Longchamp Japan has launched its largest store for Asia with a flagship in Tokyo’s fashion mecca Shibuya.
French actress Audrey Tautou attended the inauguration of La Maison Omotesando, which has a 35m-high facade and offers 500sqm of retail space.
It features all the French brand’s collections – leather goods, footwear, women’s ready-to-wear and, occupying the basement, men’s lines.
NTT DoCoMo joined forces with Toyota, Ericsson and Intel on a trial of 5G technologies for automobiles, achieving data speeds of up to 1Gbps in a vehicle traveling at 30km/h.
The trial of 4K video communications was conducted along Tokyo’s Odaiba waterfront. It involved a moving vehicle mounted with an Intel GO 5G automotive platform terminal equipped with an on-board antenna head.
The trial environment was constructed by DoCoMo using multiple Ericsson base stations and the Cloud RAN platform. Live 4K video was streamed at data speeds of up to 1Gbps downlink and 600Mbps uplink.
Further trials will be conducted by the four companies to test the practicality of advanced services for 5G connected cars and other applications.
The technology will also be demonstrated at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo from November 9 to 11 as part of the DoCoMo R&D Open House 2017.
NTT DoCoMo parent company NTT Group and Toyota have meanwhile agreed to collaborate on the research and development of an ICT platform for 5G connected cars.
Two Tokyo snack brands are setting up shop in Singapore, one opening today and the other in eight days’ time.
Established in 2013, The Maple Mania is ready to roll out the red carpet at Ion Orchard. It is known for its maple butter cookies, maple baumkuchen with a caramelised top, and maple financiers.
With its iconic cow logo, Tokyo Milk Cheese Factory will follow with an outlet at Raffles City. The six-year-old brand is known for its cheese cookies – salt and camembert, honey and gorgonzola, and porcini and gouda. It also offers milk cheesecake, a strawberry milk roll plus its own Cow Cow Ice ice cream in two flavours and a sundae option.
During the festive season, The Maple Mania will sell cookies from Tokyo Milk Cheese Factory as well. Both are sister brands of LeTao, which was brought to Ion Orchard last year by Alvin Ng, the founder of The Rosti Farm and Once Upon a Milkshake, both at Waterway Point in Punggol.
From Hokkaido, LeTao is known for its double fromage, a two-layer cheesecake.
A new Japanese drugstore, Welcia-BHG, offers brands previously not available in Singapore. It is a JV between Japanese pharmacy and drugstore chain Welcia and BHG Holdings, a department store chain that has seven outlets in Singapore.
On level one of the BHG department store in Bugis Junction, the 2700sqft (250sqm) store has two zones, health and beauty, and offers more than 7000 products. There is also a pharmacy.
Of the roughly 700 Japanese products offered, 100 are new to Singapore. They include Kanebo’s cult skincare line Suisai, Q&P Kowa Gold vitamins, Vantelin topical analgesics, Vegie slimming products and nailcare serum Dr Nail.
More products will be added over time, says Welcia-BHG MD Tadahisa Matsumoto, including over-the-counter Japanese drugs.
Japan has 1695 Welcia stores averaging 8000sqft, some of which are open 24 hours.
Matsumoto says Singapore consumers will particularly appreciate the store’s skincare offerings formulated for Asian skin as well as sensitive skin. “Like Japan, Singapore is experiencing an ageing population, so healthcare needs are growing,” he says.
The store also offers services such as simple health checks, skin analysis and product recommendations. The sales staff will receive regular training by experts from Japan instead of representatives from individual brands.
Plans are also in place for a second outlet at Northpoint City mall. “We hope to have about 20 stores in Singapore in five years,” says Matsumoto, who sees Singapore as the main starting point for expanding the concept into Southeast Asia.
Japan’s NTT DoCoMo has claimed two new world first with recent 5G trials, including the first successful outdoor trial of 5G technologies for ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC).
The trial, conducted with Huawei in the 4.5-GHz bands, involved a stationary mobile terminal receiving signals at distances of up to 1km from the base station.
DoCoMo said the trial achieved an over-the-air latency of less than 1ms with a packet transmission success rate of more than 99.999% – both prerequisites for URLLC under 3GPP and ITU-R standards.
These standards were achieved at distances of 0.3km to 0.6km from the base station when the terminal was moving at around 25km/h. Both tests achieved actual over-the-air latency of around 0.65ms downlink and 0.57ms uplink.
Separately, DoCoMo conducted a joint trial with MediaTek involves using a self-developed non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) chipset designed to increase the spectral efficiency of mobile devices by up to 2.3 times compared to existing LTE technology.
This marked the first 5G trial using a smartphone-sized NOMA chipset embedded device to increase spectral efficiency, DoCoMo said. The chipset also used MediaTek’s multi-user interference cancellation technology, a prerequisite for NOMA.
Finally, DoCoMo also announced it has teamed up with Sony to conduct a joint trial involving real-time transition of HD video over 5G to Sony’s experimental New Concept Cart high-tech vehicle (see the picture below).
McDonald’s Singapore is turning Japanese, launching a Ninja Burger and reviving its Samurai Burger. To promote the two offerings, it has launched an “Honour Your Appetite” marketing campaign.
Senior director of marketing, menu and digital innovation Agatha Yap says the Ninja Burger expands the brand’s variety of Japan-inspired promotional flavours, which kicked off with the Samurai Burger for a short while only in the late 1990s.
To promote the return of the Samurai Burger, McDonald’s released a commercial featuring a fight between two samurais in a forest.
Meanwhile, McDonald’s Singapore has started using UberEats so customers can order home delivery, which MD Kenneth Chan says will complement the fast-food chain’s 24-hour McDelivery platform.
Japan’s NTT DoCoMo has finally completed its exit from Indian joint venture Tata Teleservices, following the acquisition of Tata Teleservices’ consumer mobile business by Bharti Airtel.
DoCoMo disclosed it has received the payment awarded by the Delhi High Court in the legal dispute with the Reserve Bank of India over DoCoMo’s planned exit from the venture. The company has received 144.9 billion yen ($1.27 billion).
The dispute was related to DoCoMo’s original agreement when it first invested in Tata Teleservices back in 2008. The investment had the condition that DoCoMo was entitled to sell its stake in the venture at a predetermined sum if it chose to.
DoCoMo first attempted to exercise the option in 2014 after being unsatisfied with the performance of the venture, but the RBI blocked the transaction on the grounds that it violates Indian regulations restricting the sale of shares at a price higher than market value.
DoCoMo entered international arbitration with Tata Sons and Tata Teleservices over the dispute, and the court awarded DoCoMo with $1.17 billion in damages. But the RBI again objected to the transaction, prompting DoCoMo to file a case with the Delhi High Court.
With the court finding in DoCoMo’s favor and Tata Group having now sold off Tata Teleservices’ consumer mobile business to Airtel, DoCoMo was finally able to collect on the settlement.
The 144.9 billion yen payment included the original damages awarded as well as interests earned and other cots awarded. DoCoMo has now transferred all its shares in Tata Teleservices to Tata Sons and companies designated by Tata Sons.
Due to the payout DoCoMo has adjusted its forecast for the financial year ending in March 2018 to predict net income of 740 billion yen, up from the initial forecast of 655 billion yen.
Nissan Motor said Japan sales of new passenger vehicles probably fell by half in October from a year ago after the discovery of improper final inspection procedures at its domestic plants caused it to suspend some production.
The Japanese automaker found last month that uncertified technicians had been carrying out final inspections of vehicles for decades. That has prompted it to recall 1.2 million vehicles, including all passenger cars it produced for sale in Japan over the past three years.
The plants will resume production once the final inspection procedures have been brought in line with transport ministry requirements and the ministry has approved the measures, a spokesman for the automaker said.
Nissan has completed those measures at one of its assembly plants and expects to have made similar changes at five other plants by the end of the week, he said.
Tightened procedures will mean only certified inspectors will be allowed into the final inspection area, and there will be regular checks that inspections are carried out properly.
DJI Arena by JDrone Tokyo will launch on Saturday, introducing the Chinese retailer of civilian drones and aerial imaging technology.
It is not only a store, but also offers technical support and even a flying area in its 535sqm arena, to be managed by authorised dealer Japan Circuit in partnership with DJI Japan.
For customers who want to test their skills, the flying area has safety nets and an adjustable circuit, while the retail space will showcase DJI’s full range of consumer, professional and enterprise products.
“As interest around our aerial technology continues to grow, the DJI Arena concept is a new way for us to engage not just hobbyists but also those considering this technology for their work,” says DJI director of brand management and operations Moon Tae-Hyun.
“Having the opportunity to use the remote controller and try out the technology first hand can enrich the customer experience. When people understand how it works or how easy it is to fly, they will discover what the technology can do for them.”
As well as individual and group bookings, the DJI Arena will be available for corporate events, serve as a venue for DJI’s New Pilot Experience Program and host workshops.
Since opening last year, DJI’s first arena, in Yongin, South Korea, has been attracting hobbyists and drone enthusiasts from around the world.
The Tokyo arena is in Katsushika-ku, Hosoda.
This article was posted on Thursday, 21:10, UTC.
It has been less than two weeks since the nationwide ban on Chinese bitcoin exchange ban was finalized and already, bitcoin traders in the Chinese market are already moving to Japan.
OKCoin and Huobi, two of the largest bitcoin exchanges in China that have been responsible for around 75 percent of bitcoin trades in the Chinese market, were given leeway by local financial regulators to operate until the end of October. That means, Chinese traders have at least a month to close their accounts, move their funds and search for other ways to trade bitcoin.
But, almost immediately after leading bitcoin exchanges in China announced their plans to halt their operations in the upcoming weeks, Chinese traders migrated to neighboring markets in Asia: Japan and South Korea.
Prior to the imposition of a nationwide ban on Chinese exchanges, the Chinese bitcoin exchange market accounted for around 10 to 13 percent of global bitcoin trades. At the time of reporting, South Korea has overtaken the Chinese market in terms of bitcoin trading volume, becoming the third largest bitcoin exchange market in the world and evolving into a powerhouse within the global cryptocurrency sector.
Today, the Chinese bitcoin exchange market accounts for less than 5 percent of global bitcoin trades and in four weeks time, China’s bitcoin exchange market will have no trading activity at all.
Despite the short-term impact of China’s crackdown on bitcoin exchanges, many experts including billionaire early-stage investor Tim Draper have viewed the exit of the Chinese market from the global bitcoin exchange market as a positive event, mostly because the Chinese government does not have any leverage to work with to potentially manipulate the bitcoin market or lower the value and the market cap of bitcoin.
Essentially, the Chinese government has used the last card in the deck in imposing a nationwide ban on bitcoin trading platforms and it has finally run out of leverage against the global bitcoin market. That provides a positive precedent and future for bitcoin price development and long-term health of the bitcoin market. In months ahead, the bitcoin market will demonstrate increased stability and distribution. As Draper noted:
“The deadwood of the Bitcoin ecosystem is leaving now. Our faith in the crypto economy will be well rewarded.”
More importantly, it is beneficial for the long-term health of the global bitcoin market that trading volumes from China are moving to Japan and South Korea, two countries that have the most practical and efficient regulatory frameworks for both bitcoin investors and businesses. Earlier this year, the Japanese government fully eliminated double taxation on bitcoin and legalized bitcoin as a payment method. Deloitte’s annual tax report read:
“The supply of virtual currency will be exempt from Japanese Consumption Tax (“JCT”). Currently, virtual currencies such as Bitcoin do not fall under the category of exempt sales, and as a result, the sale of virtual currencies in Japan have been treated as taxable for JCT purposes. Following the enactment of the amended Fund Settlement Law in May 2016, which newly defined “virtual currency” as a means of settlement, the sale of virtual currency as defined under the new Fund Settlement Law will be exempt from JCT. This change will apply to sales/purchase transactions performed in Japan on or after 1 July 2017.”
Consequently, large-scale multi-billion dollar technology and financial conglomerates have emerged in the Japanese bitcoin exchange market and industry. GMO, a major Japanese technology company, has already launched a trading platform for institutional investor and established a manufacturing line to create bitcoin ASIC miners and other mining equipment.
In the upcoming months, an increasing number of institutional investors and retail traders in Japan and South Korea will drive the price of bitcoin to all-time highs. Bitcoin trading volumes and market cap will likely be high than ever before, all due to the swift recovery of the global bitcoin market and the exit of an unstable bitcoin exchange market.
Affinity Equity Partners of Hong Kong has bought Burger King’s Japanese business from South Korea’s Lotte Group for an undisclosed sum.
A new entity set up by Affinity, Burger King Japan Holdings, is expected to take over the roughly 100 fast-food outlets next month, reports Nikkei Asian Review.
The US burger chain had pulled out of Japan in 2001 following poor earnings, but re-entered the market in 2007 when Lotte and Japan-based Revamp bought the franchise and ran it as Burger King Japan. Three years later the business was transferred to Lotte subsidiary Lotteria.
Meanwhile, rival McDonald’s has maintained leadership in the market despite a slowdown and store closures in the past few years, pushing Burger King to seek a new approach.
Affinity bought the Burger King South Korean franchise last year from VIG Partners for US$170 million. Meanwhile, Affinity is raising $5 billion for its fifth fund, which exceeds its $3.8 billion fund in 2013.
Online-only mattress company, Koala, is making headway in Asia, with the company recently launching in Japan.
This brings Koala’s global footprint up to three international markets, following the company’s launch in Hong Kong in February and New Zealand last year.
Operations in Japan have been “up-and-running” for at least two weeks, according to Koala’s head of communications, Matthew Overington.
“We launched the website, we’re making sales and fulfilling orders. The response has been positive so far,” he told.
Overington said the Japanese site has almost the same volume of traffic – but not sales – as Koala’s other markets, including Australia.
“It’s early days, so we’re ramping up,” he said.
The company, which is led by a local country manager, currently offers next-day delivery to customers across Japan and is actively working to make faster delivery possible.
Koala’s signature four-hour delivery service will likely launch in Tokyo to start, with expansion into other major cities later this year, according to Overington.
The move was funded by a recent $10 million investment from Silicon Valley-based debt financier Partners for Growth.
This marks the first outside investment in Koala, since Australia cricket captain Steve Smith provided an undisclosed amount of seed money in 2015.
Besides growing the business in Japan, Koala plans to use the $10 million Series A funding round to enter new markets and expand the range of products it offers beyond mattresses and pillows, to include linens and furniture, such as bed bases.
“Basically we’re looking for the next stage of growth for the business,” Overington said of the investment.
“We solicit funding to accomplish the next round of business goals and it’s tested against our performance and vision for the future…[Funding] is off the back of strong confidence that we’re on the right track.”
This is largely thanks to Koala’s data- and research-driven approach, according to Overington. For instance, the company didn’t just take the same mattress it sells in Australia to the Japanese market. It designed a new, slightly firmer mattress specifically to appeal to Japanese consumers’ sleep preferences.
“Everything we do is research-led. We think very carefully about the nuances of each market,” he said.
Some nuances, however, are hard to predict. Overington noted that consumers in Japan have made far fewer customer service calls than consumers in Australia did at launch.
Perhaps it’s a cultural difference, or representative of the fact that we have all the information they’re looking for on the site,” he suggested.
Japan’s SoftBank has gone live with Gemalto’s On Demand Subscription (ODC) remote subscription management platform to allow customers to directly connect their eSIM-enabled secondary devices to the operator’s mobile network.
SoftBank users will be able to take advantage of direct internet connectivity for eSIM-enabled smart watches, wearables and other secondary devices without the need to tether them to a smartphone.
SoftBank arranged in April to adopt the Gemalto platform for both consumer and industrial IoT devices.
Gemalto said it expects eSIM to become the default identification module for all cellular IoT devices. The vendor has to date delivered more than 50 eSIM subscription management servers for both consumer and M2M applications to mobile operators in Asia, Europe and North America.
In the consumer space, the company has partnerships with OEMs including Samsung, Limmex, Microsoft and Lenovo. The vendor is currently the only fully GSMA security accreditation scheme-subscription management (SAS-SM) certified supplier.
Recognising the growing interest in travel in Southeast Asia, Japanese fashion brand Uniqlo has introduced a Wherever You Go campaign featuring short films of ordinary people having extraordinary travel experiences around Japan.
Featuring key pieces from its latest collection, the films aim to inspire people to immerse themselves in new cultures and novel experiences, and highlight how Uniqlo LifeWear suits travel and adventure in varied climates and destinations.
“The campaign tells the story of what LifeWear is about – apparel that never stops evolving because life never stops changing,” says Uniqlo Asean marketing director Masahiro Endo.
Starting today, season one of the campaign features five travellers from Southeast Asia who share their experiences and inspirations around the cities of Japan.
For the campaign’s second season, Uniqlo is running a contest to find people to feature in the movie. Entry is by sharing travel photos, stories or inspirations on Instagram. The prize is an all-expenses-paid, four days/three nights’ trip to Tokyo for two worth US$5000. The contest runs until November 30.
The reborn AirAsia Japan will commence services on 29 October with a service from its Nagoya hub to Sapporo, two years after receiving its air operator’s certificate.
The carrier says in a statement that it will operate twice-daily on the route, which FlightGlobal schedules data shows it will compete against five other carriers, including Jetstar Japan, All Nippon Airways and Skymark Airlines.
“We are honoured to be the first airline to be based in Nagoya’s Chubu Centrair International airport and we are committed to connecting as many guests as possible at low fares to AirAsia’s extensive network, as well as bridging communities and cultures for the benefit of the local economy,” says chief executive Osamu Hata.
AirAsia holds a 49% stake in AirAsia Japan, while shareholders Rakuten, Octave Japan Infrastructure Fund, Noevir Holdings and Alpen hold the other 51%.
This is the Malaysian budget carrier’s second attempt into the Japanese market, following the October 2013 breakdown of its joint venture with ANA Holdings. The shell of that first carrier was used to launch Vanilla Air shortly after.
The new carrier was granted its AOC in October 2015, and had planned to launch services during the northern spring of 2016. The launch was however repeatedly delayed, and Jetstar Japan has in the meantime announced plans to start a base at Nagoya in 2018.
Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that AirAsia Japan has two Airbus A320s in its fleet.