Here are some images from the Day Two of the New Context Conference in Tokyo earlier today. Day One is here. Today`s conversations were excellent. Lots of discussion about new social and business networks and new applications for the mobile web. I especially liked the exploration of how western companies can do business in Japan, and how Japanese companies can expand in the U.S. throughout various market trends.

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I went to Day One of the New Context Conference in Tokyo today. The event was sponsored by Digital Garage, and there was a great line up of speakers talking about doing business in an age of open networks. Much of the discussion centered around Japan and the unique business and cultural issues here, but open networks are global so it was interesting to see Japan in that international context. The panel sessions were filled with huge content for web entrepreneurs and participants in social networks,  and the discussion was comprehensive. Most panels just bounce along the surface, but these guys dug deep. Very impressive.

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Slacker Nation? Young Japanese Shun Promotions -- Wall Street Journal. This article reminds me of many such scare pieces in the U.S. in recent years about the lazy young undermining American competitiveness. If it's true in the US and in Japan than the Chinese and Indians will make quick work of the Americans and Japanese in the coming years. I have my doubts, though. We'll see. But with regard to Japan specifically, the second paragraph of this article and the second to last paragraph both clearly demonstrate bugs to be fixed, not aspirations to be realized.  

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I love the contrast in the streets ...

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Went for a walk along the Tama River today. Found some baseball games with amazing little kids, a big party with great music and lots of drunk people, and some shacks providing shelter for the homeless. Everyone very friendly. The shacks moved me the most. Here's the mix.

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I was at Toshiba yesterday with some guys from Europe and the US. When execs and product teams come over to Japan sometimes I tag along. Good day. Great dinner. Fantastic meeting the Toshiba team. 

Jim Grisanzio, Todd Tornga, Bill Nesheim, Dan Roberts, Chris Armes. Photo courtesy Bill Nesheim.


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In the fall there are festivals all over Japan in the fall. Here is one at Sugao Jinja, a shrine in our area.

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In the fall there are festivals all over Japan. Here is one at Sugao Jinja, a shrine in our area.

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It seems some southern European countries are dying right along with some Asian countries. Older people living longer, younger people not having babies, country dies. Simple. I hadn't realized that the situation was so bad in Italy, for instance.

This article in the New York Times -- No Babies? -- is massively long but interesting on a number of levels. First, the United States is not dying. It's thriving. And Norway is not dying, either. But Japan, Korea, Italy, Spain, and Greece are all in jeopardy to one degree or another. Second, the reasons for these population declines are complex, but some of the solutions may not be that hard at all. If you look at the countries that are thriving, you see two paths to life -- (1) provide maximum flexibility and opportunity for employment for women, even though there are few safety nets from the government, or  (2) provide substantial government support for families to compensate for the relative lack of flexibility in the workplace. The U.S. offers a lot of opportunity, whereas the northern European countries offer more security. Both seem to work for those respective cultures. And the third bit in the article I found fascinating was that the countries failing on both accounts are dying. In other words, those countries with cultures that are evolving, and changing, and modernizing socially to support women and children seem to be surviving, but the others who are not are not keeping up at all. What a kick. How's that for evolution? I'm skipping a few steps here, but I hope that's enough to wet your appetite for this article. It's a very good read.

How does Japan fit here? Well, the lack of women in the workplace is pathetically obvious, and birthrates in the country are alarmingly low too. The two seem connected. But it's not only the support of women and children (in the form of govt subsidies or employment flexibility) that matters to sustain a population in a modern society (the "modern" bit is the key to the entire article, by the way). Another factor is how much men are involved in the raising of children. Here in Japan it's well known that most men are not that involved -- although I'm encouraged to see the younger guys all over their kids, which is great. However, the vast majority of men are working all the time (which is clearly not necessary and obviously inefficient, but that's another story). This only reduces the support of women and children. It's sad. But it could actually be deadly, too.

But cultures need not die. They can change. And that's the good news. The article also points this out. In the U.S., for instance, it's socially acceptable now for dads to be directly involved in raising their kids, and it's getting to the point where it's totally unacceptable for them to not be involved. This wasn't always true in many parts of the country in even my lifetime. So, in modern America if you work till midnight every day with a kid at home you are a dirtbag. That's not true in Japan. In fact, in many cases the exact opposite is true. You are a hard worker, supporting your family, supporting your society. I explained the dirtbag comment to a friend here one time, and she was rather surprised. That's the power of culture. It's a paradigm. Things only make sense on the inside. That's why openness is critical. You need to consider all options from outside your paradigm to keep checking if the stuff on the inside makes sense. We'll have to see in a couple of decades how it all shakes out, which cultures thrive and which cultures die out.


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Japan PM contender sees "iron" barrier for women: "Hillary used the word 'glass ceiling' ... but in Japan, it isn't glass, it's an iron plate." -- Yuriko Koike, Japanese defence minister.

I agree. On this issue, things here are very much behind the West. And it's a shame. Such a waste of talent on such a massive scale at a time when the country needs new ideas. Imagine Japan with a female prime minister? Wild.

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I met this construction worker on a train one day a while back, and I still can't get over his baggy pants and slippers. He's got a hard hat and some other tools in his bag, but the pants and slippers are just wild. Maybe he's on his way home, I don't know. But how can you work construction in those pants? Look at those things. That would drive me nuts. I'd be getting tangled up in everything I walked past. Perhaps this is a fashion statement? I have no idea. And the feet. My goodness. I've seen guys on sites here banging nails and pounding on jackhammers and climbing scaffolding with absolutely paper thin footwear that just sends shivers up my spine. What if you step on a nail? Or, heck, even a pebble would hurt with what these guys wear on their feet. What if you drop something on your foot? What if you fall? I always had big kick ass work boots with steel toes and steel plates and everything. I don't see that here, though.

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Things got loud this morning around here, so I ran outside with my camera and caught the tail end of this helicopter rescue. There is a pretty big road near here where people drive stupidly fast and have many accidents. I`ve only been in one car accident in my life, and it was a profoundly humbling experience. Anyway, I hope whoever is in this stretcher is ok.

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This scene is quite common in Tokyo. Now, I realize you'd find old houses and buildings misaligned in any city around the world, but here they build them new this way. It can be charming, of course, but it can be a big mess, too. When I first got here, I had figured that over time they'd straighten things out a bit as buildings died and new ones were constructed. Nope. Land is tight. Use every inch. No matter the shape, no matter the offsets, no matter the location. Consequently, urban sprawl here is extreme. And good luck finding your way around, too, because the streets aren't aligned either, and, of course, street signs are another interesting mystery in this city. When I ask why to all this, people just look at me like the question itself is odd or something. I never get a response, too. Ok. So, I stopped asking. I don't know how to describe it, really. I've been searching for some logic -- or even a zoning map -- but I have no clue. It just is. GPS is required, I know, but how did people survive before that?

Anyway. In this image, a new building is going up at the bottom next to the road. I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a house, or an apartment building, or a convenience store. It'll be a mystery for a little longer. But they are building in a box down there. It's wild. That little crane in the lower right corner can't move at all. He can only dig, and then back out when he's done. And the basement walls are braced with heavy steel i-beams. The guy in the white shirt walking in the front yard of his little brown house right now is probably hoping that the building going up a few feet away isn't too high or he'll lose all his sun. Perhaps he already knows what's coming. And check out the beautiful law and garden on the yellow building at the top of the image. Very nice. I've never mowed my roof before, have you? But that would make a great little Lacrosse field for practice close to home. Everything's all very ... snug.

But I keep wondering about that new building going up. Every time I see construction like this, I always wonder what the land is worth. Construction means land has economic value. That property looks like, I don't know, about 50 x 60 feet, so I asked around. Probably around a million dollars. Maybe more. And as I walked around the previous demolition and now the new construction, I couldn't fine one stray nail on the road or the sidewalk. I looked, too. Hard. No scrap pieces of wood. No mud or dirt. No tire tracks from trucks going in and out. Not even a piece of paper. Nothing. How is this possible? I've been on many construction sites, and I've never seen such highly contained jobs in my life. And, of course, not a sound. Total silence. Wild.


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For the last several weeks -- seems like forever -- we have had some wild storms in Japan. Especially this week. Very impressive  rain and thunder. When will it end?

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I almost sat in this puddle tonight. It's only water, of course, so it would be harmless. Well, I assume it's only water. But anyway. Can you image sitting in a little puddle of blood? Now, that's a great shot, Jon.

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