JETRO LA Newsletter
Read it online: www.jetrolosangeles.org/newsletter.asp
August 2004
News from JETRO:
- 4th Tuesday Tech Exchange: A World Without Routers (September 28)
- Japan's Back! Gateway to the Growing Asian Market (October 14)
- Invest in Japan Study Program (IJSP) (November 28 - December 4)
- JETRO Business Japanese Test (November 28)
Other News:
- The Global Technology Conference (September 9)
- NANOWorld Conference (September 21-23)
- Project T2 (November 11)
Japan-related Articles:
- Trend Watch: Mobile broadcasting from MBSAT
- Changing Business Environment: Japan's Regional Clusters (1) : Sapporo Valley
- Successful Foreign Firms: Loro Piana Japan Co., Ltd.
- Successful Foreign Firms: Color Kinetics and Color Kinetics Japan
- Smaller Japanese Firms: Dream Bank Co. Ltd
- Market Trends: The Character Business Grows Up
- Market Trends: Immobilizers Now Found on 17% of New Vehicles
- Market Trends : High-Temperature Superconducting Power Cables
JETRO LA Newsletter - August 2004
News from JETRO:
4th Tuesday Tech Exchange: A World Without Routers
Presented by Graham Campbell Ph.D.
(September 28)
A discussion of DQSA (Distributed Queue Switch Architecture), an access technology developed at the Illinois Institute of Technology that eliminates the need for routers in the existing synchronous communications infrastructure.
There is an irreversible trend in communications towards the transporting of all information in the form of packets. The world is served by thousands of interconnected synchronous networks, ranging from old-fashioned telephone networks to switched fiber-optic systems, but these networks are not amenable to the transport of packets. This packet traffic is supported by tens of thousands of asynchronous router (packet switching) networks that overlay and in turn utilize the resources of the synchronous networks. The routers are treated as the solution to the problem of transporting packets; they actually represent a major impediment to the realization of the full potential of the Internet.
DQSA eliminates the need for these routers by moving the decision-making to the edge of the net. Topics that will be discussed:
- A description of the fundamental problem facing communications.
- The origin and basics of DQSA.
- How DQSA can be applied to virtually all areas of communications. Specific applications will be described. These include, but are not limited to, cluster computing, wireless, RFID, local, metro, storage and wide area networks, and satellite networks.
- The probable scenario of how DQSA would be universally implemented.
Sponsor: JETRO Los Angeles
Date/Time: September 28, 5:45pm
Location: JETRO LA Office
Details and registration:
http://www.jetrolosangeles.org/EventDisplay.asp?iEventID=119
JAPAN'S BACK!
Gateway to the Growing Asian Market
(October 14)
Business opportunities with Japan for Southern California Companies
Think there's an attractive market for your company in Japan? Interested in talking to Japanese companies operating in Southern California? Interested in hearing how local companies have succeeded in Japan? If you've answered yes to any of these questions, you cannot afford to miss JETRO's Japan's Back! Symposium.
During this conference, Taizo Nishimuro, Chairman of Toshiba Corporation and JETRO Chairman Osamu Watanabe, will give keynote speeches highlighting the changes, challenges and new opportunities which exist in the increasingly intertwined and interdependent economies of Asia and Japan. Case studies and panelists from successful U.S. companies will also be present to comment on their global strategies.
For more information, please contact Susan Stringer at
susan_stringer@jetro.go.jp or (213) 624-8855 ext. 116.
Sponsor: JETRO Los Angeles
Date/Time: October 14, 1:30pm - 5:30pm
Location: Millennium Biltmore Hotel, Downtown Los Angeles
Online details and RSVP: http://www.jetrolosangeles.org/japansback.htm
Invest in Japan Study Program (IJSP)
Business Partnering and Seminar Tours
(November 28 - December 4)
Are you thinking about taking advantage of the rapidly expanding business opportunities in Japan? Does your company have plans to set-up an office in Japan? Would you be interested in receiving the most current information regarding Japan's business climate? If yes, then you are invited to participate in the 13th annual Invest in Japan Study Program (IJSP). The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) is targeting the following sectors:
- IT-Related Industries
- Automotive Parts and Technology
- Food Service Industry.
IT-Related Industry
Through this program, the participant will be provided many opportunities to learn how to set up an office in Japan by visiting IT-related companies and facilities and networking with people from various Japanese companies in Niigata, Ishikawa and Tokyo. These locations are home to numerous technical higher education facilities, testing organizations and many leading Japanese and foreign researchers specializing in the IT, nano-technology and knowledge sciences. Because of the concentration of these innovative companies, venture funds focusing on research-and-development-related manufacturing, laboratories of natural science, software, design, and information handling services are naturally attracted to these regions.
Description of Program Services
- Business and networking meetings with Japanese company representatives.
- Visits to offices, factories, R&D centers, and similar places where participants can gather first-hand information to help them explore appropriate locations for investment.
- Seminars on Japanese markets and industries, as well as how to set up an office in Japan.
- Field trips to various regions of Japan to study local investment climates and incentive programs.
Dates: November 28 -- December 4, 2004
Locations: Niigata, Ishikawa and Tokyo
Expenses: None -- this program is FREE! JETRO will cover round-trip airfare, accommodations, and other expenses for program-related travel within Japan.
Deadline for the application: September 6th, 2004.
As the selection process is highly competitive, JETRO will conduct a multi-tiered screening process by employing Japanese industry experts who will help us to carefully review each application. Don't delay!
For more information, and an application for the ISJP program,
please contact at Christopher_Baker@jetro.go.jp or (213) 624-8855 Ext. 121,
or you can also visit us on the web at www.investjapan.org
JETRO Business Japanese Test
(November 28)
The JETRO Business Japanese Test is the first international examination certifying Japanese language skills in listening and reading comprehension, as well as in spoken Japanese used for business. Students learning Japanese as a foreign language and who plan to use their new language skills for business in the future, as well as those currently engaged in business, are encouraged to take the JETRO test.
The next JETRO Test is scheduled for November 28, 2004. The application period is from August 11 through September 29, 2004. The test is administered in 34 cities in 14 countries worldwide. To find your closest test center, please click here. This year, the JETRO Test will be administered in Los Angeles by the Japan America Society of Southern California.
Date/Time: November 28
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
JETRO Test Website: http://www.jetro.go.jp/it/e/bj/index.html
For details and application contact:
April Fields at Japan America Society of Southern California at (213) 627-6217, ext. 203
Other News:
The Global Technology Conference
(September 9)
The Global Technology Conference is your channel to access global technology markets, partner with high-potential technology companies, and find customers worldwide. The Conference will showcase cutting-edge technology companies seeking global partners. Whether you are an emerging or established tech company, investor, or professional, don't miss this opportunity to expand your business into international markets. This is your chance to compete at the global level.
Why Should You Be There?
Companies
- Take your technology to the global marketplace
- Exploit the worldwide potential of your technology
- Build cross-border technology relationships to expand your business
- Partner with investors, customers, and other firms from around the world Investors
- Access cutting-edge technologies with global potential
- Expand your investment partners in the global marketplace Professionals
- Get an inside look at the global technology landscape
- Interact with technology companies with global scale
- Learn about global trends in technology, from trade to outsourcing Get 40% off the full price registration if you register before September 2, 2004
For more information, please visit: http://www.larta.org/gtc/
NANOWorld Conference
(September 21-23)
The NANOWorld Conference is chaired and organized by leaders from Engineering, Supply Chain Management and Science/Education along with invited support from Industry, Government and Educational Institutions.
The Conference consists of three tracks:
- Nanomaterials and Nanofabrication (Tuesday, September 21, 2004)
- Nanocomponents (Wednesday, September 22, 2004)
- Systems Integration, Use and Application (Thursday, September 23, 2004) Conference includes admission to:
- Opening Plenary of Combined Conferences - (8:15 AM - 9:45 AM) Tuesday, September 21NANOWorld, Wescon, and Enterprise Integration Expo (AFEI) Technology, Security, and the Networked Economy
- NANOWorld and Wescon Exhibits - September 21 - 23, 2004 (Tuesday & Wednesday 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Thursday 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM)
- Los Angeles Council Technology Showcase, featuring Autonomous Vehicle Technology & Symposium
-Symposium on Tuesday, Sept. 21st & Wednesday Sept. 22nd (for more on the symposium visit the IEEE Bulletin or Wescon Special Exhibits)
Sponsored by IEEE LA Council & ADTEKT. See and hear about the vehicles from the Darpa Grand Challenge. - Networking Reception - (5:00 PM - 6:00 PM) Tuesday, September 2
Sponsored by CRC Press c/o Taylor & Francis Books Inc. & NANOWorld.
Introducing prime publishing opportunities and the outstanding texts & references now available. (read the latest issue of "NanoNews" from CRC Press c/o Taylor & Francis Books Inc.) - Combined Last Day Session - (Session 3, 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM) Thursday, September 23
NANOWorld, Wescon, and Enterprise Integration Expo (AFEI) Convergence of Nanotechnology, Information & Business (see Program) - Plus...Pre-Registration Bonus...FREE On-line Introduction to Nanotechnology in advance of NANOWorld.
Special Online Introductory Course - an exclusive introductory Nanotechnology course provided by Aerolearn, a division of Northrop Rice USA.
For complete program details:
http://www.wescon.com/nanoworld/pages/conf_program.htm
Project T2
(November 11)
Project T2 is a national conference on technology transfer: the business of turning research into products. It is a collaborative project with 15 major universities in Southern California, including Caltech, the Claremont Colleges, UCI, UCLA, UCR, UCSB, UCSD, USC, UCSC, Keck Graduate Institute, Pepperdine University, Loma Linda University, Cal Poly Pomona - NASA Commercialization Center, Cal State Fullerton, and Cal State San Bernardino. Corporate leaders, licensing officers, entrepreneurs, and investors from around the country will come together to meet faculty and administration from these Southern California research institutions for this one day event.
Project T2 invites faculty and researchers to:
- Present your technology to an audience of potential business partners and investors*. We are especially looking for presentations of ideas that have been licensed or are close to being licensed from a university.
* Presentations will be made at separate breakout sessions for life sciences and engineering/physical sciences. The number of presentations is limited. - Showcase your research in a poster session to potential research partners and licensees. Attendees will visit the booths throughout the day of the conference. Benefits to participating:
- Introduce your technology and research to hundreds of venture capitalists and angel investors.
- Get access to corporate licensing and research executives.
- Receive free admission to Project T2.
- Receive free business mentoring.
To apply:
- Download application form and email to Rachel Santuci ASAP.
- Submit a 1-5 page description of your technology and the potential commercial applications.
- Complete both steps by the deadline: September 17, 2004.
If you are selected to present, you will be placed in a mentor team of investors, attorneys, consultants, and other seasoned business executives who will meet with you regularly to help you prepare your presentation for the conference. There will be specially designed presentation and business courses available to all those faculty selected to participate in the presentations and poster sessions.
Application and participation in Project T2 is at
NO COST to faculty of participating Universities.
http://www.projectt2.org/
Contact Rachel Santuci, rsantuci@Larta.org 213-765-4828.
Japan-related Articles:
Trend Watch: Mobile broadcasting from MBSAT
Japan is an early adopter for another emerging trend in the global wireless market. Mobile Broadcasting Corporation (MBOC) will start a satellite broadcasting service in October geared toward mobile users. The service will at first feature 30 audio channels, 7 video channels and 60 data services available throughout Japan. Among the 30 audio programs, 5 FM stations from Southern California will be broadcasted. These FM stations include KJAZZ 94.9 San Diego, KSON 97.3 San Diego, Kelly 95.3 Bakersfield and Groove KKBB Bakersfield.
The system behind the mobile broadcasting service is a "hybrid system" of satellite and terrestrial repeaters (called "gap-fillers"). The satellite signals cover Japan and gap-fillers cover areas where satellite signals cannot reach such as building shade, mountain shade or inside tunnels. The broadcast waves delivered from the broadcasting center in Tokyo are transmitted to MBSAT, and the satellite transmits S band (2.6GHz) or Ku band (12~13GHz) communications (which are then converted to S band at the gap-filters).MBOC was established in 1998 for the purpose of providing satellite broadcasting services to mobile users throughout Japan. The company raised 36.3 billion yen from 84 Japanese corporations, including Toshiba, SK Telecom, Toyota, Sharp, Sun Microsystems, NTT Data, Kyocera and Fujitsu.
To read more from the Goin' Mobile Japan! Newsletter, please visit:
http://www.jetrolosangeles.org/goinmobilejapan.asp
Changing Business Environment
Japan's Regional Clusters (1) : Sapporo Valley
Regional economic development projects are being launched in various parts of Japan to create regional clusters. Regional clusters are a concentration of business, academia and other institutions with close ties to a particular region. These clusters create synergy through competition and cooperation. The city of Sapporo is vigorously seeking to attract foreign firms and to promote exchanges with foreign cities by capitalizing on the strength of software embedding technology firms in Sapporo and through its policy of encouraging the development of its content industry.
University study group the origin of a cluster
The development of the Sapporo Valley goes back to the 1970s. In 1976, Associate Professor Yoshinao Aoki of Hokkaido University founded the Hokkaido Microcomputer Study Group. Many Hokkaido University students who were in this study group went on to establish venture businesses, leading to the formation of a cluster now called the Sapporo Valley. The students founded B.U.G., Hudson, and dB Soft, from which many more firms spun off (see Figure 1). These three original venture businesses effectively served as incubators.
Sapporo's IT industry is now a leading force in embedded software technology as used in cell phones, mobile communications and IT devices. At any given time, as many as 800 engineers are working on the development of embedded software technology for cell phones. These firms are on the leading edge of embedded software development for NTT DoCoMo's i-mode prototypes, content-protection technology for the third-generation cell phone FOMA, base station firmware for cell phone carriers, and software for controlling the cell phone hardware.
Successful Foreign Firms
Loro Piana Japan Co., Ltd.
Italian Textile Maker Loro Piana Makes a Splash
Expanding retail sales of Loro Piana fashions and textiles are leading growth at Loro Piana Japan Co., Ltd., founded by Italian luxury textile manufacturer Ing. Loro Piana & Company. Loro Piana is a textile house dating from the early nineteenth century, when it was a trader in wool textiles. Since moving into textile production in the mid nineteenth century, Loro Piana has specialized in the manufacture and sale of high quality fabrics made of precious yarns such as fine wool, cashmere and vicuna. The world leader in the production of fine quality cashmere fabrics, it is the world's largest buyer of fine merino wool (18.0 microns and finer) from Australia and New Zealand.
The Loro Piana name is backed by both time-honored traditions and state-of-the-art technology. The company has cultivated relationships of trust over the years with cashmere producers in Inner Mongolia, the source of this luxury yarn. In its quest for fine yarns, it has set up bases in Beijing and Ulan Bator to ensure quality. That quality is reinforced by living tradition. Its headquarters in Borgosesia on the outskirts of Milan has employed generations of the town's residents, passing along the tradition of creating fine textiles from parent to child.
Loro Piana launched its own clothing line in the first half of the 1990's, with a range that includes knitwear for both men and women, sporty outerwear, accessories and luxurious furnishings for the home. Loro Piana retail shops may now be found throughout the world.
Successful Foreign Firms
Color Kinetics and Color Kinetics Japan
Color Kinetics Lights Up Japan
Color Kinetics and Color Kinetics Japan are successfully creating a Japanese market for color illumination systems. Color Kinetics was established in 1997 by George Mueller and Ihor Lys, both fresh out of college. While studying electrical engineering, they visited a stage lighting exhibition that led them to experiment with LED-based illumination.
LEDs were initially available in only red and green. When blue LEDs appeared in the 1990s, the world of color suddenly broadened. These three primary colors combine to produce an unlimited array of colors. With the development of the blue LED, they could now be used in lighting and interior decoration, not just display devices.
La Cittadella, a commercial complex, opened in Kawasaki in November 2002. Using Color Kinetics' LED lighting systems, the multicolored light of the glass tower smoothly changes color in sync with a water show to accompany music being performed in the central square, adding to the charm of the overall complex.
Color Kinetics' lighting systems are composed of tons of small LEDs. A custom designed microchip integrates power, communications and control to create next-generation digital lighting. An unlimited variety of effects including ocean-like waves of light and colorful rainbow-like patterns can be achieved.
Smaller Japanese Firms
Dream Bank Co. Ltd
IT Venture Company Connects the World
IT venture company Dream Bank is stirring up the winds of change with a variety of undertakings, not the least of which is the development and release of low-cost, high-quality teleconferencing systems with a South Korean partner. Founded in Nagasaki City in 2001, Dream Bank is also involved with mobile phone sales and video communication, the latter through the development and marketing of PC schools, video chat systems and teleconferencing systems, restaurants and more.
Pursuit of Video Communication
The concept behind the name Dream Bank is a company that functions like a repository of ambitious goals. "Dream" is a keyword for 37-year-old Hirofumi Fukuda, president of Dream Bank. The fast pace at which the company has been realizing dreams is astonishing people.
The company is helping Nagasaki Prefecture, for example, overcome its geographical distances through IT. The prefecture, although famous for shipbuilding, fisheries and tourism, is located on the far western edge of Japan, and includes many small islands. At the Nagasaki International Information Technology Fair in October 2001, Dream Bank demonstrated a video face-to-face communication between persons in separate offices and individuals at the fair site.
In December 2001, the company presented the advantages of video communication in a demonstration with Fuzhou University in China. It also adopted the technology for in-house operations, using the real-time transmission of audio and video for communication between its branch offices around the country. The company is now working with teleconferencing systems and successfully conducted a teleconference between the United States, Vietnam, China and South Korea this past January.
Market Trends
The Character Business Grows Up
The character business, with increasing numbers of characters originating from video games and not just comic books, is developing smoothly in Japan. With intensifying global interest in Japanese animated characters, this has become a growth industry.
Japan's character business market matured in the 1990s. According to Character Databank, Ltd., a consulting firm for the Japanese character business market, domestic retail sales between 1996 and 1999 surged from 1.65 trillion yen to 2.07 trillion yen (US$19 billion). To some extent this was essentially a bubble era that slimmed down in 2000. Character Databankfs representative director, Kazuo Rikukawa remains optimistic, "Since the start of 2003 the market has been on the rebound."
Japanese characters have penetrated consumer markets in North America and around the world. Sanrio, the creator of the Hello Kitty line of animated characters, leads the pack. The Hello Kitty market, including global sales of merchandise, has burgeoned to some US$1 billion.
Market Trends
Immobilizers Now Found on 17% of New Vehicles
Immobilizer systems for effective automobile theft prevention are gaining acceptance in Japan. Immobilizers prevent a duplicate key from starting the engine unless electronic ID codes embedded in the key match the ID code in the vehicle's engine control unit (ECU).
A car thief can no longer simply duplicate the shape of a car key. Advanced systems can generate new encrypted ID codes periodically, while some systems sound an alarm by flashing the headlights or by emitting a loud sound when an unauthorized key is used. Other systems even work with keyless entry systems.
Vehicles exported from Japan to the EU must be fitted with immobilizer systems and every European vehicle imported into Japan contains one. Some domestic models come with immobilizers as either a standard or optional accessory. These systems can also be installed later. A trend similar to that in Japan can also be seen in the U.S. market.
Market Trends
High-Temperature Superconducting Power Cables
High-temperature superconducting (HTS) power cables will soon be available commercially from Japan, promising to significantly raise the efficiency of power transmission.
In a state of superconductivity, large flows of electric current meet almost no resistance. HTS cables, which become superconductive at minus 197ºC—the temperature of liquid nitrogen—both reduce power transmission losses and enable power to be transmitted with cables that are lighter and more compact than conventional ones. Upgrading power systems with HTS cables allows capacity to be increased without having to install new conduits. The total cost of power transmission, including initial construction and ongoing operation, can be reduced as well.
A conventional power cable made of copper or aluminum permits a flow of about 1 ampere (A) of current per mm2. The current practice is to transmit power from a power plant at an ultra-high voltage of 500 kV and then step down the power successively to 275 kV, 154 kV and 77 kV, until it reaches the substation that directly serves consumers.
New superconducting cables, however, handle 100 A per mm2, so approximately the same wattage as in existing systems can transmitted, even at relatively low voltages such as 77 kV or 154 kV, by increasing the amperage.
A conventional cable capable of handling the wattage generated by a nuclear power plant, for instance, 1.1 million kW, would require a conduit measuring three meters in diameter. A superconducting cable, however, would require a mere 150-mm conduit. Moreover, the new cable would help to reduce operating costs by minimizing losses due to electric resistance. It would also eliminate the need for intermediate substations to reduce the voltage from 500 kV to 77 kV, which represents another substantial savings in costs.
