Japanese Market News

After learning about the laundry delivery service business in the United States, president Mika Yamazaki started her own similar service, Wash & Fold on March 2005. The service is based on a pricing system where anything you can fit within a Wash & Fold bag will cost 2400 yen to wash. The items placed into the bag need to be washable with a normal washing machine and are simply picked up, washed and folded and delivered back to the customer. The service's reasonable pricing and convenience have attracted around a thousand members mainly in the Tokyo area and are receiving approximately 20 bags a day.

It is difficult to say in such beginning stages whether or not the service will be able to compete once the prices of dryers decline, but the service definitely has potential in a country where more people are willing to invest their money for time away from such mundane household chores.

Posted by Alisa at 09:05 AM | Permalink

Japan's forestry industry is currently in a slump but this has not stopped the increasing number of customers interested in building houses with domestic Japanese lumber. The use of wood has always been deeply part of Japanese culture with approximately 70 percent of the county being covered with forests. However, imported lumber eventually became more popular due to its decline in price. As a result, forestry became an unprofitable market in Japan with many in the industry abandoning their forests. Several foresters aimed to revive the industry in response to these woodlands which have slowly been going to waste.

Like other industries in Japan, foresters are now focusing on enhancing the quality of the wood rather than increasing the quantity that is being produced. As a result of this movement towards reviving Japan's forestry industry a unique hybrid beam was developed by Chugoku Lumber Co. Ltd. (Chugoku Mokuzai Co. Ltd.) combining Japanese cedar (cryptomeria japonica) for its durability and Douglas fir for its compressibility and flexural properties. By utilizing domestic lumber the company is hoping to not only revive the lumber industry within Japan but contribute to conserving the forests of Alaska from where Japan imports much of its lumber.

Posted by Alisa at 11:24 AM | Permalink

Currently, there is a movement toward diversifying energy sources in Japan, which will allow the country to become less dependent on fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emission. Among other projects, the Japanese government is involved in manufacturing bio-fuels from agricultural products, beginning with the experimental study of biomass ethanol with Asahi Breweries and the National Agricultural Research Center for Kyushu Okinawa Region. This project, conducted on Ie Island, Okinawa, involves the production of biomass ethanol from high biomass sugarcane to develop E3 gasoline, an automobile fuel containing biomass ethanol.

Posted by Alisa at 08:41 AM | Permalink