Senior Citizens and Relocation

Increasingly, senior citizens are relocating. "Really?" I hear you saying, but Japanese seniors are really active and they travel quite extensively. There are those that just do the regular 5 night 6 day travel package, but what is an increasingly growing market is Japanese going overseas to "live" or at least to "stay in one location" for 2 weeks or more.

In Japan this kind of travel is known as "Long Stay". ie. Not the short stay of a regular travel package, but a "longer stay". Recently, I have actually heard this referred to as "Medium Stay" or "Mid Stay", as a good part of the market are not really "living" overseas for any extraodinary period, but simply for 2-6 weeks.

Our organization, not wishing to miss the boat has set up www.LongStayer.com and "Club H&R", as we are interested in the senior citizen market and how we can assist retirees and their famalies with their wish to spend some extended time overseas. Our initial services concentrate on fun language classes, and providing Japanese senior citizens with a variety of opportunities to interact with foreigners in Japan. We feel that many senior citizens needs some preparation / help with achieving their wish to "Long Stay" to other countries, and we also feel they need a space to share their experiences when they return. Watch our space!!

I read with interest an article in the Nikkei Newspaper last week that shared the following data on Japanese travellers in 2010;
- Of male travellers of all ages leaving Japan, the number of travellers in 2010 dropped by 10% compared to 2009.
- Of female travellers of all ages leaving Japan, the number of travellers in 2010 increased by 5% compared to 2009.
- Of men in their early 60s travelling overseas, the numbers grew by 3% compared to 2009
- Of women in their early 60s travelling overseas, the numbers grew by 15% compared to 2009

This just shows that senior citizen travel is outgrowing the average amount of travel of the rest of the population.

The same Nikkei article refers to 3 ways that senior citizens spend their days;

"W Days"- Are days that seniors spend their time around home. "W" stands for "walking"; quite often a stroll with their partners or their dogs.

"T Days"- Are days that seniors have "tea" with their friends and chat. There is good business here for coffee shops and cafes.

"C Days"- Are the days seniors venture the most. "C" stands for "culture". These are the days when seniors attend their favorite activities, go to movies, learn a language, teach a skill from their child hood, etc.

What is important here is that on these 3 types of days, the senior citizens are not about "buying stuff", but instead they are about purchasing experiences and enjoying the passing of time. This is something to keep in mind if you are interested in this market!!!

More Than Japan Housing, More Than Japan Cars and Furniture, More than Japan Serviced Apartments, More Than Japan Destination Services, More Than Japan License Conversion, More Than Japan Information!

The H&R Group is MORE THAN RELOCATION!

www.morethanrelo.com

Is Tokyo Real Estate Back? Is Japan Relocation On The Way Back?

Condominiums put up for sale in the capital and surrounding region grew 22% in 2010, indicating that the real estate industry might be on the way out of a 6 year stint of falling prices.

You can read further here;
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2011/01/19/tokyo-real-estate-back-and-bubbling/

In the rental housing market in Tokyo, while things are better, it is still possible to obtain 10- 20% discounts on listed prices. There is still an abundance of availability, but we are seeing things moving much faster in 2011 than tha later months of October, November and December 2010.

There is a vibe coming into this year that wasn't there in 2010. Things are generally moving in a faster pace in 2011 from what I feel.

In our relocation sphere, there is still a net flow out of Japan, but I feel the net number is decreasing in Tokyo. Hopefully, by the end of 2011 we will see the net flow change into Japan, which should see a firming up of rental housing prices in Tokyo.

For Nagoya and Osaka, the cycle is still 6-12 months behind Tokyo, so a positive improvement in Tokyo in 2011 will no doubt see a chain reaction in the other main centers in 2012.

There is still a long way to go, but I like the feel of 2011!!

Housing and Relocation with I-Pads

Our housing and relocation organization, H&R Group, is pleased to announce the launch of I-Pad development that will enable us to conduct Home Finding, Settling In and Orientation Services using the hand held tablet.

For “Home Finding Services”, the I-Pad allows us to show the housing tour “on-line”, including external and internal pictures, floor plans, property details, comparison charts of the properties in the tour and of course maps that show the location. All at the touch of a button!!

For other relocation related services, the I-Pad allows us to have immediate access to a wide range of information on the web. Resources such as train timetables and travel times, cross cultural applications on Japan, conversion tools for currency and measurement, and everything else the World Wide Web has to offer. The I-Pad allows us to offer so much more out of the office.

In addition, our offices are currently digitalizing all the information we have internally, and we are placing this in a secure, log-in protected area of www.ReloJapan.com. This will not only enable our clients to access our internally prepared relocation materials at any time, but it also enables us to immediately be able to show our clients this information on the I-Pad when we are out of the office. The I-Pad allows us to immediately refer to all the information we have, even if we are in the car, viewing a property or conducting an orientation of a local area.

Finally, in conjunction with these developments, we would also like to announce the launch of our e-book “Japan Living”. With more than 400 pages on every aspect of Japan, you can view this on your PC or I-Pad here; www.paradigm.co.jp/morethanrelo/

The “H&R Group” is MORE than Relocation!

www.MoreThanRelo.com

Child Allowances in Japan

For those of you who have relocated to Japan with children, please do be aware that you are eligible for the same "Child Allowances" that Japanese citizens receive.

There is no income cieling set on the Child Allowances; just a very complicated application process at your local ward office.

The allowance is a flat 13,000 yen fee for each child under the age of Junior High School (15 years of age). Furthermore, it was just announced that for children up to the age of 3, an additional 7,000 yen will be paid, or 20,000 yen per month.

For more details about yesterday's announcement for children up to the age of 3 years, please see the following; http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20101203a7.html

If you would like help with making an application or would like to know more, please take a look here; http://www.japaninfoswap.com/blog/index.php?/archives/199-Changes-to-child-benefit-laws-in-Japan-will-benefit-foreign-families-as-well!.html

Might be time to make a baby or two!!

More Than Japan Housing, More Than Japan Cars and Furniture, More than Japan Serviced Apartments, More Than Japan Destination Services, More Than Japan License Conversion, More Than Japan Information!

The H&R Group is MORE THAN RELOCATION!
www.morethanrelo.com

The Future of Japan: What Can Be Done?

I was priveleged to be part of a delegation of executives today, through the European Business Council (EBC), that visited the Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry (METI) for an open discussion on 2 issues surrounding the future of Japan;

1. Human Capital- How can Japan build human capital that the Japanese business community needs to take part in the global economy

2. Foreign Direct Investment- What can Japan do to incentivise it

METI and the Japan government appear to be genuinely concerned about Japan's position in the global community.

The fundamental basis of the argument was set early in the meeting by the Japan President (a Japanese gentleman with a glowing presence) of one of the world's largest and most successful multinational companies commented that "The Government of Japan is only ever considering how to get in the game, but they are never considering how to WIN THE GAME".

This CEO went on to say that Japan needs to stand up and do something extra-ordinary. If Japan's corporate tax rate is 42%, and the rest of the world is around 25- 30%, then how about Japan standing up and offering a corporate tax rate of 15% to any foreign direct investment in Japan?

Or, he suggested "If you want research and development in Japan, why not offer a multi-national company 100 million dollars to move their facility here?"

As this CEO quite rightly mentions, 100 million dollars or a 15% tax rate is a game winner. A mediocre 5% reduction in the corporate tax rate will not incentivise anyone to shift their business to Japan.

The delegation then openly asked METI to consider a number of other points;

- Female participation in the workforce is essential. How about being the world leader in "Childcare Facilities", so females can go back to work? Reform is needed to incentivise females back into the workforce, and a mind change is required in Japanese child raising that placing your children in facilities is OK!

- A mind change is needed in Japan with regard to having the young youth of Japan get overseas experience. Overseas experience needs to be seen as the "thing to do". The Japanese government has got to send this message. Why not incentivise US and European universities to come to Japan, or fully fund them here?

- Young Japan needs to be encouraged to challenge things. There is a lack of urgency in understanding that if the young of Japan don't stand up, they won't have a future at all. Once again, someone needs to send this message, and someone needs to encourage entrpreneurship.

- Japan needs a silicon valley. There are a number of leading industries in Japan that could lead Japan into the future; mobile technologies, data center offerings, senior citizen business, self health care, and many more, but they need a "silicon valley" to assist in their development

- Japan needs to sell itself better to the world. There is an incredible amount of potential in tourism and other industries if only Japan can market themselves professionally to the world. This means being strategic with advertising such as "Yokoso Japan" that was incredibly poorly coordinated with each part of the process done independently by a different vendor (a review from the Japan President of one of the world's leading advertising agencies).

The summary being that while the Japanese Government is finally seeing that they have to do something, they are NOT "getting the point". To win the game, you have to stand up and be different. Be bold. Do something that nobody is thinking of doing. It was a pity that such a great discussion was only heard by a couple of "kacho" from METI / JETRO. That alone just shows the extent of the urgency...... there is still not enough urgency......

It really does start with the young of Japan. They are the future, and the Japanese government has to start sending the message to get them out of Japan to learn other languages and cultures. This coupled with some "BIG INITIATIVES" that shock the world and actually are game changing "FDI bringers" would really turn Japan around.

More Than Japan Housing, More Than Japan Cars and Furniture, More than Japan Serviced Apartments, More Than Japan Destination Services, More Than Japan License Conversion, More Than Japan Information!

The H&R Group is MORE THAN RELOCATION!
www.morethanrelo.com

Success in Relocation Team Work

I was priveleged to attend a seminar held today by Michiko Achilles, Chief Human Resources Officer at Aozora Bank, and be able to apply what I learnt to our real estate and relocation industry.

Ms. Achilles ended her presentation today with 7 pointers to sucessful interpersonal relations with a view towards "diversity in the workplace"; something that Japan seriously needs to look at to revive their economy.

1. Test your assumptions (may be what you think is right isn't....)

2. Respect differences (different opinions, different personalities... etc.)

3. Understand yourself (you can't understand others until you understand yourself)

4. Demonstrate empathy (in Japanese; 相手の立場から考える）

5. Find things in common (what do you have in common with the people you work with.....?)

6. Don't shoot for perfection

7. Enjoy differences (make good of a diverse work place!)

Not bad advice for anyone looking to improve their teamwork!

Data Protection in Relocation

I attended a session on “Data Protection” with a view to doing what is right for our Japan (Tokyo and Nagoya) Real Estate, Relocationa and Leasing Company. I would like to share what I learned.

1. While the security provided on by “systems” is important, staff awareness and training on data protections is often overlooked.

ie. It is good to have passwords, timeout functions, firewalls, spam protection and keys for cabinets, but if we are not aware of what data protection is required, and security training is not provided, then any systems we have don’t have much meaning.

2. The main steps in understanding data protection properly are;

Creating Values, Educating, Discussing, Training and Re-Training.

3. Independent items of data provide little risk. For example, a list of names has no particular risk if leaked alone. However, if the list of names also gives corresponding address information, phone numbers, email addresses, birth dates etc., then it quickly becomes a high risk in terms of data security. It is therefore the combination of data that is important. You need to correctly protect your combinations of data.

4. Within our offices, it is a good idea to consider the kinds of combinations of data that exist.
eg. Names, addresses, birth dates, mobile phone numbers, bank account details, work permits / visas, passport copies, registration card documents, medical histories, what else?

5. It is also best to consider where else we have the data mentioned in 4 above. Do we have it in our cars? Do we have it at home?

6. There are two types of data to consider;
a. Data At Rest: Data that is sitting in one stationary place
b. Data In Motion: Data that is moving from place to place

7. Data protection is all about reducing opportunistic events. One often implemented policy is a "Clean Desk Policy", as messy desks with a lot of diffirent information on them can create the "opportunity" for information to get into the wrong hands.

8. Even for small companies it is recommended to build a "Security Policy", to train employees on it, and then regularly re-train them.