The Un-Masking of Japan

Does anything about this photo seem strange to you?  If so, you don't live in Japan because this is a common sight during the cold and flu season.  This is proper etiquette if you have the slightest case of sniffles.  The Japanese are incredulous that Americans don't wear masks when they're sick.  I've tried my best to,  but I immediately have a asthma attack when I put one on even though I don't have asthma.  Of course, these masks also have other handy uses.  I once asked a college student who wore one to every class if she had been sick for a long time.  She said that no, she just didn't feel like putting on make up.  Children here start wearing masks at an early age.  There's even a nursery school song about the elephant who wears a long mask and the squirrel who wears a small mask, etc., etc.  I think it's hard to argue with the effectiveness of masks since surgeons wear them during operations, after all!  I think it may be worth a try for an aggressive surgeon mask manufacturer in the US to try convincing Americans to wear them.  However, this may cause a law enforcement crisis when convenience store clerks begin pushing the panic button willy nilly, as masks don't carry a very good image in the USA (probably because of the Wild West era).  I thought there may be a market opportunity here for such a manufacturer to sell masks decorated with the American flag or pithy sayings like, "Made in America."  But let's face it, the mask marketers here could copy that in a minute, and they've got a major head start on you.  Then, I realized that there is another way to fight colds in the winter.  Since affordable heating isn't available here, I wondered what would happen if houses were actually insulated.  I remember seeing those commercials in America with someone blowing insulation through a hole in the wall of a house.  I think someone with a machine like that and plenty of that pink stuff could be busier here than a one-armed paper hanger.  Your satisfied customers may also be interested in another item I've never seen here...storm windows.  If you think I'm on to something, contact us at www.noah-digital.co.jp/english/ for alternatives to mask-marketing (sorry) in Japan. 

Getting old but looking young in Japan...

There's a common Q & A here in Japan among new acquaintances that may surprise visitors.  It is quite common to ask someone upon first meeting them how old they are.  Then, regardless of the answer, the reaction will ALWAYS be, "You look so young!"  The first 100 times I got this reaction, I was really encouraged and felt that, well, I must really look young!  This was even more encouraging given the fact that Americans actually look quite old at any age compared to Japanese people.  But very gradually, I began to catch on that telling someone they look young is a popular compliment here and only withheld on rare occasions, so that I really dread the day when I don't hear it anymore.  Though the Japanese population is getting old, it's not going quietly or without a good fight.  Looking young is extremely important here in a way that Americans can't imagine.  Though we also want to look young, at some point, we can't pull it off anymore and give in.  We turn to maxims such as, "Women are like fine wine..."  But the Japanese really can look young for so long that it's shocking and totally unfair.  Of course, skin care products are extremely plentiful, popular, and over-priced.  One of my favorites is horse oil for the face.  And yes, I use it, since I really like horses and never get to ride them anymore (though I refuse to eat horse sushi since I'm pretty sure that requires the demise of a horse, while I'm not sure where horse oil comes from).  Of course, I would much rather be able to buy a $5 bottle of almond oil (for the skin, not for cooking) at the supermarket like I used to in America.  But I've never been able to find a product like that here.  Have you got an affordable alternative to horse oil?  Contact us at noah-digital.co.jp/english/ for help marketing to the gracefully aging population in Japan.

Give me the simple life...a plea from Japan

If Americans can make something hassle-free, we will.  We always take the easiest, most pain-free way.  This approach isn't very respected in Japan.  Here, a certain amount of complication and suffering adds value to otherwise mundane duties.  For example, there doesn't seem much need to make taking a child to nursery school an especially difficult task.  But why should nursery school be easy?  What do we mothers want, a free ride?  In my son's new school, mothers must make various various bags and handkerchiefs of exact dimensions, preferably all from the same material. (For the hopeless mothers like me, we have to pay a professional to make these.)  Certain items must go in each bag; for example, chopsticks go in the hand-made chopsticks bag.  In addition, there is something called an "obento" or home-made lunch that would blow the mind of the average American mother.  These are so elaborate and time consuming to make that after all, it seems better just to keep the child at home, quit work and go on welfare.  But all this is nothing compared to my son's previous school which required mothers every morning to write down the child's temperature, what the child ate for breakfast, the time of his/her last poop and last pee, the time he/she went to bed and woke up and other fun facts.  They weren't as tough on bags, though you had to carry away your child's dirty diapers at the end of the day. Now, this is just one small area of life, but when you put all the areas together, it makes for a lot of effort everyday just to do ordinary things.  The marketing application?  Make it easy for Japanese people to find out about and order your product!  (For example, don't make them wade through Google-translated nonsense.) Here shopping is a beloved hobby and source of fun and relaxation, a grand departure from the rest of life.  So, contact us for help making things simpler (even fun) for Japanese customers at noah-digital.co.jp/english/.

Sleepless in Japan...

I still remember the first time I saw someone sleeping in their car, sitting in the driver's seat, along the side of the road in broad daylight in Japan.  I thought he had had a heart attack and was perhaps dead.  I also recall the shock when my college students constantly fell asleep during an interactive English class.  One time a student even nodded off while I was asking her a question.  Then, there are the many times people sitting next to me on the subway have practically ended up in my lap, as they fell into a deep sleep.  Japanese don't seem to believe in sleeping at night.  Even the children stay up until all hours.  One may think it's because there are no decent mattresses in Japan.  But when I've asked Japanese friends about this, they say that sleeping seems like a waste of time.  So many people are walking around half-awake just waiting to find somewhere to sit down and snooze for a while.  You will hear people say, "I'm tired," much more often here than I ever heard in America.  Consequently, there is a high value on things that make one feel "refreshed," a word also often used.  Perhaps that is why there are an extreme variety of drinks here, why even very short international travel is popular, why going to hot springs frequently is a must, why Disney World is a yearly destination for many, and why reading comics (manga) is a common pastime for adults.  Do you have a product or service that may be "refreshing" to people here?  Are you Sealy or Simmons, for example?  Contact us for help marketing in Japan at www.noah-digital.co.jp/english/.

Valentine's Day in Japan...a case study of marketing genius

Valentine's Day is for lovers, right?  This approach makes the day special but certainly limits the buyers of Valentine's chocolate to people with a sweetheart.  And in America, it's primarily the men who buy the chocolate, right?  So, you've got men with a sweetheart as potential Valentine chocolate buyers...a good-sized group but limited.  In Japanese this problem has been overcome in several ways.  One, Valentine's Day is the day WOMEN buy chocolate.  It's a rule.  And they not only buy chocolate for their sweetheart, if they have one, but they must buy it for all kinds of men they know, bosses, colleagues, friends, sons, customers, etc.  So, already the number of chocolate buyers is greatly expanded, all of whom must make multiples purchases.  Further, one month after Valentine's Day, March 14th, is "White Day," and this is the day that MEN have to buy chocolate for all the women who gave them chocolate on Valentine's Day.  Now, if you're a chocolate maker, there could be nothing better than having half the population feeling obligated to buy chocolate for multiple members of the other half of the population in a culture where obligation is serious business.  So, anyway, I'm not sure that you have much hope competing with this kind of marketing savvy, but if you want to try, contact us at www.noah-digital.co.jp/english/  Now, I'm off to buy chocolate...after all, White Day is coming...

Special Promotion: Business cards...Japanese style

Our parent company was founded in 1954 by one of my favorite people, Mr. Kondo.  He still shows up at work at around 5:30 a.m. and stays until late in the evening, even though he's 80 years old!  He is as kind and generous as anyone I know.  He built a very successful printing company, and now his children have taken it to the next level.  But printing is still very important to the company, especially printing on clear plastic.  One of our best-selling products is clear-plastic business cards.  When an American businessman visited here recently, he really wanted some of his own, so we thought you may be interested.  Here they are used to express a little of one's personality.  This also provides a great chance to get to know us without a big investment of time or money.  We look forward to hearing from you.  To order, go to www.noah-digital.co.jp/english/.  Thank you!

Small is Beautiful Here in Japan

What does my Japanese friend admire about my flower garden?  The tiny wild flower growing in the crack of the pavement.  It's doing it's best to make its small world beautiful.  Of all the nations helping after the tsunami, another friend says what she appreciates most is the help from several small and relatively poor countries.  They didn't do the most, but they tried the hardest.  The birthday present most appreciated is a home-made cake.  It took effort, but it doesn't make my friend feel obligated.  We may look at someone who is working hard at a seemingly meaningless task and think, "What a waste of time."  A Japanese person would likely say, "He's trying very hard, isn't he."  Just let a new arrival here try to speak a few words of Japanese, and he will be overwhelmed with appreciation.  Japanese love effort, while Americans love results.  We look at the big picture, while they look at a small detail.  They are lovers of the obscure.  We can't be satisfied if the skyline isn't beautiful; but they can find beauty in a corner...something struggling to contrast with its surroundings.  What does this have to do with marketing?  Are you a small business-to-business company with a willingness to work hard?   Are you a marketer of a niche product?  You may find a ready audience here.  Contact us at www.noah-digital.co.jp/english/ for help marketing in Japan. 

Living to Eat in Japan

Americans love eating.  And we have the pounds to prove it.  But Japanese love FOOD...food culture, food gifts, food TV shows, food conversations, food trips, food stories, new food, etc.  For example, I taught in Japanese college for years.  In one class, students had to keep journals.  What was the topic at least 80% of the time?  Food, followed by Tokyo Disney World and what they ate there.  If you turn on the TV, what will you see...food, people eating food, celebrities talking about food.  What are most children's books and songs about?  Yes, food.  The most popular gifts and souvenirs, the most common reason for day trips, the most interesting topic of conversation...that's right, food.  I was especially struck when I first came here, that so many conversations centered around food and its health benefits.  I was often told what part of the body would benefit from the food I was eating (usually my skin).  Americans eat because it tastes good.  Comparatively speaking, Japanese eat because it's good for them and/or the food is rare or culturally interesting.  What's a big food gap here in food-loving Japan?  Real, cheap, Americanized Mexican food.  It doesn't exist here, and I can't understand why.  An El Paso taco kit has gotten so hard to find and so expensive that I have given it up.  There are some places that serve mayonnaise tacos with ketchup salsa, but what I wouldn't give for a Taco Bell!  I'm telling you, Taco Bell, you're missing an opportunity here!  I would make a day trip to eat at a Taco Bell...contact us (Taco Bell) for help marketing in Japan at www.noah-digital.co.jp/english