Toyota, Pedal to the Metal

Toyota is in preparations for marketing a 1 billion dollar campaign in the US to boost sales after it comes close to potentially reporting its second annual deficit in a row. This $1 billion marketing campaign is 30-40 percent more than Toyota spends in a typical quarter. The Prius line is at the top of the list for cars they are trying to promote, as their 2010 model Prius reportedly sold more than other eco cars. While , at the same time, sales for Toyota's Scion fell around 50% this year and their Lexus luxury car line fell a reported 30%.

What does this mean?
Toyoda Aiko has got his work cut out for him, but if all goes well, Toyota can finally open up their unused factory in Miss. thats been collecting dust and is partially to blame for this deficit. Also, we could be seeing some pretty cool new "affordable" sports cars from Toyota in the future.


Other News: Hatoyama to Meet Obama this week.

JAL to Make Cuts

According to the WSJ,JAL( Japan Airlines) is confirming their interest in Delta and American Airlines as the struggling airline is trying to stay a float.Haruka Nishimatsu, JAL Chief Exec., has refused to mention anymore potential airlines in the running, but expects all this to wrap up around mid october. To get out of this rutt they're in, they're starting by cutting 14% of their workforce.

JAL worker upon reading the news

What does this mean?

People are getting laid off! And maybe in the future, if you're flying Delta or American, you can get to China or any other Asian country, by a route that actually makes sense.

Japan to Elect Hirohisa Fujii as Next Finance Minister

At 77 years old, Hirohisa Fujii was planning on retiring this summer, but it seems the DPJ is calling him back to help them in approving their new stimulus package. Fujii boasts a pretty beefy track record, working senior government jobs which include work at Japan's Ministry of Finance back in the 90's. If elected, he insists that he will find and get rid of wasteful spending.

These aren't the Droids you're looking for...

What does this mean?
With the DPJ calling back political big wigs they can get their stimulus package up and running, which will cost around 77 trillion yen in the first fiscal year of 2010, rising to an annual 16.8 trillion by the fiscal year in 2013. The plan promises to give money to families with children, cut highway tolls, gasoline taxes, and more aid to the unemployed.

Mr. James, Nippon All Star

Well, unfortunately I didn't follow up with my promise of keeping up an active blog in Japan, really just didn't have the time between working and going to school.

Anyway, I thought I'd make up for it now, by keeping people updated on some relatively important issues that are hot right now in Japan.

So what better way to kick off the blog by talking about the Notorious. MR.James. Rather than just going on and on about predicussed topics on how much of a tool this guy is. Lets look at it from a marketing standpoint.

McDonald's Sale Growth

According to Wall Street, Sales have fallen .5% in the Asia/Pacific , Middle East and Africa Region, with China and Japan being the leading cause for this drop. Which is a surprising contrast to the 10% jump from the previous year. Also, posted by the Nikkei, was a 1.2% drop in sales for McDonald's Japan.

What does this mean?

The Mr. James marketing campaign has not been successful and could very well be one of the causes for this drop in sales. This may be speculation, but it would seem as though many foreigners in Japan are outraged by this stereotypical gaijin figure. For those of you who haven't heard of this campaign, go to The Japan Times and read Meet Mr. James, gaijin clown, an article written by the notorious Debito, who I actually got a chance to meet briefly at the blarney stone in Osaka. Or just type in Mr. James McDonalds into google and watch the results flow.