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********************************************************** You are cordially invited to attend the third annual Japan Internet Report (JIR) subscriber party in Tokyo on Wednesday, November 15, from 6:30 p.m. 'til 9:00 p.m. at the Aoyama Diamond Hall, directly above Omotesando Station (please don't all show up, we can't accommodate 4,000 people). This year we plan to actually break even by asking for a 7,000 yen per person contribution (ha ha ha same story running for past three years). This includes stand up buffet dinner, all the beer and wine you can drink, giveaways, and best of all - no speeches!
Please respond to Last year's party was a blast, with more than 170 attendees from a wide range of companies enjoying schmoozing, food, drinks and fabulous door prizes. The particulars are: Wednesday, November 15, 2000 6:30 p.m. We will send e-mail to all confirmed partygoers a week or so before the event with room specifics, etc.
Hint: A number of us will be there from 6:00 pm or so, so come early if you want to get a head start on the schmoozing. Also: I always look forward to my meetings with Wei-Tai; not just because he knows some killer burger joints, but also because he's so generous with the deep store of industry knowledge he has acquired over the last five years while building his profitable business from the ground up. Wei-Tai and Dae Interactive make quite a contrast to some of the high-flying, overhyped outfits that sprang up during the long Internet boom and have yet to achieve profitability... But enough of my Midwestern work ethic ranting. Here's WT! - How long have you been in the localization business and who are your key clients today? Dae Interactive Marketing began in 1995 in San Francisco as an interactive professional services firm specializing in global and multicultural markets. Today, the majority of our work centers around ten of the most popular Web languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic and of course the many flavors of English). Our main clients include MCI WorldCom, Schwab.com, DFS and "a large entertainment company." - Tell us about yourself and why you are in this business. I've had an interest in high tech, foreign languages and marketing communications for about 20 years. Prior to starting Dae, I was a principal in a startup telecom company; a marketing associate in a high-tech consulting firm; and the managing director of a multicultural advertising agency. And although I am a Chinese born in the U.S., I actually learned Latin and French first before becoming fluent in Mandarin. - What is the most difficult Web internationalization job you have ever handled? We had a challenging assignment from Iridium, the now-defunct satellite communications company. They wanted their pagers and satellite phones to be able to receive text-messages via the Web and via e-mail in 16 languages (both single and double-byte). The messages had to pass successfully through a Web server, then a DOS-based Web server, up to the Iridium satellites, down to the base stations, and then finally into the user's seven-bit handheld device (original encoding was eight or 16-bit). Iridium had been searching for six months for a vendor with the appropriate Web internationalization skill sets before they finally found us. It took a solid two months of work, but we got the system working just in time. - How does localizing for the Japan market differ from the Chinese market(s)? Japanese and Chinese are two of the languages for which we see the most demand here at Dae. There are some similarities (and therefore efficiencies), but many important differences. First the similarities: From a technological point of view, both languages are "double-byte," and therefore once you internationalize your base code for one language, you are likely to have also tackled the issues for the other. From a cultural point of view, Chinese and Japanese people tend to be more formal than folks in the U.S., and so one must take care to use the right tone in both languages when localizing U.S. English sites for these markets. Regarding the differences, unlike Japanese, Chinese has two different writing systems, Simplified Chinese (used in the PRC and Singapore) and Traditional Chinese (used in Taiwan and Hong Kong). For both technical and cultural reasons, it is advisable to use the appropriate version in the relevant countries. If you are setting up an e-commerce site, payment methods differ from country to country. You may expect the Japanese to pay with credit card (JCB) or by pickup and payment at a nearby convenience store. But in China debit cards or COD are much more common. And remember of course that the standard of living in a developing country like China differs greatly from that of industrialized Japan, so your product offerings may have to be changed or re-priced in order to have the greatest impact in the market. - What about from a design perspective? Are there differences? When designing a properly internationalized site, your colors, icons and fonts all must be carefully thought out. Spanish and German, for instance, tend to run 30-50% longer than English text (we call this "text swell"). And Chinese, Japanese and Korean tend to be taller than English letters, and require a minimum 12 point font size (not the 9 or 10 pts in English). The "thumbs up" or "A-O-K" icons which I've seen in certain online product reviews have positive connotations in the US, but are extremely rude in Iran and Brazil, respectively, and should be avoided. And one Silicon Valley computer firm which designed its site principally in cutting-edge black got resistance from its Hong Kong and China offices, who told them black was a funeral color and insisted on red instead. As you can see, international site design needs to be done carefully to succeed. - What is the difference between localization and translation? One of the most serious blunders one can make is to approach global e-business as simply "translation." In fact, global e-business success derives from the skilled orchestration of language, culture, marketing, legal and technology issues. Translation by itself is far too unidimensional. Without the other ingredients it usually delivers an unsatisfying user experience. Let me also point out that my personal definition of *global e-business success* involves both INTERNATIONALIZATION (which is the process of enabling your core service or product for multiple markets) and LOCALIZATION (which is tailoring your internationalized product to meet local needs). These terms often get interchanged and mixed up so I Iike to use one tangible example of a properly internationalized and localized product: the power supply on my notebook computer. It has built-in auto-sensing 110v/220v (this means that the engineers designed it for international use), however the plug to the electrical socket needs the right adapter for the country in which you are using it (i.e. the plug needs to be localized). - Tell us about Dae and how you help companies succeed. We are an end-to-end Web solutions provider offering strategy, design, technology and online marketing services. Companies generally come to us with international requirements in one or more of these areas. Our first step is to get to know their business objectives as quickly as possible. We frequently follow that up with a service we call the Cultural Audit, through which we rapidly identify technical, cultural, legal, linguistic and marketing barriers to success. Based on client needs and our findings, we suggest an implementation plan, then follow up with the actual implementation work.
Earlier this year, market research firm Jupiter Media Metrix ranked the top 15 countries based on Internet opportunity (blend of population, PC penetration, e-commerce potential and connectivity) as follows:
100 USA (Index = 100) Although there are many factors to consider in targeting, the above countries (in addition to "Spanish" as a multi-country implementation) are the ones that Dae has seen the strongest demand for over the past five years. - If there were one final piece of advice you could give to people interested in going global online, what would it be? Start early, start small if you have to. But do something and not nothing, no matter how modest. I don't believe in "do it all the way or don't do it at all." When you've got dozens of countries to go after, it's best to make even a small start to get the momentum going. Wei-Tai Kwok, President ********************************************************** The future of Asia's knowledge economy My colleague Frank Yu generates insightful commentary on the Asian Internet at an astonishing rate. Recently he has been reading Hernando de Soto, a writer known for his work on developing world economics and capitalism, and applying de Soto's ideas to Asia's emerging knowledge economy. Here's Frank: "One of de Soto's key themes is why capitalism in the Western sense fails outside of the U.S. and Western Europe. In a nutshell, he attributes this failure to the breakdown of laws - especially ownership laws. He doesn't specifically discuss the intellectual property or non-fixed assets which characterize the knowledge industry of the Internet, but this viewpoint clearly gives insight into the reasons why Asia does not try to promote these skills. The developing world is about property and fixed assets like factories and machinery. The value of human capital and ideas has largely been discounted by the hongs, state-owned enterprises (SOE), conglomerates, zaibatsus and chaebols." "If the Internet cannot be owned the way one owns land or even distribution rights, the big companies will continue to treat intellectual property and knowledge workers as ancillary value generators. The problems of monetizing content, software, and authors' rights in Asia strike at the very heart of why Asia suffers from a lack of capital for the New Economy." "India and the Philippines are among the bright stars in the region, as they demonstrate that the talent of their workers has real value in Asia's emerging economies. The income these nations receive from export of commodities like agricultural products and raw materials will pale compared to the value contributed by their educated overseas workforces. One challenge these nations face is getting these expatriate workers to return home..." Look forward to more of Frank's thoughts next month, and to an exciting new offering from our growing team of Asian Internet meisters... ********************************************************** NTT's L-mode: Huh? NTT East and NTT West announced a new Internet access service early last week. Like i-mode, the "L-mode" service, scheduled to begin in spring of 2001, is based on cHTML, and will offer users e-mail and access to i-mode pages through special fixed-line phones and fax machines. Users don't need an ISP contract, and the phones feature one-button setup. The service is designed for home use, primarily by women. It's understandable that NTT wants to exploit the success of i-mode, but it's hard not to question their execution. It looks like they plan to combine the limitations of i-mode handsets - tiny screens and keyboards - with the main failing of fixed-line access - lack of portability. Worst of all, the more than 1,000 sites featured on the official i-mode menu will not be available to L-mode users. The official menu lists the most engaging and popular i-mode sites; not offering access to these sites is the rough equivalent of a U.S. ISP whose users can't surf to any of Media Metrix's top 1,000 sites. This decision may be the result of a failure to come to a satisfactory content licensing agreement with NTT DoCoMo, which is technically a separate company. If so, NTT has something to learn from Japan Telecom, which recently announced a deal with its subsidiary J-phone to license content from J-sky's official menu for use by subscribers to ODN, Japan Telecom's ISP. By the way, according to the NTT East press release announcing L-mode, the "L" stands for "Living," "Lady," "Local," and "Large" (does this mean the service is designed for large women living close to town?). We can hardly wait to try it out. The poor prospects for this oddly positioned offering haven't kept Japan's other carriers from joining the fray. The day after the NTT press release, an Asahi Shimbun article revealed that Japan Telecom is currently developing a similar service, and KDDI is considering entering this market... ********************************************************** Bureaucracy in action That'll drive the international tourists in... Japan's Keidanren (Federation of Economic Organizations) released a report October 17 arguing that, while tourism is one of the key growth industries of the 21st century, Japan isn't competitive by international standards, due to high domestic prices for just about everything. Among Keidanren's brilliant suggestions for improving the situation? "Lower lodging fees by eliminating wasteful amenities such as soap and towels..." IT = concrete? The Japanese government's new "e-Japan" initiative sounds pretty good, but is suspiciously heavy on the "optical fiber" element. Heck, NTT has been touting its optical-fiber-to-the-home project for 15 years now, and other private sector companies are involved in building optical fiber networks. Why should the government spend money on this sector? Maybe it's because optical fiber generally runs along railways, roadsides, and right-of-ways, which gives the government a great excuse to dole out more money to construction firms. Just what we need in this country - more concrete! ********************************************************** Attend our Japan e-business briefings in Silicon Valley 11/28, 11/29 I will be visiting San Francisco and San Jose on November 28 and 29 for our first Bay Area JIR events. Join us for concise overviews of recent trends and activities in the Japan Internet market, including:
Mobile commerce Program is subject to change. To reserve your seat, please send an e-mail to rsvp@tkai.com with the following partix: San Francisco [ ] YES, I can join you for breakfast on Nov 28 or San Jose [ ] YES, I can join you for breakfast on Nov 29
Name: Attendance is limited to 60 participants for each session. To cover room rental and refreshments, we will ask for $25/person payable in cash or by check at the door. Includes continental breakfast and take-home materials. Looking forward to seeing you! ********************************************************** Japan venture capital shindig in New York 11/14 The explosion of money looking for a home in Japanese Internet companies and the growing number of U.S. companies looking to do business on the Internet in Japan beg the question: How many of these enterprises will ultimately succeed? While Japan faces hurdles in developing its e-commerce industry, it has also rapidly become the world’s second hottest market for Internet-related ventures. A full-day conference, Venture Capital and the Internet in Japan will explore the environment for Internet-related venture capital in Japan, and discuss how regulatory, legal, marketplace and technological changes are creating risks and rewards for investors and entrepreneurs on both sides of the Pacific. The event includes a buffet lunch and cocktail reception. Our own March Kikumoto (our minister of investment) will be a featured panelist. Be sure to say hello to March if you attend... Space is limited and pre-registration is required. Tickets are $300, or $225 for Japan Society members, but you can get 50 bucks off by registering by October 31. Call Dan Laub (212) 715-1244 or Ellen Tyrrell (212) 715-1218 or see http://www.Japansociety.org for details. ********************************************************** Tim Clark Editor Please use the online forms to subscribe or unsubscribe to JIR. Copyright 2002 by Ion Global All rights reserved ---------------------------------------------------------- Ion Global a chinadotcom company http://www.ion-global.com / http://www.jir.net/ Tokyo Tel. (813) 5464-0384 Fax 5464-0387 U.S. Tel. (503) 235-4433 Fax 235-4422 ---------------------------------------------------------- |