[JTND] Comment: Foreign Technology Media Reporting on Japan

[Matatabi Report <editor@matatabi.com>]

>>>On Sun, 16 Feb 2003 14:27:57 +0900
>>>In the message "Submission for list"
>>>Martyn_Williams@idg.com wrote:

> You write:

> >>Yamamoto saw the news from Japan were often misunderstood or even
> distorted by the foreign press. He realized that there were only a few
> sources for the non-Japanese speaking technology professionals and press
> could depend on. And those limited sources sometimes have a hidden agenda.
> They don't convey what's really happening in Japan and how ordinary
> Japanese people feel.<<

> As the list is devoted to technology news, I assume this refers to the same
> subject. I am interested to hear some examples of how you think foreign
> media are distorting such news and also which news sources you believe have
> hidden agendas. I am also interested to hear how you think the foreign
> media can better cover technology news in Japan.

Martyn,

Yes, my observation applies to technology news although many news from
Japan goes through some kinds of filters.

I don't want to put examples with names here unless the accused comes
here and has an equal opportunity to rebut my flame.

It is old one, but I think it is a good example. Just before the
release of Japanese Windows95, a top technology reporter in San
Francisco wrote an article about PC business in Japan. He didn't know
that each Japanese PC manufacture developed and sold own flavors of
slightly incompatible MS DOS for the domestic market. That's was the
big barrier for the foreign PC manufacturers to enter the market until
then. IMHO, without understanding this background, the impact of
Windows95 in Japan could not accurately reported. I wrote to him and
he admitted that he didn't know the history.

There's another one which I encounter recently. An American researcher
visiting Japan wondered why NTT could offer the copper loop to CLECs
at a far cheaper rate in Japan than in the U.S.

When you want to install a new telephone(POT) in Japan, you must buy
something called a subscriber right certificate (Subscriber Fee)*. It
looks like a bond and costs 72,000 yen(U.S. $600) if you buy from NTT.
The certificate can be bought from the commercial brokers around $200
though. Subscriber Fee was originally required to support the building
of the telephone infrastructure. Every fixed line in Japan got this
expensive one-time fee when it was first installed in addition to the
fees based on the monthly usage.

* Since Feb. 2002, the Subscriber Fee can be waived in exchange
for a higher basic monthly fee.

And don't forget there is no flat local call zone in Japan. Every
local call is measured. This is likely to be the primary reason for
the Internet users to flock to ADSL which is a flat rate service.

The price of local calls are often ignored in the stories that praise
the rapid growth of ADSL in Japan. Besides the speed, switching to
ADSL costs much less when you use the net regularly.  When I had ISDN
line, my home phone bill often became over 30,000 yen ($250) a month,
then it was down to under 7,000 yen when I switched to ADSL (Now, I
pay around 10,000 yen for a 100Mbps optical fiber line.).

Also, I think one of main reasons why the use of cell phones in Japan
has exploded was the high price of getting a fixed line due to the
Subscriber Fee. For the teenagers and their parents, it was not
economical to install the second fixed phone line to their house. When
students and young singles live in apartments, they chose a cell phone
instead of a fixed line. Simply because a cell phone could be owned
with much less initial payment although it has very expensive
per-minute charge. You know who is the dominant wireless player in
Japan and its relationship with ...

When you write about any tech stories in Japan or anywhere, it is
important to understand the history and context that facilitate the
success or failure. It becomes more important when you don't speak and
read the language of your subjects and your readers don't know
those special environment in Japan.

On this list, I'll try my best to provide the background and context
for the news. Since I have my own views and opinion on everything I
see or hear, I refer it as an alternative point of view.

The hidden agendas are dangerous stuff to talk about. I was almost
black-balled when I expressed my displeasure openly revising my story
and making it favorable to one of big advertisers for a publication.

If you don't speak and read the language, you depend on the secondary
sources or those who are willing to communicate in your language. They
are not always the best sources for your stories in Japan. They tell
you only they want you to write about. You'd better know who your
sources really are -- their political and religious affiliation,
ethnic origin, and more (Of course, you are not going to include those
in your stories, but they will help you make your journalistic
judgement.). They might be secretly paid for by PR agencies (or just
doing a favor to those powerful guys.). I have questions in the
integrity of some of those "experts" often quoted by the
foreign press. Unfortunately, the integrity of journalists and
analysts, even in the mainstream media in Japan is not high.

As for your last question, I suggest you to live in somewhere other
than the metropolitan Tokyo area. Make long commuter train rides to
and from your office as many working Japanese do. When you understand
their everyday life, you'll know why particular technology or products
blossoming in Japan.

Be friends with geeky Japanese. But not in the media or financial
business, their pay-scale and fringe benefits aren't reflect the
average Japanese workers. The engineers in the big old electronics
companies would be the best for you. Avoid those
"kikoku-shijyo"(the boys and girls educated in the foreign
countries) in the PR department. If you build a good relationship with
the Japan-grown geeks, they'll tell you what really happening in their
companies -- You probably can't use information from them in your
reporting, but the geeks will help you read between the lines in the
official media story.

[key_opinion]
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