Friday, July 22, 2011
What Next for Japan
After a strong performance in 2003, 2004 and 2005, the Japanese stock market was essentially flat during 2006 until a strong December rally brought the most widely traded Japan ETF (EWJ) up just over 5% for the year.
What lies ahead for Japan as the world's second largest economy and stock market?
Will the Japanese yen finally begin to appreciate and benefit foreign investors? Is Japan still an excellent play on the overall Asian growth story? When will the Japanese consumer begin spending again? Why is Japan one of the few countries in the world to have a trade surplus with China and why is Japan able to hold on to its industrial base so much better than America? Are Japanese large multinationals the place to invest or should investors target the smaller and more innovative companies?
In 2006, small and mid cap ETFs led the way in Japan and these ETFs could also do well in 2007. The best performing ETFs tracking Japanese markets were WisdomTree's Japan Small Cap ETF (DFJ) and its Japan High-Yielding Equity ETF (DNL). Both ETFs were introduced on June 16th.
Other key questions for long-term ETF investors are how will the Japanese - America alliance evolve and could Japan be moving towards excessive nationalism? What is likely to be the impact of Japan's demographics on investment opportunities and returns?
These are all important questions. Why don't you get to the bottom of these questions yourself by joining me in May 2007 as I lead a ten day investment tour of Japan http://japaninvestortour.wordpress.com/about/
This will be a trip of a lifetime and will be a fascinating immersion into Japan's stock market, economics, politics, culture and history as well as provide you with the opportunity to learn more about specific Japanese companies. Join me to find out what place Japan should have in your global ETF portfolio.
Carl T. Delfeld President & Publisher Chartwell Partners [http://www.chartwellETFadvisor.com]
Carl has over twenty years of experience in the global investment business with a strong background in Asia.
• Author of global investor primer "The New Global Investor"
• President of the global investment advisory firm Chartwell Partners
• Publisher of the Chartwell Advisor ETF Report and Asia-Pacific Growth
• Columnist on global investing with Forbes Asia: "Global Gambits"
• Former U.S. Representative to the Executive Board of Asian Development Bank
• Chairman of the global economic strategy think tank ChartwellAmerica
• Asian specialist with the U.S. Joint Economic Committee and the U.S. Treasury
• Former member of the U.S. Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Committee
• Former investment executive with Robert Baird & Company and UBS
• Graduate of the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy with economics scholarship from U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission
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Book Your Japan Package Holidays to Tokyo at the Cheapest Price
Japan Package Holidays
Japan package holidays, flights, hotels and car rentals may be expensive to spend on the land of the rising sun. Japan is an island country in east Asia, pacific ocean, the four giant islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku. This four island itself has occupy 97% land area of Japan. Japanese highest mountain, Mount Fuji which is a volcano located just west of Tokyo. The capital of Japan, Mount Fuji symmetrical cone is a famous symbol of japan and it is an artist and photographers favorite theme, as well as visitors and climbers.
The Incredible City Of Tokyo
Tokyo located on the eastern side of main island Honshu with population of over 12 million people which is also described as Saskia Sassen, one of the three command center for world economy along with London and New York cities. Tokyo was also listed as the world most expensive city with rocket high cost of living. Beside the world economy issue Tokyo also play a big part in the tourism industries, shopping, amusement and hot spring while that is no doubt being easy to find loads of Tokyo, Japan package holidays.
The Safest City In The World
Despite the limited area to create harmonious living, Tokyo is still rated one of the safest city in the world with minimum amount of crime and violence. The Japanese people are Japan biggest asset as they like to help strangers, hardworking and honest. If you loves arts, performance and traditional culture. Tokyo offers plentiful of choices from museums to theaters, sumo wrestling and the collection of Japanese art.
When Is The Perfect Time To Visit?
Are you ready to book your Japan package holidays? If you plan to visit Japan I advise that the best time is on between spring from March to May when the unique cherry blossom is blooming to create the best atmosphere around you. Try to avoid to go between late April to early May due to Golden Week where you find the city closes down. Save your money on booking Japan package holidays at cheaper price and utilize it on other things during your vacation. Enjoy your holidays!
Click Here [http://www.fairprice.mobi/holidaystoaustralia/budget_pagkage_holidays.html] To Book Your Japan Package Holidays To Tokyo At The Cheapest Rate.
Best Wishes,
Steven
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Thursday, July 21, 2011
Enjoy Traditional Festivals As You Study Japanese In Japan
Study Japanese in Japan and experience outstanding festivals all year long. During every month the country offers visitors an incredible arrange of traditional shows and street celebrations so that you enjoy your stay.
During the third and fourth of February the Setsubun Festival takes place on every corner of Japan. Celebrate the beginning of spring by throwing beans to the air while chanting " In with fortune! Out with evil!". This ritual is supposed to bring good fortune for next year and prevent "evil" to come to one's home. Sport events takes place in the different shrines of the country so that you watch local athletes as you study Japanese in Japan. It is believed that if you eat the number of beans as your age, you will enjoy good health.
During the third of March all Japan celebrates the Doll Festival. All families with daughters decorate hina ningyo dolls. As you learn Japanese in Japan you will see that all families offer rice cakes and fresh peaches to the dolls so as to assure a happy future for their daughters.
On April you will celebrate the Floral Festival. This fest is a memorial of Buddha's birth and inside every temple small statues and figures are decorated with flowers and placed around a baby Buddha sculpture. Study Japanese in Japan and watch as the baby statue is sparkled with holy water made of a particular tea.
Travel abroad to Japan in July and enjoy Tanabata Festival, also called the Star Celebration. Locals place bamboo branches on their gardens with poems and strips of coloured papers attached to them. Study Japanese in Japan and wait for the prediction to come true: when the stars Vega and Altair, that represent two lovers, get together for only one time in the year.
During July you can enjoy another festival. The O-Bon Celebration welcomes all the accentors' souls coming from the other world. As you study Japanese in Japan take part in this festivity and help appeasing the incoming souls. A Buddhist priest sings religious songs in front of the so called "Shelf of Souls" and a huge fire is place at the entrance of each city to receive ancestors.
Study Japanese in Japan and enjoy in November a special day when families are allowed to go into different shrines with their kids. In the Shichi-Go-San Day locals attend to their tutelary shrine to give thanks and ask for the healthy grow of their children. Study Japanese in Japan and watch how all the kids of the region get dressed up with their best clothes and take as offers sticks of white and red candy to every shrine.
If you come to study Japanese in Japan you will take part in many more rituals and festivals that are celebrated in each city in particular. As you study Japanese in Japan you will discover a unique culture with strong religious beliefs present in everyday life.
Learn more about travel abroad destinations at http://www.easygolanguages.com, making it easy to learn a language. A complete guide; learn a language and study abroad programs. Enrique Helmbrecht is the president of EasyGO Languages and an experienced traveler and language learner.
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Japan Travel: 3 Fun Things To Do Anywhere In Japan
If you are planning a trip to Japan, I'm sure most of you will probably visit a famous temple, visit an old castle and perhaps a famous museum or two. However, visiting these places alone will not give you a well rounded look into Japan and its culture. After visiting Japan every year for the past ten years, I've come up with a list of things you should check out. It shouldn't cost much and you may not have to go out of your way to find them. These are common places, places that you would find in your area. The fun part is to compare the differences between the two.
Disclaimer: This article makes comparisons between Japan and the U.S, because I'm from the U.S. However, I think the general idea should apply to everyone from all countries.
1. Convenience stores
There are several different companies, including Circle K, Lawson, Sankus (pronounced sanks) and, of course, 7-Eleven. On the surface, they look like your ordinary convenience store in the U.S. but look at what is offered.
First off is the take-out food. In the U.S., you'll find sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers and maybe a burrito of some kind. In Japan, you'll have sandwiches and burgers, but you'll also have fried noodles, cold noodles, bento lunches (full meal, with chicken or fish as the main course, rice, pickles and veggies), and a variety of desserts like Mont blanc, custard pudding or black sesame seed pudding (yum).
If you want a pastry, you are not limited to donuts or Danishes, you also got curry filled buns, buns with fried noodles baked in, ham and cheese buns and the list goes on and on.
You won't find slurpees or self-serve drinks or even a hot pot of coffee. Everything is in a can, even hot coffee.
The surprising thing is that most of the food I've tried is pretty good even better than some of the restaurants I've dined.
2. Family Restaurant
The family restaurant is not fine dining but not fast food either; a place where the whole family can go. The U.S. equivalent would be Denny's or Chili's. In Japan, like the U.S., there are several chains including Denny's and Coco's (which claims to be a California restaurant.)
Like the U.S. counterparts, the food isn't great but you know what to expect. The food ranges from hamburger steak to udon noodles to club sandwiches. All the restaurants give you the option to turn a standard plate into a meal set of some kind for an extra two hundred or three hundred. Usually it includes a drink, soup or salad and a plate (not a bowl) of rice.
The kid's meals are great fun. They offer small portions, of course, but it comes with a kiddy plate, a bib with a popular children's anime character and sometimes a toy. Like the U.S., the restaurants also provide crayons and coloring paper to keep the children preoccupied until the food comes.
3. Starbucks, McDonald's or other chains that you have at home
One of the fun things to do in Japan is to visit a store or restaurant that you have in your home country. Since I'm from the U.S., I visited Starbucks, McDonald's and even Pizza Hut. The fun is comparing how they differ from what you are used to.
For example, McDonald's Japan used to (or still may serve) hot dogs for breakfast. I don't know why hot dogs, but there it is. They also have teriyaki burgers, which you won't find in the U.S. except Hawaii. And McDonald's serves up one of my favorite burgers, the super Tsukimi Burger (translation: Moon Burger). It has two beef patties, cheese, poached egg and bacon. mmmm good.
Another example is Starbucks. First thing you'll notice is the service. Like most places in Japan, the baristas are very polite, mechanical and very proper. Quite different from the Starbucks I've been to in the U.S., where they don't smile, talk amongst themselves, usually about some personal problem and follows Bohemian chic. Another difference is the sizes are smaller. The Grande in the U.S. is the large in Japan, the Tall is the medium and the small doesn't exist in the U.S. but they all cost about the same.
That's just three of the many fun things you can do in Japan. Other places you could check out would be the neighborhood supermarket, hardware store or even a Japanese school. The key is go in with an open mind and appreciate how we as world are different and yet so much alike. While temples and Mount Fuji are nice, you will get more by checking out the everyday things.
James Chance has been studying Japanese culture for fun for twenty years. He's lived in Japan for three years and visits Japan regularly. James is a big Kurosawa fan and loves J-Pop. He's also a self-proclaimed "Beatleologist," having read a gazillion books on the Beatles and owning every beatle and post-beatle album. Visit: [http://www.mrsatori.com]
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Japan and Its Standardized Test-Based Education System
For some positives in Japanese education, one need look no further than the local kindergarten or the local elementary school. For everything other than English education, they are doing a good to great job of educating the children of Japan. Classes are creative, teachers are caring, on the whole, and students are happy and learning.
Were the whole education system to be like this from kindergarten to the end of university, the Japanese people would be happier, healthier and more productive, both in GDP and creative terms.
Unfortunately, this all ends at age 12. Those are the years that exam hell starts and from which students never really recover. The standardized test-based education system of Japan that starts in the junior high school years kills any kind of initiative, creativity and especially thinking outside of the box. Unfortunately, these last three are what Japan especially needs in the 21st century; perhaps Japan`s most challenging 100 years yet.
For many years now, Japan has employed this test-based education system and passing the all important tests is what educators and students, not to mention parents, are focused on. The result of all this test-taking and stress, is a nation of order takers who have trouble making decisions, let alone stating an opinion.
Don't believe me? When you next meet a Japanese, just for fun, ask them their opinion on something. If they are able to give an opinion, then do this: Ask them why? Why do they feel that way? In many cases, they will be stumped.
In spite of this standardized test hell that most Japanese find themselves in during their school years, a few would-be Michelangelos manage to slip through. Most, however, have their creative thoughts stripped from them or numbed into oblivion.
Recently, one of my bright Japanese students returned from North America to once again study at his old university in Japan. He was shocked at the passivity of the students. He hadn't realized how passive, non-responsive and void of opinions Japanese university students were.
He said that in America, he studied with students from all over the world and he enjoyed hearing and expressing his opinion with others. He couldn't understand how the students of Japan were so passive and quiet. He expressed the desire to go back to America as soon as possible to study there. Many Japanese who have lived abroad have said the same thing.
In the news, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has been dubbed "loopy" by the American press, especially due to his lack of decision-making on the Okinawa base issue. Once he made a decision, he then turned around and reneged on it, and apologized to Okinawans for his backslide. But this lack of decision-making ability is not restricted to the general populace; it occurs in all ranks of Japanese society. Hatoyama, of course, is a product of this education system.
It is not only the students who are having a difficult time; the teachers are too. Many have to take time off work due to stress, while others create a life of drudgery for their pupils. Many Japanese seem to have lost their love for education and learning once they enroll in junior high school. Indeed, too much test-taking may result in shallow learning and a negative feeling toward school.
For the future, Japan needs to ask itself: Are we creating the people we need to solve the problems of the future? If the answer is no, then this is a recipe for disaster.
Japan needs creative thinkers, people who can think outside of the box to solve the problems of immigration, an aging population, unemployment, off-shore employment, trade, and, of course, the environment. However, perhaps the most pressing problem is the psychological health of the citizens.
For this latter, and the other problems mentioned above, I think there are valuable lessons to be learned in kindergarten.
Kevin Burns, formerly from Vancouver, has lived in Japan for over 20 years and owns a small chain of English schools in Japan, and teaches English at a Japanese university. He owns "How to Teach English in Japan," a website all about teaching in this very exotic and interesting part of the world.
Teaching English in Japan
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Best Time To Go To Japan - 5 Tips
When is the best time to go to Japan? Well, that depends in part upon what your interests, needs, likes and dislikes are.
When you are traveling on business to Japan, you may not have much of a choice when it comes to when you make the trip: the timing of your trip will likely be dictated by the details of your business situation. However, when traveling for pleasure as a tourist, you may have a lot more leeway as to when you decide to go.
Essentially, the decision for when to make your Japanese trip will depend upon factors like seasonal changes in the weather and the annual schedule of Japanese festivals and holidays - as well as what your interests are.
If you are looking for the best time to go to Japan, here are 5 tips that can help you decide:
1. To avoid the heat:
The hottest months in Japan are July and August. It is not only the heat, but also the high levels of humidity, that makes many visitors to Japan who are used to more temperate climates a bit uncomfortable during these hot summer months. Avoid going to Japan during these two months if you do not relish hot weather.
2. To avoid the rain:
Early June through mid-July mark Japan's rainy season. If you are not a lover of rain, avoid this time of the year for travel to Japan.
3. To experience outdoor festivals:
Some of the best festivals in Japan take place during the summer. In particular, Tanabata and Obon take place in early July (or in early August in some areas). So, if you want to enjoy some of Japan's most lively festivals and don't mind the rain or heat (see above), July or August can be great times to visit.
4. To save money:
If your goal is to save as much money as possible on airfare, the least-expensive times to travel to Japan are September-November and February-March.
5. To view the cherry blossoms:
Cherry blossom viewing is one of the favorite pastimes of Japanese and many foreign tourists alike. They make for extremely beautiful and picturesque scenes. To see them in the height of bloom, visit in March or April (depending upon the area of the country).
Consider these 5 tips for the best times to go to Japan, depending upon your preferences.
Traveling to Japan for pleasure or business? Make the most of your trip with tips and recommendations from: Travel Trips For Japan.
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