People in Japan congregate at train stations. In the U.S., where the default transportation mechanism is the car, it's difficult to grasp the typical Japanese train station's POC (Point of Congregation*) power.

But in Japan, where most working people pass through train stations at least twice a day, the POC power is obvious. And what do people do on the platform while waiting for their trains to arrive, other than staring at the ground, practicing their golf swings, or avoiding looking at each other? Most are just standing, and could easily make productive use of their time using an Internet access terminal to read news, review maps, check stock quotes, play games, or research issues of interest. Let's face it: Waiting for the train is boring, there's usually no place to sit, and there aren't nearly enough ways to spend your pocket change.

Sega clearly sees the opportunity. The company has partnered with six railway firms in the Tokyo metropolitan area and will experiment between October and December with train station installations of its Dreamcast game players, which will function as Internet terminals.

Meanwhile, West Japan Railway Company (JR Nishi-Nippon) is thinking along similar lines. The company says that this week it will install 30 "content vending machines" on an experimental basis at train stations located in Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, and elsewhere in the Kansai region. Dubbed "digital kiosks," these devices will sell newspaper and magazine articles, MP3 music data, and city guides. West Japan Railway says it plans to have more than 60 content providers involved in the experiment.

Look to train and subway stations as an emerging POC. I'm off my convenience store kick now, and on to train stations...

* New acronym; you heard it first in JIR

Japan's private sector firms, with some help from foreign players, are stepping up to the plate to accomplish a job that the Japanese government so far has been incapable of getting done: Making fixed- rate, low-cost communications a reality in Japan.

The most exciting recent news in this area was Softbank's partnership with Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) and Microsoft, under which a new joint venture ISP will be formed to provide consumers with wireless Internet access in the Kanto region for a fixed rate of under 5,000 yen per month, less than half what NTT plans to charge for its foot-dragging, ISDN-only offering later this year.

Now Fujitsu is getting into the act in cooperation with a group of cable television operators. Meanwhile, CrossWave Communications (CWC), a joint venture of IIJ, Sony, and Toyota, is rolling out its own wireless services.

All three groups have the same objective - doing an end run around NTT, the government-owned monopoly that can't get the job done. More power to them all.

Thought you might enjoy taking a look at some recently reported e-commerce numbers.
Here's a sampling:

    Company |------------| Sector |------------| Track record |

    

    Daiwa Securities ----- Securities ---------- 5,000 + new accounts/month

    Dell Computer Japan -- PCs ----------------- U.S. $90 million/year +

    Global Cosmos -------- Auto insurance ------ 3,000 contracts/month

    HZS ------------------ Travel reservations - 40,000 reservations/month

    Kinokuniya ----------  Book sales ---------- U.S. $1.35 million/month

    Neo Wing ------------  CD sales ------------ U.S. $110,000/month

    Quick ---------------- Auto sales ---------- 50 + cars/month

Retail superstore giant Daiei has started experimenting with an online shopping mall. The supermarket behemoth plans to build up its operational expertise in the online retail sector and exploit it in new businesses in the future. It may at some point team up with retail and information giants such as Lawson and Recruit to develop an enormous virtual mall, a spokesman says...

NEC will take a page from Dell Computer's book when it starts selling PCs specially configured for Internet stock trading through Daiwa Securities (earlier this year Dell Japan started selling to Matsui Securities notebook PCs preconfigured for online trading). NEC's PC packages, to be sold at Daiwa branches, will include everything from Internet access signup to on-site installation, initial basic training, and one year of phone-based customer support. Daiwa is the leading Internet broker in Japan; it reportedly had 36,000 online accounts as of the end of June...

Sakura Bank and Fujitsu will in fiscal 2000 jointly establish an Internet bank that will be capitalized at about $170 million. The bank will leverage its low-cost structure to offer ordinary savings accounts, time deposits, foreign currency deposits, and other services at better rates than conventional banks, the partners say. The new Internet bank will start with a staff of 20, handle transactions via the Internet and telephone, and have a breakeven point of about $850 million in deposits, according to spokesmen...

Yahoo! Japan will issue a Yahoo! branded credit card underwritten by Sumitomo Credit Service of Tokyo. The new Yahoo! Visa Card will be the first Yahoo! group credit card issued outside the U.S...

Will the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) and its brokers soon be gone? Heck yes, according to Matsui Securities President Michio Matsui. Speaking with a Nikkei BP reporter, Matsui provided our Quote of the Month:
"Five years from now, both the Tokyo Stock Exchange and brokers will be extinct."
Judging from the rate at which online brokerage accounts are growing in Japan, he may be right...

We had a great time at our "Backwards Entrepreneur" seminar in Palo Alto, enjoying an extremely Japan- and Internet-savvy audience.

TKAI's next seminar, which will focus on high-growth e-commerce sectors in Japan, will be held in Seattle on September 24.

For details, see:  http://www.tkai.com/services/sharing-expertise/

Over the last month, here at Ion Global we:

- Set up a fulfillment partnership between a major U.S. retailer and its Japanese counterpart, transforming what might have been a competitive rivalry into a win-win relationship

- Advised a major U.S. venture capital firm on an investment decision that tipped the scales to "no go," potentially saving the company a bundle

- Designed and executed an online advertising campaign for a leading retailer with a huge stake in the Japan market

http://www.tkai.com/