Walkathon Rocks in the Wet!

Nagoya was struck by a rouge day of wetness for the Walkathon this year, but the rain certainly didn’t dampen the hearts of the more than 2,000 people that walked through green Tsuruma Park to help the needy of the Chubu area. The smiles in the photographs say it all; foreigners, Japanese, school kids, corporate employees, senior citizens and all walks of life, getting together to give back to the community we live and work in.

This was the 19th Annual Walkathon, and while attendance levels did suffer in the rain, we set a record for the largest volunteer attendance yet; more than 250 people that volunteered their time on the day to make the event a success (volunteers are in the yellow T.Shirts).

Participants were encouraged to walk for charity by completing 4 x 1.25 km laps of Tsuruma Park, while receiving different colored wrist bands for each lap. Proceeds taken from the 2,000 yen tickets for walking, from which you receive the famous “Walkathon T. Shirt”, go to local organizations including orphanages, the homeless, victims of child abuse, service dogs, the physically and mentally challenged and many other needy people. Fourteen of the recipient charities also participated in the event this year, and helped us to educate the Chubu Community about charity work and its importance.

This year’s special addition was IBM Japan’s “IBM on Demand Community” that enabled kids to enjoy science in the park, and as per tradition, Boeing Japan had the boys and girls making paper planes and “fizzing” rocket launches.

Further kids activities were available in terms of a stamp rally amongst the charities, face painting, a beads corner, Bingo in English, animal balloons and generally just a bunch of fun for all.

This is not to mention the stage that was packed action from start to finish; with the best musicians and performers in Nagoya and then with 3 raffles that drew in the audience for their chance to win return air tickets overseas.



What a truly fantastic day. Great people, in Greater Nagoya, supporting great causes and great smiles….. all day long. The result should be 6-7 million yen in contributions to local Chubu Charities and we are all lining up to be involved again next year for the 20th Nagoya Walkathon!

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The Last 10 Percent

I just read this quote from Seth Godin. It sums up what is necessary in the real estate and relocation industry in Japan in order to be the best;

In most fields, there's an awful lot of work put into the last ten percent of quality.

Getting your golf score from 77 to 70 is far more difficult than getting it from 120 to 113 or even from 84 to 77. Answering the phone on the first ring costs twice as much as letting it go into the queue. Making pastries the way they do at a fancy restaurant is a lot more work than making brownies at home. Laying out the design of a page or a flyer so it looks like a pro did it takes about ten times as much work as merely using the template Microsoft builds in for free, and the message is almost the same...........Except it's not. Of course not. The message is not the same.

The last ten percent is the signal we look for, the way we communicate care and expertise and professionalism. If all you're doing is the standard amount, all you're going to get is the standard compensation. The hard part is the last ten percent, sure, or even the last one percent, but it's the hard part because everyone is busy doing the easy part already.

The secret is to seek out the work that most people believe isn't worth the effort. That's what you get paid for.

What a fantastic message!

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Relocation Outlook- Shrinking Japan Market

I have seen some surveys recently that indicate that 2010 is potentially going to be much more healthy than 2009.


In AIRINC's recent survey, they reported that 47% of respondents that their expat populations would decrease in 2009, but in 2010 88% of respondents are confident that numbers will remain the same or increase this year. This result is shown in the below graph.

The above is encouraging for the industry, but will it hold true in Japan?

Much of the increase in assignments will probably be attributed to the growth in China and India, which are the destinations for huge volumes of exaptriates even now.

What is interesting however, is that India and China are also considered to be 2 of the most challenging destinations for administrators, and also 2 of the locations that see the most assignment failures.


A Brookfield survey indicates that on average 6% of assignments fail (it is higher in China and India) as a result of spouse / partner dissatisifaction, inability to adapt, other family concerns and poor candidate selection.


For Japan, I would say that the risk of assignment failure is considerably less that the average, and that our destination is probably becoming one of the least challenging locations, unless you are perhaps living outside of Tokyo.


From a relocation company perspective, this is not good news for us in relocation in Japan, as relocation companies actually thrive on locations being very challenging. I envy our partners in India and China who have many problems to solve. Here in Japan are problems are less, and the Japanese economy is on a decline. Our market is certain to shrink over the coming years.

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The H&R Group is MORE THAN RELOCATION!

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Japan Immigration Policy Changes

Immigration policy is going through some changes in Japan. Within the next 3-years, we will supposedly see a change in the "Alien Registration" system. Details are still unclear, but it appears that a new card containing an "IC Chip" will be issued by the Immigration Bureau that will replace the current card, which is issued by your local city or town authority. Where you will go to do things is not yet clear, but at least under this new system the "Re-Entry Permit" will be abolished (well, effectively, it will be issued with your status of residence).

In the meantime, however, some changes have already been made. Were you aware of these 2 changes that have already taken effect??!!

1. Revision of Supporting Documentation for Visa Applications

Immigration forms required for the Certificate of Eligibility (COE), visa renewal, change of status and other visa related applications were revised last year, which in turn directly impacted the supporting documents requirements.

One of the more significant changes is that immigration bureau now requires the Japan office of large companies who pay 15,000,000 yen or more a year in income tax deductions from all its employees (foreign and Japanese nationals)to submit the official certificate of income tax deducted from all employees as a supporting document for the application of COE, visa renewals, etc.

Through this change, large companies who provide this tax statement will not have to provide company registration, profit/loss, organization charts, and other documents that have been required up to now. Additionally, the applicant will not have to provide his/her resume, employment contract, university diploma, assignment letter, etc.

The document requirments for applicants working for companies whose tax deductions are less than 15,000,000 yen per year, will have to provide most, but not all, of the supporting documents required prior to the policy change. One of the documents no longer required, in most cases, is the copy of the employment contract.

The above is good news for large Multi-National Companies, as this simplifies much of the application process for "intra-company" and "business manager" visas which make up the main stream of expatriate visa applications for working in Japan.

2. Additional Documenation Requirement for Company's not using "Gyosei-Shoshi"

Until recently, only the applicant’s and/or a company employee’s (usually human resource personel's) signature was required on immigration forms. ie. If you were an employee of the company, you could easily complete the visa application for another employee of your organization without question (third party applications can only / could only be made by legal scribes or "Gyosei-Shoshi). However, the new forms have an additional page that must be filled out by the President or top Human Resources Manager with the official company seal or stamp.

Most of the questions asked of the company on the application form is the same as the previous forms, but this change is obviously an inconvenience to HR administrators in Japan, as receiving the company stamp on forms usually is a time-taking process within large Japanese entities.

So, under these new implemented changes, large international companies have gained some convenience in terms of the required supporting documentation for applications, but have also lost some inconvenience in making those applications, as any old "Joe" from the company can no longer submit an application....... without the official stamp from the big boss upstairs!

Airlines Continue to Amaze Me!

I got caught up in the iceland volcano saga in Europe, which appears to have "blown over" rather quickly this week. However, it has made me think about a couple of things;

1. How Reliant We Are On Mobility
The iceland volcano just showed us how important transportation systems are to getting relocated to where you need to be for work or pleasure. We take for granted that there are thousands of flights per day that get not only people relocated to where they need to be, but get things where they are needed. We are so globally dependant on each other, if planes don't fly and trucks don't drive, everything falls apart. All the fresh vege and dairy products made for the markets in Europe during the volcanic ash disaster had to all be thrown away. Talk about a waste of resources! If transport systems go down, despite how much CO2 they might be responsible for, there is an incredible waste of resources somewhere else....... Food for thought.

2. JALs Pull Out Effect
As we see JAL restructure everything they do due to 20 years of complete mis-management, the ripple down effect on others is quite stricking. JAL just announced more closure of routes here; http://www.japantoday.com/category/business/view/jal-to-cut-45-more-overseas-domestic-routes. As an example, JAL will be pulling out their subsidiary "J-AIR" from Nagoya Airport as per an announcement last week. The ripple down effect here; this decision will basically shut down the prefectural operations of the Nagoya Airport. Half of Nagoya Airports services just got cancelled; this has a huge effect on the economics of the airport and related suppliers.

The above just really highlighted to me how reliant an economy is on the airlines, and in fact how reliant our relocation industry is on airlines and transportation systems. We all need to understand just what mayhem occurs when people and freight can't move.

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Relocating to Tokyo? Tokyo Ranked Number 1 Most Expensive City

The rank of the overall international cost of living indexes is reported as at April 2010 using New York as the base city.

The rank for the top 10 most expensive locations is as follows:
April 2010 Rank Country, City (Jan 2010 Rank)[Change in Rank]
1 Japan, Tokyo (1) [0]
2 Switzerland, Geneva (2) [0]
3 Brazil, Brasilia (3) [0]
4 Switzerland, Zurich (4) [0]
5 Norway, Oslo (6) [-1]
6 Denmark, Copenhagen (7) [-1]
7 Venezuela, Caracas (8) [-1]
8 China, Hong Kong (5) [3]
9 Liechtenstein, Vaduz (9) [0]
10 Australia, Sydney (15) [-5]

The indexes are calculated using the prices for specific quantities of the same goods and services in each location, based on expatriate spending patterns across 13 broad categories (Basket Groups). The cost of living studied is the cost of maintaining an expatriate standard of living.

Tokyo is the overall most expensive place in the world for expats. Tokyo is also the most expensive place in the world for accommodation, while it is the fourth most expensive place in the world for groceries.

For the full list of all 282 global locations see here; http://www.xpatulator.com/outside.cfm?aid=240

If your are relocating to the most expensive city in the world, make sure you see us at H&R Group. We will make sure you keep your relocation bill to the minimum through our experienced international team.

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Touching Your Clients Brilliantly

I spent the last week under the influence of nature.

After 3 days in the US at a Planning Meeting for the coming Worldwide ERC Relocation Conference, my plans to travel to Europe were struck down by that Volcano in Iceland. After changing my flights 3 times, I simply gave up and came back to Japan!

Well, everything is an opportunity, and this gave me an opportunity to think about somthing....
Our groups lofty goal is to become the most reputable relocation company in Japan to Japanese and Foreigners. I have mentioned this before, but I use "Singapore Airlines" repuation in the Airline Industry as an example of who we want to be in our "Relocation" Industry. When I fly back home to NZ, I always use Singapore Airlines as they are just so great to travel with. I would rather fly 20 hours with Singapore Airlines than 11 hours with poor service.

For this reason, I am always comparing other airlines to Singapore. On my recent trip I flew with ANA, US Airways and United. United were particularly unmemorable. Not bad, but nothing jumped out as being fantastic. US Airways were similarly ordinary. I didn't get to fly with them to Europe, but as a domestic airline they were average. ANA, however, I thought were great. Good service that probably gets close to Singapore, nice friendly staff, and they seem to get it; the little things like coming back to pick up your empty coffee cup that they left with you when they took away your dinner tray (simple, but US carriers don't do it unless the cup falls out in the aisle). The meals were tasty for economy class and the aircraft was new with the TV built in. This is ANA that is not funded by Japanese tax payers, but a company that has worked out how to provide a top quality service in their industry in a competitive fashion (unlike JAL who has to rely on 3 government cash infusions and then still can't get it right).

However, what did catch me is somthing else. I spent alot of time on the phone in the US; calling US Airlines and ANA to change my flights. Their customer service over the phone, both companies, was fantastic. They listened to your needs, gave you the options and executed things really well; no being hung up on and it was generally a good experience. Then there was the time I spent at the check in counter. My US Airlines experience is mentioned in my previous blog entry, basically the front line staff were great, but the experience I had from the front lines's superiors was less than memorable. ANA check in staff were friendly and I had a good experience there.

What did this teach me? Well, taking the flight is just one part of the service. The experience you have on the phone and at the check in counter happens before you get on the flight. ie. Your impressions of the airline are set before you even experience flying with them.

For us in the service industry, this is really important. Every point of our service that touches our clients, even before we meet them to assist with their relocation sets the scene for how our clients will judge our service. One bad piece of communication, one poor phone call and we have already set the parameters for how our clients will judge our service.

To be the most reputable company in relocation in Japan for foreigners and Japanese, we need to be brilliant at every touch point with our clients! Impressions are everything!

My impression of US Airways is forever marked by a bad experience at the check in counter. However, my experience with ANA at the check in counter, on the phone and on the flight was all great. At every touch point, they were brilliant. Impressions count!!