In a brand new series called: “Approaching Customers in Japan”, the NCCJ has started Luncheon Meeting events focussing on ways of how agencies in Japan create structures to approach customers. Brendan McMahon, Chief Corporate Strategist at Diamond Agency, started his talk with a brief review of how he transformed a “moribund domestic agency” into a powerful, creative player in the Japanese media market. In  the second part of the presentation we were shown a series of technological products such as in-store music and video programmes that can be customized for specific locations. Clients that are using these products include Lawson. During, as well as after, Brendan’s presentation many questions were asked, making this again a very successful NCCJ event.

The METRO Group, headquartered in Germany, is one of the world’s leading retailing companies and an international leading player in self-service wholesale. With 655 stores in 29 countries, METRO Cash & Carry, the self-service wholesale division is the major growth driver of the METRO Group. The sales concept of METRO Cash & Carry is not only successful in Germany; in 1968, a partnership with the SHV Group led to the establishment of Makro Zelfbedienigsgroothandel in the Netherlands the first step beyond German borders.

In the 70′s, 80′s and early 90′s METRO and MAKRO Cash & Carry continued to expand in South, West, and East Europe and, in the mid-90s,

METRO Cash & Carry moved into Asia becoming the first international wholesaling company to receive a license for nationwide expansion in China.

Presently METRO Cash & Carry is represented in 29 countries with over 600 self-service wholesale centers. With more than 100,000 employees worldwide, the company achieved sales of  31.7 billion in 2007.

On Wednesday, February 18, 2008, Mr.Anton Knijf, President and Representative Director of METRO Cash & Carry Japan K.K. was guest speaker at a NCCJ Business Round Table held in the Deshima Lounge, Embassy of Kingdom of the Netherlands, Tokyo.

Established in November 27th 2000, METRO Cash & Carry Japan K.K. has presently 4 outlets in the Kanto region. METRO Cash & Carry wholesale centers are open exclusively for professional customers, all of them registered and provided with a customer card. The core client target group comprises hotels, restaurants, caterers and small and mid-sized retailers.

Anton Knijf, a Dutch national with extensive international leadership experience in wholesale and retail operations, gave the select audience of 31 attendants – including 6 members from BLCCJ and new members from Roland Berger Ltd, an excellent and fascinating overview of the entry of METRO Cash & Carry into the Japanese market, the adoption to local customs and the marketing and expansion strategy going forward. The presentation was followed by a lively and animated Q&A session which added to more revealing insights for the audience regarding the successful operations of the METRO Cash & Carry Japan organization.

The NCCJ thank Mr. Anton Knijf for this very interesting presentation.

Interview with His Excellency Dr. Philip de Heer, the new Ambassador of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with his view on the Japanese market, the role of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce in Japan and how the Dutch embassy in Japan can help foster the Chamber’s mission.

Hereby the interview in a Quicktime movie format

Hereby the interview in a Windows media movie format

On 9 December, 2008, members of the Belgium-Luxembourg and Netherlands Chambers of Commerce gathered in the Deshima Lounge of the Dutch embassy for a Business Round Table breakfast meeting with Dan Harada of the firm Nagatacho Forum.

Dan Harada, who acquired Japanese citizenship in 1987, is a member of the LDP and the founder of Nagatacho Forum, a lobbying firm which assists foreign governments and companies in their relations with Japanese legislators.

The message of Dan Harada – eminence grise and self-acclaimed Nagatacho insider with connections to Japanese ministers, committee chairmen and the LDP leadership – was clear; apart from the upcoming Diet holidays and election, which needs to be held no later than September 18, 2009, nothing is certain in Japanese politics.

The 2008 Deshima Award Ceremony and Reception was held on October 27, 2008 at TEPIA. The opening speech by Patrick van Oppen, Chairman of the NCCJ, was followed by a short introduction of the history of the awards by Leon Halders of DSM, 2006 Deshima Award winner. The Deshima Award is granted by the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce in Japan with support from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to recognize Dutch companies for their achievement of successful business development in the Japanese market. Two Awards are granted: one within the large company segment and one within the small/mid-size enterprise segment. NCCJ was honored to have H.E. Maxime Verhagen, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as the special presenter of the 2008 Deshima Awards. Mr. Verhagen’s visit in 2008 is in the framework of commemorating 150 years of diplomatic relations between Japan and the Netherlands.

The winner for the large company segment is ASML (www.asml.com). ASML is the world’s leading provider of lithography systems for the semiconductor industry and manufactures machines for the production of integrated circuits or microchips. ASML has its headquarters in Veldhoven in the Netherlands. The winner for the small and medium company segment is SENZ Umbrellas (www.senzumbrellas.com). The SENZ umbrella has won the Good Design Award 2008 (G-Mark), a prestigious design award in Japan. SENZ Umbrellas is located in Delft in the Netherlands.

The Deshima Award was established in 2000 to promote greater awareness of opportunities for export of goods and technology to Japan and for investment in Japan by companies and institutions in the Netherlands. The winners were selected by a joint Japanese and Netherlands jury.

After the ceremonies there was a splendid buffet. This turned out to be a visual pleasure with an excellent mix of Japanese and western food, decorated with a beautiful flower arrangement.

On Thursday 30 October 20 NCCJ members made a trip to the Nippon Steel Corporation plant in Chiba, located on the other side of Yokohama in Tokyo bay. The name of this plant is Kimitsu and by far Nippon Steel’s largest plant with a crude steel production over 10,661 tons and a workforce of 3,285. In the Netherlands the former Hoogovens (now days Corus) plant is well known….Imagine that the size of this plant is almost 3 times larger.
The group left by bus from the embassy and arrived around 14.00 in Kimitsu. First, a very interesting introduction film and a short presentation was given about the plant and the production process. This was followed by a bus tour and a visit to a blast furnace, a hot strip mill and a plastic recycle plant – but not before all members were fully secured with helmet, gloves and jackets! What we have seen was very impressive. Especially the hot strip mill. Everything you see is big, hot and heavy. With an enormous speed, steel slabs are pushed through mills, then cut and finally rolled into sheets. This goes on 24 hours a day. The visit ended with some more information given by senior plant managers and a Q&A session. Thanks to Yamamoto-san and Takeuchi-san, responsible for the splendid organisation of this tour, the members had a unique and very interesting company visit. After all that violence of hot steel, the beers in the bus back to Tokyo were most welcome! Thanks again, gentlemen.
Bert van Haagen

Impressive, the heat and the mechanical power so close to the members of NCCJ who took the decision to join this “NCCJ ensoku”. Pity we could not see the melting process directly. Only a glimpse of it in the distant when we were posing for the photo. We needed the beer afterwards to rinse away the dust collected at the plant. But the whole experience was unforgettable and thanks to the great organization skill of Yamamoto-san and the excellent casually dressed guide (in contrast with us completely decked out with helmet and thick coats – see photo) the whole trip weny very smoothly. Even a stopover at the middle of Aqualine in Tokyo bay  was a nice surprise.

Rob Oudendijk

We will miss him all. Hereby a short video impression of the farewell speech of Henk in ‘t Hof.

“After almost 3 years in Japan, I shall be leaving Japan at the end of August to take up new assignment in Singapore. To say good bye and share my appreciation for NCCJ, I would like to invite you for an informal luncheon on 29 August between 12:30 and 14:00. At this occasion, I will be happy to introduce my successor, Mr. Jeroen Dalderop to you.”

The video (quick-time):

http://nccj.jp/wp-content/uploads/henk.mov

Mr Dibbits started his talk mentioning that a lot has been written about this painting. Most critics look at Vermeer’s work as a window into 17th century Netherlands, reveling in the painting’s stillness. Mr Dibbits, however, told the 28 attendants from the NCCJ and their guests that he wanted to deconstruct the image of the Milkmaid by Vermeer in order to show us that the painting is really not a snapshot of a historical reality, but a very well thought out construction by a technically brilliant painter. We were told that only 34 paintings are known to exist by Vermeer, and most of his work has a strong narrative to it, most of them featuring maids in ordinary household settings.

Mr Dibbits took us through a fascinating analysis of the work, looking at the elements that make up the composition of the painting as well as Vermeer’s usage of claire obscure. Claire obscure, we learned, is a painting technique for expressing contrast between dark and light. Looking at the Milkmaid painting closely we could see how Vermeer used the contrast so that we, the spectators, feel the scene to be real, so real that we almost feel like voyeurs, present, yet distant. Furthermore, the way the milk pours out of the jug shows us that Vermeer was a very careful observer. The suggestion of movement of the milk as done by Vermeer in the still image, in comparison to other painters of the time, showed all of us what a masterful painter Vermeer really was. After this excellent talk we were given tickets to view the exhibition courtesy of NCCJ where we not only could view the painting of the Milkmaid, but many related paintings, prints, household goods and musical instruments of Vermeer’s time.

Milkmaid by Vermeer and Dutch Genre Painting – Masterworks from the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Exhibition Dates: September 26 – December 17, 2007

The National Art Center , Tokyo – http://www.nact.jp/english/vermeer.html

Beckie Cassidy introduced how companies can benefit from the Japan Market Expansion Competition (JMEC) services when entering the Japanese market. JMEC is a business training program designed to strengthen the skills of young business executives while fostering the development of foreign businesses in . The JMEC program is centered on a competition to write the best business plan for client companies. Sponsored by eleven foreign Chambers of Commerce in along with the European Business Council in , the program matches the desire of young executives to learn about doing business in with the needs of foreign companies to prepare detailed business plans for their products and services in the Japanese market. (see – www.jmec.gr.jp)

Onno Jalink, of Brita Japan, gave us a lively overview how his company had entered the Japanese market with mixed success in the early 90’s and highlighted the challenges and pitfalls the company has overcome to succeed in Japan. Brita, a JMEC client and one of the business plan competition winners last year, is a German headquartered company producing and marketing Professional and Household Water Filter Systems and Cartridges.

Onno, at the helm of Brita since 2005, drew upon his experience since 1986 to illustrate the successes the company has realized in this difficult market, while giving the audience an insightful and entertaining overview about business practices and leadership roles in Japan.