカのですが）考え方に慣れるようにハッパをかけられたものです。

    ところが２００６年にライブドアショックがあり、ＩＴ長者たちが凋落していくのを目のあたりにすると、人は、アメリカ式のやり方ではうまくいかないと気づき、また日本を見直し始め、日本の良いものを再評価するようになりました。会社でも「日本品質」とか言い始めて、グローバルサービスよりもドメスティックなほうに目を向け始めたころでした。

    ２０１０年代になると、今までの内向き志向がまたぞろグローバルに向かい始め、日本企業がまた海外進出するようになりました。今度はアメリカだけじゃなく、インドや中国、ロシア、ブラジル、東南アジアやアフリカなどの第三世界に出て行って、会社のサービスもそういう企業のニーズや要望に沿うようなグローバルサービスが増えていきました。

    また２０１０年代は移動の時代でもあり、ＬＣＣの台頭によって低価格で海外に行けるようになりました。外国と行き来する人を見ることはどこでも日常的になりました。

    こうして見ると、グローバルとローカル、人々の志向は５～６年ごとに行ったり来たりしているように見えます。その伝でいくと、そういうグローバルな世界というのはもうそろそろ終わりそうに思います。今週、英国の国民投票でＥＵ離脱を決めたのは、その最も象徴的なものではないでしょうか。ほかにもフランスやイタリア、スペインなど、移民の流入やそれに伴うヨーロッパ内のテロに悩まされている国で同様の動きがあると聞きます。

    同様に、アメリカでも、ドナルド・トランプ氏が、国境に壁を造り、メキシコ人やイスラム教徒をシャットアウトしろと言って、保守的で比較的貧困層のアメリカ民衆から熱狂的な支持を受けています。対抗馬のヒラリー・クリントン氏でさえ、ＴＰＰには反対するなど、保護主義的な主張をしています。日本でも、旗を持った過激な愛国主義者たちが通りに繰り出し、隣国人は出て行けと言ってヘイトスピーチをするようになりました。

    思うに、今は時代のターニング・ポイントで、これから「グローバルな世界」はなくなっていくでしょう。民衆は自分の国のことだけを考えるようになり、そこここで紛争や、場合によっては武力衝突が起こるかもしれません。これから５～６年、少なくともトランプ氏かヒラリー氏の大統領の任期の間はそうなると思います。できることは、そういう世界を傍観しながら、将来状況がどう変わっても対処できるように、選択肢をできるだけ多く持っておくことではないでしょうか。

  • Festivals in spring / 桜の季節のお祭りたち

    I went out and walked around various places in the cherry blossom season this year. Here are some of the pics.

    今年の桜の季節はいろんな場所を歩いてきました。
    Cherry blossoms Cherry blossoms

    (more…)

  • National Azabu Supermarket closed / ナショナル麻布スーパーマーケット閉店

    National Azabu Supermarket
    日本文が後ろに続きます。

    National Azabu Supermarket at Hiroo, where foods, groceries, books, toiletries and stationery imported from abroad were available, terminated operation as of today due to the age of its building.

    The Hiroo neighbourhood is one of the places I visited very frequently because the training centre of the company I worked for was in that area. I visited there from time to time to have an English test or training for English writing or business skills when I was a young worker. Every time I had classes there, I dropped in on the supermarket to see the shoppers coming from abroad, mainly the United States, who looked rich enough to afford the imported products sold there. To see such successful people encouraged me to do my best to learn English and business skills for my success.

    However, several years later the training centre was closed and moved to another place. Most of the products sold in the supermarket has become what I can get online for the same prices as in their home countries, without paying extra money at such imported grocery shops. Besides, the United States is no longer the goal for successful persons, seeing the current circumstances of it.

    The supermarket was a dream for me, and a wonderland that offered me a space of extraordinariness, but it ended the role as a symbol of success with the change of the times. Without the supermarket, I will visit the Hiroo area more rarely than ever.

    輸入ものの食品や日用品、本、文房具、化粧品などを売っている広尾のナショナル麻布スーパーマーケットが建物の老朽化のため本日をもって閉店しました。

    広尾地区は、会社の研修センターがあった関係で、けっこうよく訪れる場所でした。若手社員のころ、ＴＯＥＩＣのテストやら英文ライティング研修やらビジネススキル系の研修やらでちょくちょく研修センターに行っては、帰りにはここのスーパーに立ち寄って外国人の買い物客を見に行ったものでした。だいたいがアメリカ人で、仕事で成功しいっぱい稼いでこういうスーパーで買い物できる身分になっているのを見るにつけ、これから仕事頑張ろう、英語頑張ろう、頑張ってこういう人たちみたいに成功者になりたい、と思ったものでした。

    そうこうしてるうちに、何年かたつと研修センターが他の場所に移転してしまい、またここのスーパーで売ってる輸入品も、今ではネットで現地価格で買えるようになりました。何よりも、アメリカの今の状況を見るにつけ、アメリカが必ずしも成功者の目標でなくなったということがあります。

    このスーパーは私にとって非日常の空間を与えてくれた夢の場所だったんですが、時代の移り変わりとともに、成功のシンボルとしての役割は終わったのかもしれません。このスーパーがなくなった今、もう広尾に行くこと自体、あまりないでしょう。

  • Japan’s mobile environment today

    Sorry for not updating the blog for a long time. These days I’m hanging out on Facebook and Twitter, rather than writing blog entries. Please visit my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/masayuki.kawagishi or follow @_Yuki_K_ on Twitter 😉

    I see that the world of mobile phones is rapidly changing for years. Nokia, one of the dominant mobile phone manufacturers, is disappearing, and Apple is expanding the market with the iPhone, its flagship mobile phones with a music player, games, and other applications all-in-one. Following apple, various mobile phone manufacturers, from Samsung to small makers in China, are releasing smartphones with the Android operating system developed by Google.

    In Japan, I think that mobile phones are rapidly “globalised” in recent years. A few years ago all you could see here was the “Galapagos” handphones sold only within Japan and unavailable once you brought them out of Japan. But recently on the train or the streets, you see the same devices as those seen in the rest of the world — iPhones, Android smartphones, and even Blackberry phones (scarce though).

    More than that, this month I had good news showing Japan’s globalisation of the mobile phone environment. News says that from 13 July this year you can send text messages (SMS) to the mobile phones of the different carriers from yours. That is normal in the rest of the world, but that isn’t here in Japan — if you have a mobile phone sold by NTT DoCoMo, you can send SMS only to NTT DoCoMo users, not to au, Softbank, or any other carrier’s users. As the SMS gateways are closed to different carriers, you can rarely see here such services as balance enquiry, network configurations, service registrations, and purchasing something by sending text messages to service providers as you can see in Singapore, Hong Kong or some European countries. The opening of the SMS gateways will probably enable you to have such services even in Japan soon.

    Japan and the countries other than Japan don’t stand in the opposite. Japan is an extension of other countries, and any country is an extension of Japan. Anything available in the world must be available in Japan too.

  • Some requests on Japanese mobile phones / 総務省のＳＩＭロック解除要請に寄せて

    日本文が後ろに続きます。

    I heard the news that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan started discussing a policy to require mobile phone carriers to release SIM-lock-free handsets from the next generation. As is often written in some other entries of this blog, I have been dissatisfied with the current cellular phones in Japan because they are far from the global standards.

    Today mobile phones are widely spread worldwide, ranging from smartphones like iPhone or Nokia N900 communicator to cheap simple cell phones only for calling and text messaging. They are handy, convenient and easy to use even in developing countries where electric supply is not sufficient. Thanks to their size, you can carry them everywhere in the world. In spite of their mobility, there are two major countries where you can’t use them as conveniently as in the rest of the world — Japan and Korea. Especially in Japan, the mobile systems and services have been so unique that they are often compared to the ecosystem of the Galapagos Islands, where endemic species are seen.

    The history of popularised mobile phones in Japan began with Personal Digital Cellular, or PDC, which was standardised in 1991 by the Research and Development Center for Radio Systems (later became the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses). NTT DoCoMo, one of Japanese mobile phone operators, launched its mobile phone service called “mova” in 1993, and the other mobile phone operatoes followed NTT DoCoMo and began their own mobile phone services based on PDC. PDC is technically superior to other standards like GSM as it allows smaller phones with lighter batteries because of its weaker broadcast strength, but it is closed to Japan only, because NTT DoCoMo could neither do business with PDC cellular service in foreign countries nor apply for any patents related to PDC to patent offices of foreign countries due to legal restriction at that time banning NTT DoCoMo from going into business outside Japan. Under such circumstances, Japan’s mobile phones could be used within Japan only.

    In addition to the technical exclusiveness of Japan’s cellular phones, mobile phone services in Japan were also original. The i-mode service, launched in 1999 by NTT DoCoMo, is the world’s first web service using cell phones and rapidly spread nationwide because users can have access to the internet and special contents authorised by NTT DoCoMo with a portable handset instead of a PC. In spite of the convenience of the i-mode service, it was the service exclusive to Japan because the handset was available only in Japan.

    Handsets are exclusive not only to foreign countries but to other carriers. In Japan, unlike other countries, they have been designed by mobile phone operators instead of handset manufacturers. They are designed so as to meet the specifications of a certain operator. Handsets for NTT DoCoMo cannot be used for au or Softbank Mobile, because the specifications required by such operators on voice communications and content services are a bit different from each other. If you are changing an operator into another one, you have to throw away the handset you used for the old operator and buy a new one for the new operator.

    Minds on cell phone was not changed even after the so-called “third-generation” mobile phones appeared and international roaming service began in around 2002. Some operators designed the same type of phones as the rest of the world, which can be used by activating a SIM card stored in it, but the way is a bit different: an operator issues a user both a SIM-card and a handset, which is SIM-locked to the operator. If you pull the SIM card out of the handset and put it in one designed by another operator, you can’t use it. Even if another operator’s handset accepted the SIM card, you couldn’t use any content services of the different operator but only simple functions like voice communications and short message service, or SMS. As for SMS service, it is also exclusive to other operators unlike the rest of the world. You can’t send SMS from a phone for one operator in Japan to that of another Japanese operator (you can send SMS to a phone in another country, though).

    Such operator-oriented development of Japan’s mobile systems have helped Japan’s mobile phones keep world’s leading position. People can use the cutting-edge communicators on a daily basis. In spite of all the advantages, the exclusiveness of Japan’s mobile infrastructure does more harm than good these days.

    Forcing handset manufacturers to follow each operator’s own specifications increases the burden on them. They have to develop different types of handsets to meet the each specifications. Development costs of them will increase and definitely be imposed to consumers, tangibly or intangibly. Costly development for Japan’s specific handsets discourages the manufacturers to develop handsets for foreign countries.

    At the same time, such specifications are also trade barriers for manufacturers outside Japan. They have to meet Japanese standards as well as global ones, and will probably give up making good handsets for Japan. Japanese people will lose chance to have good handsets made by Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, or Sony Ericsson.

    Another problem with such exclusiveness is that Japanese phone manufacturers are being less competitive in the mobile phone market of the world. According to Global Handset Market Share for 2009, all Japanese mobile phone manufacturers have less than 16% of total market shares altogether, while Nokia solely has more than 40% of the market share. People using Japanese handsets are rarely seen outside Japan.

    The MIAC seems to be trying to change such a situation. As much as I think highly of MIAC’s efforts as the first step for the globalisation of Japanese mobile markets, I would like to propose some different requests.

    At first, I demand Japan’s mobile operators to open SMS gateways so that SMS can reach even other operators. In Japan, a handset of NTT DoCoMo can send SMS to another headset for NTT DoCoMo only, not to any headset for au or Softbank or Willcom. Texting using SMS is basic to the 3G mobile phone system and even a cheap phone in a developing country can do it. I strongly require this.

    Furthermore, I would like to require government authority to revise Radio Law to allow imported handsets as long as they pass one of the certifications for terminals like FCC or CE. Under current Radio Law, any handset used in Japan is required to pass the special examination by the Telecom Engineering Center, or TELEC. As mobile phones can be easily carried to and from any other country, it is not feasible to exclude all phones which are not passed TELEC certifications before hand.

    Secondly, Japan’s mobile operators should allow users to use any handsets, domestic or imported, as long as they are based on the basic specifications for 3G. For this, operators should disclose access point name (APN) to users so that users can use MMS and web service with any handsets in the same condition as those using carrier-designed handsets. Operators should stop any discriminatory charging policy to non-operator-designed terminals, like NTT DoCoMo which charges higher rates for packet communications by non-DoCoMo handsets.

    Compulsory SIM-unlocking as is discussed in the MIAC is, in fact, unnecessary. It is more important to give users more options to choose a cheaper SIM-locked handset or a unlocked phone which is expensive but free to change operators at any time.

    Providing cutting-edge, second-to-none services in Japan which no other countries can offer is greatly welcomed. Such services would be competitive when provided on the globally equal platform and infrastructure. For the benefit of Japanese users and manufacturers, operators should open the door to the world.

    最近、総務省が携帯キャリア各社に対しＳＩＭロック解除を要請しているようで、ガラパゴス返上のためにいろいろ政策を打っているようでさすが内藤正光副大臣ＧＪ！と言いたいところですが、ここはさらにもう一歩踏み込んで携帯キャリア各社に要望したいところとして

    1. ＳＭＳゲートウェイの開放。異キャリアへもＳＭＳが送れるようにしてほしい。
    2. ＡＰＮの公開。３Ｇに準拠している端末はキャリア端末か否かを問わず平等な条件でサービスが受けられるようにしてほしい。特にパケット料金の差別的な取り扱いはやめてほしい（例：ドコモ）。
    3. これは国への要望ですが、海外端末について技術基準適合証明を取らずともＦＣＣかＣＥ認証があればこれに代わるものとして日本での使用を認めてほしい。携帯は国をまたいで運べるものなので、技適がないと日本で使えないなんて時代錯誤も甚だしい。

    これらが実現されれば、実はＳＩＭロック解除なんて必要ないんです。海外からノキアでもサムソンでもソニエリでも買って持ってきて自由に使えるようになるんですから。むしろＳＩＭロックつきの安い携帯とＳＩＭロックフリーの高いけど自由度も高い携帯を選べる選択肢を増やしてほしいところです。
    世界であたりまえにやってることを、日本でもできるようにしてほしいだけなんですが・・・。コンテンツサービスは日本独自の進んだ機能があってもいいし、むしろそのほうが大歓迎なんですが、インフラ部分はせっかく世界共通の３Ｇなんだから中身も世界と合わせてほしいところです。