By Chris Betros/Japan Today Editor in Chief
TOKYO—

Since the recession started hammering Japan last year, many companies have cut back on staff, creating an exodus of expat workers and their families … which means that moving companies are being kept pretty busy. One of those is Allied Pickfords, which is part of SIRVA Inc, the largest moving and relocation services company in the world with more than 800 offices in 40 countries.

Heading up the operation in Japan is General Manager Scott McCaskie. Born in Vancouver, McCaskie joined the hotel industry after graduating from university. He first came to Japan to work for a hotel in Yokohama in the 1990s. He joined Allied Pickfords in 2005.

Japan Today editor Chris Betros visits McCaskie at the Allied Pickfords office in Roppongi to hear more.

What is Allied Pickfords’ presence in Japan?

Allied Pickfords is a franchise in Japan where it has had a presence for about 21 years. We currently have two offices, one here and the other in Kobe. However, we can move all over Japan.

How has the recession been for your business?

It is up about 30% this year, mainly due to the slump in the financial industry. Most of it is outbound, with inbound business down by 20%. What we are seeing now is a lot of rush moves as expats, who were laid off, have to pack up and leave fairly quickly. Having the ability to react quickly and have a crew available to adapt to a customer’s needs are challenging for us. Ideally, we prefer one to two months in advance because there is a lot of planning that goes on. We had to hire more packing crews and office staff.

Generally, is your business seasonal?

It tends to be. May June and July have historically been busy times for outbound, whereas August and September are busy for inbound. December is our second busiest season for outbound.

It can be traumatic for a family forced to uproot their lives suddenly and leave Japan. How do you deal with that client stress?

All of our staff need a certain understanding about how to handle clients and it starts when the phone call comes in. Everybody is moving for different reasons, some because they want to, while others who don’t want to, are being forced to. Being able to relate to the customer and answer all their questions and concerns is extremely important.

A lot of different scenarios can arise in a door-to-door move and we need to be able to handle situations in a professional expedited way, whenever there is an issue, whether it is damage to an item or to the building. I believe our whole team is very knowledgeable and confident in the way they present themselves both on the phone and in person.

How do you market the company?

We advertise in a few different magazines. However, what works better for us is getting involved in the community. We are heavily involved with most of the international schools at their various events where we often rent a booth and give away freebies to the children. In addition, we have an information line. In the end, it comes down to word of mouth – that is how we have grown to what we are now.

How can a client track their shipment?

We have an online tracking system. We give you a log-in code and you are able to track your shipment throughout the whole door to door move. Of course, there is no way to know exactly how long customs clearance will take, so we allow for a range of one to two weeks, depending on the country. Occasionally, bad weather, such as hurricanes or typhoons, can delay shipments.

What differences are there in the way you work in Japan, compared to other countries?

The major difference between Japan and the rest of the world would have to be how Japan is geographically laid out. The streets here are narrower, so we must use smaller trucks to shuttle throughout Tokyo as containers are not allowed in the streets. In most other countries, you are allowed to bring the container right up to the door. Another challenge is parking; with the recent changes to parking limitations, it makes it very difficult for our crew to park the truck.

Do you have much domestic business?

Over the years, our domestic business has increased significantly. With companies merging quite often lately, we find ourselves getting into that side of the business a lot more.

How many staff do you have?

We have around 15 staff here in three main areas of finance, sales and operations. Then we have five crews of five packers. When it does get busy, we have additional crews who can join in. The most jobs we can do per day are 10 with weekends being the busiest time during the week.

What should a potential client look for in choosing you?

The first step would be to have one of our representatives visit and see the items that you would like to move and explain all about moving to whatever country you are going to. This service is free of charge and it’s the best way to find out everything involved in moving. The pre-move survey assists in helping the customer feel more comfortable about the whole moving process. Other than that, you should certainly visit our website.

For further information, please visit Allied Pickfords
This article is provided by courtesy of Japan Today

By Taro Fujimoto/Japan Today

Out of Japan’s population of 127 million, including foreigners, about 3.6 million have physical disabilities, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Over the past few years, the government has enacted several laws to facilitate the daily lives of disabled people and realize a so-called “barrier-free society.”

“Many organizations for disabled people sometimes just complain to me about how tough things are for their members. My first reaction used to be ‘so what?’ as I listened to their claims. Now, I always try to find a solution to such complaints,” says Makoto Nakazawa, 48, president of Barrier-Free Company in Tokyo. Nakazawa, who was born with a muscular disease, has been in a wheelchair all his life. He is a leading consultant in universal and barrier-free designs in Japan.

“…what is important in society is not always barrier-free facilities or hardware…but a better effort in people’s hearts to understand disabled people.”

Nakazawa says society is now starting to pay more attention to the diversity of people’s needs. “Up until now, the dominant idea has been that in a mass production society, products and services are for ‘Mr Average,’ which of course meant people with no disabilities. Everyone else had to adjust themselves to the idea. The situation is changing now and it has become more common for businesses to offer a lot more choices.”

Nakazawa, who worked for industrial machinery company Kubota Corp for 15 years, launched Barrier-Free Co in 2001 as a consultant to the private sector on how to incorporate barrier-free designs in products, the workplace and buildings in general. He also offered training to companies’ employees on how to deal with disabled people and the elderly. He says he launched Barrier-Free as a privately listed company, rather than a non-profit organization, so that many people could be involved in barrier-free issues as a business.

Nakazawa said he first got interested in barrier-free issues during his first overseas trip to the United States in the late 1980s. “When I arrived in the U.S., I didn’t feel that I was a disabled person because everybody there spoke to me and offered me assistance in a natural manner,” he recalls. “I thought ‘disabilities’ were just another part of the diversified society in the U.S. In Japan, people would just stare at me. I think the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) has been very effective in American society in terms of communication with the disabled. It got me thinking that I could something in Japan to remove barriers in our daily lives.”

After he returned to Japan, Nakazawa started doing volunteer work for the Japanese Red Cross and created a new edition of its “Accessible Tokyo” English guidebook with information on barrier-free facilities in Tokyo, such as hotels and department stores. He was responsible for creating the Japanese-English bilingual version, which became the first step in his consulting career.

As soon as he launched Barrier Free, many companies started asking Nakazawa for advice on how to implement universal and barrier-free designs in their services, products and facilities. Nakazawa says, “Companies told me that different organizations for the disabled were always requesting them to do different things. For example, those texture paving blocks may be good for the visually-impaired but they are not so useful for those wheelchairs in some situations.”

Nakazawa says he cannot represent every organization for disabled people; instead, his goal is to help more disabled people function with everyone else on a daily basis. “In Japan, while disabled children are encouraged to study at special schools rather than at normal schools, after they finish school, they are suddenly expected to live in society with non-disabled people without special consideration once they become adults.”

Nakazawa thinks one of the problems in Japanese society is the lack of communication between disabled and normal people. “They really don’t know each other. For example, most people tend to think that all hearing-challenged people can understand sign language. But actually, only 15% of them can. In addition, only 10% of visually-challenged people can read Braille.”

Not afraid to act, in 2007, Nakazawa sued Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward and the Urban Renaissance Agency (UR) over the substandard barrier-free passage from a station to his apartment. “City officials who are in charge of the barrier-free policy know very little about the problems. I tried to advise them to repair the passageway but they ignored me. What they built was just a waste of tax money.” The case is ongoing.

However, Nakazawa believes that what is important in society is not always barrier-free facilities or hardware, as he calls it, but a better effort in people’s hearts to understand disabled people. “Japanese tend to build something first and make it look plausible without actually understanding whether there is ‘heart’ to it.”

Nakazawa says Japanese people still need someone to help them consider the needs of disabled people and encourage them to take action. “That’s my role, I think,” he says, adding that he sees his barrier-free consultancy as a sustainable business rather than just charity. “I’m not talking only about disabled people but the elderly, as well. Companies are now aware that their services and products have to cater to the needs of an aging society.”

For further information on Barrier-Free Company, visit: www.barrier-free-jp.com/
（This article is provided by courtesy of Japan Today）

By Taro Fujimoto/Japan Today

One fair trade organization which has been focusing on the poor in developing countries is People Tree which was established in Japan.Heading up People Tree and its parent NGO, Global Village, is founder and chief executive Safia Minney. Born to an Indian Mauritian father and Swiss mother in London, she started her career in publishing when she was 17. After working in publishing and launching her own alternative marketing consultancy in London afterwards, she came to Japan with her British husband who worked for a Japanese bank at the time and now works for People Tree full time. She worked for publisher PHP as well as for Simul Academy, which trains professional interpreters.

In 1991, Minney launched a non-governmental organization for the environment and social justice, Global Village. It began with a simple pamphlet about environmental information and Fair Trade products. People Tree currently runs two flagship stores in Tokyo and supplies 350 stockists all over Japan as well as 130 stockists in the UK and Europe. It has 40 full-time staff in Japan and 25 in the UK. The company has steadily increased its sales from 34 million yen in 1995 to 1,023,600,000 yen (Japan and UK together) in 2007.

What is People Tree’s concept of Fair Trade?

People Tree is a “social business,” a hybrid between conventional business and a charity. Looking at how we can maximize the benefits to disadvantaged people in the developing world, we have three principles as a business tool: to generate incomes for the poor in the developing world, to protect the environment, and to advocate for change in the way conventional businesses work.

How did your Fair Trade business start in Japan?

When I came to Japan, I found there were many people who care about the environment. But at that time, there was very little information on environmental products. Since the language was the biggest barrier for me, I started researching and publishing environmental information about products and services in Japan by launching Global Village. At first, it was just one sheet of paper with environmental information and Fair Trade products imported from Britain. Then we started to make products suitable for the Japanese market together with designers.

Who makes Fair Trade products?

We have partnerships with 50 producers in 15 developing countries, who mainly are members of the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT)

What kind of products do you sell?

About 50% of our products are fashion and accessories, 25% are food and 25% hand-made crafts, interiors and gifts.

Who are your customers?

Our customer base is very wide, mostly women aged between 25 and 40. I think green consumers in any developed country are mostly women who care more about the environment and social issues. They often start thinking about these issues when they have children. I think the LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health And Sustainability) idea is also one of the factrors in Japan that has helped promote Fair Trade. We are attracting male customers too by designing more products for them.

What is the social situation of Fair Trade in Japan like?

The biggest challenge in Japan is raising awareness. In Britain, about 70% of the population can articulate what Fair Trade is, while it is less than 10% in Japan. Japanese people think and talk a lot about the issues but it takes more time to act. They should just act. I think there is still too little support for the Fair Trade movement by consumers, businesses and government compared to other developed countries.
People in Japan are highly educated, very curious and self-disciplined. There is a big appreciation for natural and hand-made materials and traditional skills in Japan, which I’m very pleased about. Japan can be a leader in green consumerism. So, I think there is still huge potential in Japan to promote Fair Trade.

How do you advertise your Fair Trade products?

Many fashion and women’s magazines now cover People Tree as an international leader in Fair Trade and Fair Trade fashion.

How does the recession impact your business?

Of course it does affect us. But organic agriculture uses no oil products. We are beginning to see farmers switch to organic to save money which is good for them, consumers and the planet. There is a growing macro-economic viewpoint. We should try to invest in organic and green energy to create a sustainable economic model. In times of recession, you need to look at social businesses that take a long-term view.

What do you think about conventional companies’ CSR activities?

I think more than 90% is just a façade and 10% of CSR activities are genuine at the moment.
However, things are changing. Conventional companies need to look at the real environmental and social costs of production. Conventional businesses do not cover the real social and human rights costs, often paying less than a living wage to adults or paying so little that only children will make the products they sell. Often, environmental laws are ignored as it is cheaper to produce products that pollute the environment. This is clearly not right.

What is the biggest issue now for People Tree?

Cash flow is always a big issue. As our business grows, local producers require 50% of payment in advance with their orders. Fortunately, we’ve received a lot of support from Japanese customers and the public who have subscribed to a private issue bond to support People Tree.

What are People Tree’s future prospects?

I would like to have more stores selling People Tree products throughout Japan because more consumers will be able to find and buy Fair Trade products.

What is your management style?

I’m a team player. I work alongside my team. I explain what the big picture is and solicit people’s ideas. We work very fast. Some people found it difficult to keep up. But we have to be innovative and work quickly with designers, media and customers to help small-scale producers access the market and there are many barriers that we face together that need to be overcome.

How do you spend your free time?

If I have free time, I hike in the mountains with my family and friends. I love nature. I also do yoga everyday and am constantly designing products and campaigns in my head – even in my free time.

For further information, visit: People Tree Japan or People Tree UK
（This article is provided by courtesy of Japan Today）

In order to standardize the interview procedure, I always like to ask candidates a selection of questions that includes a standard five. Also, try not to forget that you really don’t need to be hard-nosed about the entire process and just rattling off questions is not going to result in a good interview or a favorable impression being created. Let the candidate relax and ask some questions that will allow them to open up.

Now, some of the questions I am going to recommend here are far from being ground-breaking stuff, but what I do want to do is offer some insight into just why they are good questions to ask at an interview.

1. Tell me about yourself

I like to ask this question with a twist; explaining that of course I have read their resume but would really like to hear a summary covering their skills, qualifications and experiences. I tell the candidates I am giving them about 2 minutes to do this, to prevent the answer just being a regurgitation of the resume I already have.

What you are looking for here is a clearer idea of just how the candidates view themselves and how they prioritize the different aspects of their background in relation to the role they are interviewing for.

2. What do you know about us?

It is very useful to get an insight into just how seriously the candidate is taking the interview process and find out if they have done their homework and actually researched the interviewing company. For more senior positions, I don’t just want to see evidence that they’ve checked out a company website; they should be able to put forth a good analysis on just how the company places itself in the market relative to its competitors in terms of segmentation, strategy and potential.

Frankly, if a candidate approaches an interview too casually, they either don’t care about getting the job or it’s a good reflection on how loosely they approach work-related issues in general.

3. Why should we hire you over other candidates?

This is an opportunity for a candidate to place themselves within your company; their understanding of the organization is further revealed along with their self-insight into their strengths and how they distinguish themselves from the other candidates. Their vision can be easily matched with just what you are looking for in a new hire and how they would fit within the organization.

Bear in mind that if the candidates can’t answer the question directly, succinctly and without boasting, they are very unlikely to make a good hire.

4. What is your dream job?

Ignoring the fact that it is very unlikely that anyone is ever going to find their dream job within an existing organization, there will always inevitably have to be compromise – this is still a great question and can provide real insight into just what motivates the candidate, where they are planning on getting to in their career and just how much they have thought it through.

Don’t let the candidate fob you off by saying that the job they are interviewing for is their dream job. Push a little harder to find out what job would be their perfect fit and why – and by implication whether the job they are interviewing for really is going to be right for them.

Obviously these four questions alone are not going to unlock the hiring process for you, but using them and being more aware of what you are looking for when you do ask them will allow you to gain valuable insight into the candidate sitting opposite you and whether or not it is worthwhile giving further consideration to their candidacy.

On top of these questions, I like to go into interviews with a clipboard affixed to a page of general questions and another page listing questions more specific to the role I am looking to fill.

Here is the list of General Questions I like to have at my disposal when interviewing candidates.

・Explain the organizational structure of your last company and how you fitted into it.

・What did you do on a day to day basis?

・What skills and qualifications do you regard as essential for success in the position you have applied for?

・What can you contribute?

・Why are you interested in this position?

・What functions and tasks of the position do you feel most/least comfortable with?

・For which parts of this position would you need training?

・What are your strong points? What are your weaknesses?

・What motivates you? (What demotivates you?)

・How do you handle criticism?

・Can you work well under pressure?

・Do you prefer working alone or as part of a team?

・What management style gets the best out of you?

・How long do you think it will take before you start making a significant contribution to the company?

・What interests do you have outside of work?

・What are your five most significant accomplishments in your career so far?

・How did you achieve them?

・What was your biggest failure?

・How could you improve yourself?

・What do you know about our organization?

・What interests you about our products/services?

・What can we offer you that your previous/current company could/does not?

・Do you feel you progressed satisfactorily in your last job?

・What problems did you encounter in your last job?

・What was good/bad about your last job?

・Describe a time you had to work with someone you didn’t like.

・What annoyed you about your last job?

・What do you dislike doing?

・What would you like to avoid in your next job?

・Tell me about a situation when you saw room for improvement in a task you were required to complete?

・What did you do?

・How did you present your idea?

・Why did you choose a career in ….? (Why are you changing careers?)

・What are your career goals?

・Are you prepared to relocate?

・Are you willing to travel?

・What level of salary are you looking for now?

・Is there anything else that we should know about you that you haven’t shared with us?

By Taro Fujimoto/JapanToday

What toys did you play with when you were a kid? While video and high-tech toys are popular in Japan today, some parents want their kids to play with more creative and educational products, such as LEGO. The Danish toymaker is one of the most popular brands in Japan.

Marking the 30th anniversary of the launch of its Japan office in Tokyo, LEGO Japan continues to play a unique role in the Japanese toy market, maintain a strong brand identity and product quality.

“In Japan, we noticed that there is a much bigger share of creative building than “play theme” products.”

Managing the company’s business operations in the Japanese market is representative director and vice president Ken Millhouse. A Briton born in Germany, he grew up in the UK and Cyprus. After finishing his BA degree in business studies in London, he became a market researcher.

In 1972, Millhouse joined American household product company Colgate in South Africa. Leaving Colgate-Palmolive in 1983, he started working for Tiger Brand first as marketing & sales director of their Bakery division and then of the Pasta division. In 1993, he became country manager of LEGO South Africa just after the end of the country’s apartheid policy, working there for 10 years. He was head of LEGO South Korea in 2004 before taking up his current position in 2005.

What is the LEGO’s business structure in Japan?

The company has three different areas of business: LEGO play materials, LEGO Education (a separate division) and concept lab (not under my supervision). I control essentially LEGO play material, sales, marketing and distribution in Japan.

What is the history of LEGO Japan?

LEGO Japan celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. But the company actually had started the business 46 years ago through distribution by Bandai Corp. We currently have 51 employees in offices in Tokyo and Osaka as well as a warehouse in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture.

What’s LEGO Education?

We have 13 LEGO Education centers in Japan, fostering the learning and creativity skills of children aged between 3 and 10 by using LEGO products. This is a growth opportunity for us. This differentiates us from our competitors.

What is the Japanese toy market like?

The Japanese toy market is the second largest in the world and very tough. However, the company suffers from what we call an “age trap.” The age trap has two meanings. One is that the market is declining due to the aging population. The other is that in Japan children exit educational toys at a younger age than in other countries. There is no question that LEGO can be used by almost any age group in terms of creativity learning and hand-eye coordination. Although our primary target is kids, our secondary target is parents as well as adult LEGO fans.

What are some unique aspects of the Japanese toy market?

There are many unique aspects which kids look for. For example, intellectual properties (IPs) in Japan, such as Anpanman, Ultraman and Power Rangers which are globally recognizable, are completely different from other foreign markets. Although there is good crossover between Japan and other countries in some areas, IPs like Spiderman and Batman are not quite as popular here, unlike other countries.

What’s LEGO’s position in the Japanese market?

It depends on how you define us in the market. In terms of total market, we are very small, unlike Bandai and Takara Tommy. If you take us as a share of the construction and educational toy market, excluding video games, we are predominant. We have around 80% of the construction toy market.

How do you see the competition from video games in the market?

LEGO as a company has globally successful video games in collaboration with the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” series, and we are represented in that universe. There is no question video games have squeezed the traditional market for us. But we have a strong brand and consistent message and position in the market. Therefore, the niche we are in is pretty healthy in terms of educational toys. I don’t think we are impacted as badly as some other toys.

What is LEGO Japan’s branding strategy?

We basically use the same global value of branding: “Inspiring and Developing Builders of Tomorrow.” In terms of power of creativity, we focus on hands-on learning using LEGO blocks. Imagination, creativity and quality of products are important in terms of both the way they are used and we are presented.

Do you have any special marketing strategy in Japan?

In Japan, we noticed that there is a much bigger share of creative building than “play theme” products. For example, the LEGO Bucket is very specific to Japan, and is a very consistent product for us. We are trying to get older consumers to experience LEGO and increase the exit age from educational toys.

How do you advertise your products?

Since our key focus is to target kids, we constantly advertise on the TV Tokyo network which has a lot of animation programs for them. While some companies tie up with programs using their characters rather than conventional spot TV ads, we have a different advertising strategy.

Are there any changes in the market compared with before?

More people in Japan are buying LEGO now, even though the market is declining. I think families and parents are moving toward what we call “trusted choices,” especially in view of the safety problem with made-in-China toys and the squeezing of disposable incomes.

How are sales in Japan?
They’re going well. We had almost double digit growth in 2005-2006 and continue to grow at a more moderate level.

Do many Japanese tourists visit LEGO Land in Denmark?

Some 20,000-30,000 Japanese visit LEGO Land each year. Since we expect 1.5 million visitors a year, that’s quite a significant number. Japanese tourists are very polite and patient, even if they have to queue. Although we have had a lot of talks about it, we don’t currently have any plans to open a LEGO Land in Japan because of the cost of property which is very expensive. But I wish we would have one in the future.

What current issues do you face in the industry?

The biggest is the exchange rate. Now, the euro is too strong against the yen. An oil price increase in 2009 would also be a concern for us. If you look into the future, you have to think of inflation. We are doing our best to minimize that factor. LEGO has a philosophy of trying to keep prices stable.

What are your future prospects?

We cannot keep continuing to grow in the Japanese market. But we will remain strong in our niche. We believe we can grow in this context. We continue to innovate our core business, new themes, IPs and ideas. We will continue to develop robotics, for example. We won’t get into violent TV games but produce one based on IPs, like “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones.” We will use an online medium to improve the communication with LEGO core fans.

What is your management style?

More coaching than dictatorial. We need to coach, treating people fairly and with respect whilst providing clear goals and objectives equally.

Is it difficult to work with Japanese employees?

No and yes. I find them very competent, reliable and also very committed to delivering results which I think is fantastic. The biggest issue is language, which is my fault actually. LEGO Japan is not a pure Danish company but a hybrid of both Japanese and Danish perspectives, creating positive synergy.

What’s a typical day for you?

I get up at 5:30 a.m. and sometimes go to the gym. I come to the office between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. I usually have meetings with staff, business partners and customers as well as phone call sessions with colleagues in Denmark. I go back home around 7:30 p.m. in Yokohama. I sometimes help out at the local club at the YCAC (Yokohama Country and Athletic Club) in Yokohama after work.

How do you spend weekends?

I try to focus on my family. I go to the gym, and spend time with my wife. Since both of my sons have left Japan, I dine out with my wife. I also play golf, watch rugby games and visit YCAC.

Did you play with LEGO when you were small?

Absolutely. I never imagined I would work for LEGO. I didn’t think LEGO was a business. Selling a product which is fun and educational while running a business are kind of a win-win situation, I think.

For further information, visit: http://www.lego.com

（This article is provided by courtesy of Japan Today）

Kazuhiro Ohshima, Director of Center for International Exchange, Nihon Kogakuin College (Katayanagi Institute)

In Japan, 3,218 private vocational schools offer professional education in individual areas of industry. Currently, 23.1% of high school graduates study at vocational schools and 99.6% of them find employment after graduation.

One of the leading vocational schools in Japan is Nihon Kogakuin College, which is part of the Katayanagi Institute group. The school has offered industrial education since its establishment in 1947. Today, the school proactively accepts foreign students due to the labor shortage in IT and technology industry.

“Currently, 23.1% of high school graduates study at vocational schools and 99.6% of them find employment after graduation.”

Leading the international affairs department for affiliated schools and the university is Kazuhiro Ohshima. Born in Tokyo, he studied computer technology at Nihon Kogakuin in the 1960s. Just after his graduation, he worked for the Osaka Expo in 1970 where he witnessed new technologies which are used in our lives today.

Prior to his career in Nihon Kogakuin, he promoted computers in Japan for about 20 years as an employee of a public foundation after the Osaka Expo while giving lectures on computers at Nihon Kogakuin on a part-time basis. In 1988, he joined the school as a full-time lecturer and has been in his current position since 2004.

What kind of education does Nihon Kogakuin College offer?

The Katayanagi Institute group runs three vocational schools (Nihon Kogakuin College) in Tokyo and Hokkaido and Tokyo University of Technology. About 20,000 students are currently enrolled at these affiliated educational institutions.

Nihon Kogakuin College offers creators, music, IT, technology, health care and sports courses. Each course is 2 to 4 years, depending on the area of study. The vocational school is the main area of our business. The main purpose of the school is help students get jobs after graduation.

What about Tokyo University of Technology?

Tokyo University of Technology has a joint lab for corporations and the government where the government conducts research on biotechnology and the environment and companies develop both commercial and industrial technologies. Students also work for the lab as interns, assisting research and creating illustration samples and templates for commercial computer software.

Students who graduate from Nihon Kogakuin College can transfer to Tokyo University of Technology if they wish to continue their higher education.

What’s your role at the school?

Since 2004, I have been in charge of international business such as recruiting foreign students. We have offices in South Korea and Taiwan to introduce our schools.

Why did you decide to study at Nihon Kogakuin after high school?

Since it was the time of the student movement in the 1960s, I didn’t want to be an ordinary salaryman. Although I had a choice to go on to a university affiliated with my high school, I decided to study computers at Nihon Kogakuin because I thought computer technology would be important at that time.

Why are foreign students important?

Since young Japanese students are not interested in engineering and technology, the industry suffers from a labor shortage in IT and technology. Companies are also interested in foreign professionals in these areas.

What are your foreign students’ nationalities?

We currently have 300 to 400 foreign students. 80% of them are from South Korea and Taiwan. Other students are from 20 countries all over the world.

Nihon Kogakuin College launched a Japanese language school last year

In April, 2007, we opened a Japanese language school for foreigners, which is affiliated with Tokyo University of Technology. We thought that with our own language school, it would be easier to attract foreign students. Graduates of the school can go on to Nihon Kogakuin College. During their study at the language school, students can take as many open day programs as they wish, so they can choose what to study after the language school.

The school offers animation and Japanese language summer course for foreigners

Yes. Summer courses are open-day events for foreigners to make them familiar with our schools. Open day is conducted throughout the year and similar events are held for Japanese too.

At the summer course, foreigners can learn basic Japanese language and experience animation and graphic courses at Nihon Kogakuin College for two weeks. Although participants have to buy flight tickets themselves, the tuition fee covers transportation, accommodation and food. Because all the classes offered are basic level, beginners are all welcome.

Who are the participants in the summer course?

We organize summer courses for both Asians and English-speaking people respectively. Participants in the course taught in English are almost all Americans. Some are high school students and some are working people in their 20s.

Currently, the maximum number of participants is 20, and lectures are given to two groups of 10, so we can give them careful instruction.

How is the situation for employment of foreign graduates?

Recently, many companies have been recruiting foreign graduates, especially in IT and technology areas due to a labor shortage. Nationality is not a problem. The school also gives advice on visa issues to companies who recruit foreigners for the first time.

Some 60% of foreign students wish to work in Japan after graduation, and all of them have got jobs in the past four years. Many foreign students wish to return to Japan after experience working abroad for several years.

Students from Thailand, for example, will be well paid when they go back to their country after graduation. This is because they can speak Japanese and there are lots of Japanese companies in Thailand. Rather than English, Japanese language is more helpful to get well-paid jobs.

How do you advertise the school?

We put advertisements in free magazines in Japan and abroad. Our online website is one of the most effective advertising tools.

Do you want to teach again?

I’m enjoying my current job as director of CIE. I’d like to experience many different things in different fields.

What’s your managing style?

I always try to talk to students and have meetings with Japanese language schools to understand them. Being in the office doesn’t make anything happen.

What’s a typical day for you?

I come to the office at 9 a.m. and leave around 10 p.m. I often attend events for recruiting foreigners nationwide and worldwide on Saturday and Sunday.

How do you like to relax?

I try to relax as much as I can. Although I would like to play golf which I like, I don’t have time because I’ve been busy these days.

（This article is provided courtesy of Japan Today）

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More information of Nihon Kogakuin College

To that end, Kaufmann and his son founded The Linguist Institute five years ago to teach languages online. The institute’s primary language learning method is LingQ (www.LingQ.com), which breaks down the barriers that prevent people from learning languages. LingQ offers English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Russian, Portuguese, Swedish, Chinese and Japanese. All you need is a computer with an Internet connection and Internet Explorer 6 and above or Firefox 2.0, as your browser. You should also have an iPod or equivalent MP3 player and a headset/microphone for taking part in online voice chats.

“I started learning Russian when I was 60 and Portuguese at 62.”

Based in Vancouver, Kaufman was born in Sweden after his parents left Czechoslovakia in 1939. In 1951, he and his family moved to Montreal. He became a Canadian trade commissioner in Hong Kong where he learned Chinese. Then he was with the Canadian embassy in Tokyo from 1971-74. After that, Kaufmann joined a major Canadian lumber exporting company to set up their office in Tokyo. In 1987, he set up his own wood company, which is still his main business.

Why did you get into the language-learning business?

Partly because I wanted to start learning languages again. I realized just how much conditions for language learning had improved through modern technology like MP3 players, for example. I used to use a big open-reel tape recorder. But now the ease with which you can access content and online dictionaries has made a big difference to learning languages. I knew there were many people not being helped by the ESL industry, so I formed this company, The Linguist. The website is called LingQ.com. It was primarily for learning English and we did that for awhile before deciding to make it multilingual.

How many languages does LingQ offer?

Right now we have 10 languages—English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Russian, Portuguese, Swedish, Chinese and Japanese—but potentially we could have any language as long as our members give us content. We can apply our methodology to making any content accessible as learning material.

What are LingQ’s strengths?

For one thing, it liberates the language learner from the tyranny of the teacher. Teachers impose their agenda, telling you what you are going to learn today. When I study a language, I don’t need the grammatical explanations. All I want is content and I’ll figure it out.

How does it work?

We have a growing library of content. It could be podcasts, radio programs, content that our members create. You can choose something of interest to listen to, and we help you find your level. The system helps grade the content to your vocabulary level by finding out which words you know. When you select something new, it tells you how many unknown words there are, so you don’t go after something too hard. So you listen and you read. For every audio content, there is a transcript. With the transcript, there is a whole range of functionality about saving words, capturing phrases. The whole idea is you have the opportunity to choose something of interest, listen to it several times, and figure out what it means. Plus you can talk to our tutors online and have your writing corrected.

Suppose I want to learn Russian and I don’t know a word. How do I start from scratch?

Actually, I started Russian, which has very complicated grammar, because I wanted to prove to myself that even in a grammar-heavy language like Russian, you don’t need grammar explanations.

But to answer your question, we have a number of content items that exist in certain languages. If your native language is Japanese or English, for example, and you want to learn Russian, then you’ll pick some of these items where it exists in your language. I took one called “The Power of the Linguist,” consisting of 26 episodes, some up to 1 minute long. I read it in English, listened to it in Russian, then read it in Russian. Then I looked up the words. If you get stuck, you can ask a tutor.

When I started Russian, I listened to the simple content items 30 times. You have to expose yourself to this very repetitive intense listening process and as you get better, then the frequency with which you listen to content goes down. At a certain point, you will want to express yourself. Whenever that happens for you, you can make an appointment with one of our tutors. When you write, you get the corrections back, or you can talk to them.

How do you earn revenue from LingQ?

All memberships fees are charged monthly. There are no set-up fees, no long-term contracts and no cancellation fees. There are four membership levels, FREE, $10, $39 and $79 a month. Points are used for services like writing correction, live conversation and premium content. With these points, you can sign up for discussions, you get your own personal tutor, and every time you do something that involves a tutor, you pay per discussion

Are there any limitations in the learning method?

Some of the functionality doesn’t work yet for Asian languages because our system relies on capturing fragments of sentences, such as spaces between the words, which Japanese and Chinese do not have. This is one of the many things we have to fix. Probably by fall, I think we’ll have full functionality for Japanese and Chinese and we’ll put on Korean, too. There is demand for Arabic, Hindi, Turkish, you name it. But we can only do so many things at once. Our programmers are so busy.

Where are your learners?

I would guess 15% are in Japan, 10% Brazil, 10% U.S., then Europe, Middle East and Latin America.

How do you market LingQ?

We rely very much on the web. Our members blog about us. We put most of our effort into developing and improving the site so that people will talk about us. I was on national radio in Canada recently and immediately after, we had 550 people sign up. As we go forward, I’ve got to be more aggressive in terms of creating publicity.

How many languages do you speak?

I speak English, French, Japanese, Mandarin, Swedish, Spanish, German, Italian, Cantonese and I manage quite well in Russian and Portuguese. I can stumble along in Korean.

Do you have to be young to start learning a language?

I started learning Russian when I was 60 and Portuguese at 62. After two years, I can read Russian literature. People think it is difficult to learn a new language and they can’t do it. I firmly believe that adults are better language learners than children. Kids are less inhibited but adults know so much more. Unfortunately, most people are conditioned by what they did at school. For most people, learning a foreign language was an unpleasant and unsuccessful experience. You don’t have to be exposed to another language as a child to be able to learn it. It is more a matter of attitude and how you go about it.

Which languages would you like to learn next?

I want to go back to Korean. Then I want to knock off Arabic, Hindi and Turkish.

How do you divide your time between LingQ and your lumber business?

About 80% of my time is on LingQ. It’s a labor of love but I have never worked so hard. I am up at 7, talking to our learners. I am also a tutor. I do podcasts, webcam for YouTube. I comment on other people’s blogs, so we can create some name recognition on the web.

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（This article is provided courtesy of Japan Today）